How to reverse a servo

[@yearofthesheep]

I know this is old, but this absolutely helped me. Working with a robot arm, they used 2 servos and one is mirrored, the other servo never worked unless I flipped it like your vid. Thanks man.

[@davidkanoff110]

Old video but still relevant to this day. From the dying breed of us hobbyist, thank you.

[@tracibeacer670]

hey you just tried doing this after watching your vid and against all odds [as i am crap with any sort of iron] it worked.can't take this smug smile off my face.cheers matey!

[@TripleXmodder]

Thank you for a perfect tutorial! Exactly what I was looking for, and for a 9g servo no less.

[@eelcogg]

In a servo, the potentiometer tells the control board where the shaft is. The control input from the receiver indicates the desired position. The board then turns the motor until the potentiometer indicates that the shaft is at the desired position. If you only reverse the motor wires, the motor is driven the wrong way and the shaft will move away from the wanted position. The board will then turn the motor even harder because of the increasing error, resulting in stripped gears and a fried pcb

[@RCINFORMER]

Great Video! I've done this before in the past but I forgot how to do it! great refresher!

[@ShadowtheRotarygod]

This worked perfectly on a DS3235SSG 35kg servo. Nice and informative and easy to follow. Thanks!

[@SHEIKHMUHAMMADJAILANIBINSHAIKI]

Omg man, thank you so much for showing us this. It made my life easier. Dang I give this video a thumbs up

[@trump959]

Thank you Scott, your presentation here made it look easy, so I figured I'd give it a try. I followed your instructions and everything works perfectly. I had a similar situation with a 2piece elevator on a park jet that I was running into a Y- harness with two 9g servos.

[@Bellairvideo]

Absolutely wonderful tutorial Just what I need to replace a flap servo for my A-10 Thank you indeeed

[@anirudhadey8799]

Thank you buddy you really help me without you I am nothing and you are as God to help me and very big thank you . It's really work. I am in danger and you solve my problem.

[@KyrreXXL]

Thanks a bunch, this vid saved my day. Managed to burn the gear door servo on my FMS Trojan, and it was a reversed servo. So instead of having to try and find a new one and wait for it to arrive (or fly with the doors open), I just did this trick on a HXT 900 and it worked great. Didnt take too long either.

[@ryanziebart5720]

Just did this on a tiny sub micro servo... Worked perfectly!!!! Thank you!

[@jasonlara]

Very good video. What took you 8 minutes took me an hour...but I got it to work! Also found out that I may need glasses. Needed a magnifying glass.

[@longbowshooter5291]

Have an idea for building a P-51 model from a set of foam wings I've had longer than most of you reading this have been alive. Been out of the hobby for a long while, and one of the things I needed to figure out was exactly this. Thanks for posting it.

[@jagdpanther9]

Excelent instructions! worked great on the funcub. Thank You.

[@FPVav8tr]

Excellent video. I really needed this. I have a Bixler 2 I am about to start and I need to do exactly this to a flap servo. THANKS!

[@Ahkeys82]

Thanks for the tutorial, It worked great! My rudder and front tricycle landing gear were working opposite of each other thru a Y cable. Can't reverse each in my DX6i. Easy to do folks!

[@paulcarter8890]

This is good to know. I would suggest a couple of small things. Take a sharpie and mark one of each pair of wires you’re swapping. That will prevent inadvertently reconnecting the same wire back in its original position. Also mark the modified servo with paint or the soldering iron so there’s no confusion in the future, if that servo ends up in a drawer full of standard servos. And yes, soldering is a “three handed” job. I’d be looking to hold that tiny little board still with another clip. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@bjarnehansen1101]

Thanks Bro! Im a starter in RC (not in electronics, there i am good) and didnt know how i should put two servos to one adress on the reciever but now i know! thanks!

[@Sumperman95]

Thanks alot! Really satifying to watch and to fix my servo :P

[@Goflyingbear]

Great video, I reversed my 9g servo and saved a channel on my receiver

[@brucebeamer2298]

Awesome Scott. Just bought 10 tower pro 9g servos, and found that I can't buy a reverse one. Need 3 reverse, (flap, Ele, and thrust vector). Not worrying about steering ( just in case), putting on another ch. Thanks 👍

[@dmon1996]

Thanks for your vid. You saved my keister on a scratchbuild sternwheeler boat that has one of these servos y-d in with the steering servo for turning the ship's wheel.... looked really stupid turning port when the boat was turning starboard.

[@MatiasHeinrich1]

Worked for me! Thank you for making this video,

[@revoxjazz8317]

Sorry, Scott. I have to make a statement about your motion during the welding of the two servo motor terminals: If during the time that the soldering blob is solidifying your blows in the direction of the servo, you are injecting the water vapor of your breath into that soldering, which will compromise her stiffness. I'm sorry, but I think what we need most is solidity in our welds. Once again I'm sorry for making you notice this. Greetings from Portugal Macedo Pinto

[@andyroo8uk685]

thankyou....i am just doing a project on a car and using 2-1in esc and the car it came from sterring rack turns diffrent so the servo need to be reversed can this work on a 5wire servo do you know

[@FPVREVIEWS]

does it work on a digital servo?

[@theytooktheothername]

there are two motors that is the two sets of wires that you are reversing. but if you only reverse one set, one motor will go the opposite direction of the other one and the servo will heat up and either strip one motor out or just short out the servo

[@3D_dreams]

The newer one towerpro sg90 seems to have no wires... Can please show how to reverse polarity on that one please.. please

[@prime-eight]

worked like a charm... you are the man, thanx!

[@WVRetreat]

Flaps are a good example. Look at the video at 0:24. You don't want the flaps going in different directions.

[@samuelericsson2143]

This didn't work on my servo, soldered like you did but it wont move... should i buy a new one, is it fried?

[@thercguide4735]

Wouldn't it be easier to just switch the wires on the potentiometer vs messing with the board? (and the motor of course)

[@ParaVids_andVinyls]

Can you just swap the red and black wire at the plug?

[@benzahm8220]

Nice video!!! My HS-55 has a 3rd wire on the motor. Looks like a ground to the metal motor case from the circuit board. Do you know if the reversing procedure will work with this setup?

[@richtrost2676]

You didn't find it necessary to reset the feedback pot so that the servo centers with a 1ms pulse width?

[@fullmetaljacket7]

What happens if I only reverse the motor wires?

[@mcspeedcube922]

I did it! now my servo only turns in one direction, any idea what that could be?

[@richardhewitt-jones2561]

Scott thanks so much for this 🙏 super clear vieo works a treat unlike the FMS9GDR reverse servos I bought which don't actually seem to reverse?

[@Mena142]

Can you please describe an scenario where this would actually be needed? I can't seem to find one :/

[@carloseblanco]

Hello. Same procedure on a digital servo?

[@MAPAHaus5]

Thanks for the vid, I have been wanting to do this. I subscribed.

[@adamfornet8725]

Thank you very much,you save a lot of people money to buy servo reverser😂

[@bikersoncall]

Can you just reverse the + and - leads going into the receiver ? Where did you get the flat pointy clamp? II used to have these , I've been looking for this style for months , can't find it .

[@ScottBurel]

Unfortunately no. And the clamp I use goes by the name "Helping Hand" or sometimes, second hand. Most hobby shops or electronic shops (Radio Shack, Frys, etc) carry them.

[@baycglk1237]

Hi sir,great video but what is the reason the servo rotate opposite can you describe please ,what the change in the circut when we change the cables?

[@ScottBurel]

The pocket cut in the wings of this particular plane are mirror images. If the pockets were cut facing the same direction then this would not be an issue but since they are mirror images, one servo moves forward while the other moves backwards. As I stated in the video, you could use a servo reverser but that adds weight and a second point of failure. Some have stated that you could simply reverse the plug at the radio but that won’t work because of that orientation of the wire and what their job is. You could also reverse it in the transmitter if you have an open channel on the receiver.

[@njnaz13]

Does it work with all types of servo? Thnx...

[@TIOBITDF]

The best video! Thanks

[@edwill62]

WHY, would you have to remove and solder BOTH places ? Wouldn't just reversing Two of them actually reverse the direction ? Explanation Please, thank you .

[@richmason3542]

One set is for the motor direction, the other is potentiometer wiper direction 🤗

[@ScottBurel]

The two wires I speak of at 2:20 ish on "the board" are the two wires that connect to the potentiometer. I always reverse them at the board because it's easier to get at.

[@chuckypanado2269]

Thank you very much for this!

[@dalejones7450]

you are a god thank you so much less money I have to spend and funny that you mentioned the grand cruiser thats what I am building

[@brettgralinski5824]

can you just plug in the servo to the receiver with the servo plug flipped over instead of resoldering the 2 wires inside?

[@ScottBurel]

No, by doing that, you are just swapping the signal and ground. Servos wires are (- + Signal)

[@dron8776]

SUPER. Ma kolega jakiś schemat na ten patent?

[@DLM517]

By reversing one servo on one flap. You can barrel roll,correct.

[@silviavillavicencio2087]

Great job buddy, but I think it's better if you just buy a few more especially if they're those cheap ones lol

[@InTheDogHouse3DPrinting]

Can't you simply reverse the + & - wires in the connector?

[@karlschwab6437]

This reversing modification on my 9g Tower Pro servo, did not work for me! I had to reverse the two outer wires on the pot and motor in order to work.

[@VTOLKits]

Very helpful! Thank you!

[@rhinorc6560]

This was a great help!... Thanks!

[@Heryariska]

Thanks bos

[@fpvnafret]

thanks, you save my semester! :○

[@Umachines]

@Mena142 I know one: Walkera V400D02 metal gear servo mod. Very nice heli, but it's sevos are crap, and they're reverted, btw. The worst nylon gear servos in history. They strip very soon whenever you start flying. Maybe you have thought about reverting Alei, Elev and Pitch channels, but it's not so easy with this one. This is a flybarless heli and uses a 3 axis gyro+reciever unit. So when the gyro trys to correct heli orientation, it moves normal servos to the opposite side.

[@FPVWingsCV]

muchas gracias me sirvio bastante Saludos!!

[@pyrothemagician]

works like a charm!!! thanks

[@JonDifull]

Isn't easier to reverse the wires on the plug instead of desoldering/soldering on the board? The wires on the plug can be pulled out. No soldering needed.

[@FPVav8tr]

Thanks! Check out my Part 3 video on building my Bixler 2. I used this video to reverse one of the flap motors. Thanks again.

[@onteigening]

Thanks for sharing!

[@sysmith9910]

I've found this mod a bit of a hit and miss affair. Sometimes its worked; such as on the Tower pro servos and Hextronic, but I ended up frying a couple of good Hyperion digital servos that weren't cheap. And some servos you just can't get access to the motor to reverse polarity. I've ended up buying a servo reverser, not wanting to take a chance of melting some of my pricy servos.

[@emthreekia]

Thanks for the info

[@Cadsbury]

Cool tip, thank you!

[@SKINMASTER_TAXIDERMY]

Works great!

[@msd8199]

Thanks

[@rafanhoo]

awesome..thanks

[@diondikken]

thank you so much!!

[@ThomasShue]

Why not reverse in the radio?

[@ScottBurel]

That would work if you had each flap on it's own channel. Most configuration are set up with a Y for the flaps on a single channel. If the plane is manufactured correctly, the servo bays for the flaps will be correctly molded but this is rarely the case in the Chinese market.

[@Irich1961]

Brilliant.. Thanks for that... :o)

[@1dragonleader]

Cool tip, thank you ;-)

[@ao866]

thanks...

[@moutonsteve]

thanks! worked for me (hxt900)

[@zackbum01]

Danke !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ScottBurel]

No, but I did take precautions to regulate the voltage on the soldering iron to within 1/1000th of a volt so that the extra drain on the electrical grid did not cause an electromagnetic ripple, thus throwing the earth off of it's axis by 1/1,000,000,000th of a degree causing a world wide apocalypse. So basically, I saved the world........you're welcome. ;)

[@bobbarker1667]

I see people just reverse the motor wire why switch all 4

[@gregaroller]

wow people still do this, I just hit invert inside my radio

[@ryanziebart5720]

Can't invert a y harness

[@gregaroller]

@@ryanziebart5720 why use a y harness just use two channels? 8 and 16 channel receivers are dirt cheap.

[@Twokidsradiocontrolled]

@@gregarollerthat’s just a waste of a channel and if you want a good transmitter it’s not “dirt cheap”

[@shelbyseelbach9568]

seems like an unnecessary crazy bit of work when they make reverse servos and simple plug in in line servo reversers.

[@ScottBurel]

I get it and if you are a patient online shopper or if you have a local hobby shop then yes, there are alternatives. Reversed servos are an added cost and as stated in the video, servo reversers are an added line of disconnect and point of failure, not to mention, albeit minimal, but there is an added weight with a reverser.

[@billbalke7572]

Here's an idea , dugh .... use a y harness , learn how to use your radio

[@ScottBurel]

A Y harness simply divides the same signal down the line. As stated in the video, a servo reversing Y has the circuitry required to change the signal between two line that originally receive the same command but at the cost of a little weight and the added failure points of 2 more connections. This could be achieved via programming on the radio provided you have an open channel and the capability of mixers. If you only have 5 channels and a non programmable radio this is a very simplistic and economical way to reverse a servo. duh!