I just received a Megatech Nirvana r/c sailboat as a gift. It was put together according to specs in the manual but when we turned it on (transmitter first then boat) both the rudder and winch motors run by themselves. They constantly move back and forth. I have not tried it in the water, but assume that would not impact this issue. Anyone else have similar problems? Are the servos shot? Recomendations? Help if you can.
Thanks.
Make sure your transmitter is working. Do the servos respond to transmitter stick movements at all? Make sure the batteries are good and transmitter and reciever frequency crystals are plugged in completely.
The servos do respond but like I said they keep moving back and forth. It seemed to stop and work properly when I touched the antenna of the transmitter to the one on the boat, but that only worked for a few minutes. I installed brand new alkaline batteries, as recommended. Sorry but where are and how do i check the frequency crystals?
Sounds like a radio signal or battery problem. A few things to try, take the boat and radio into a different room or part of the house and see if the problem persists. Second, make sure the transmitter antenna is fully extended. Third, try putting some distance between the transmitter and the boat and see if the problem stops. Fourth, check for proper orientation of all of the batteries, if one is mis-inserted you will have low voltage and that could cause the problem. Fifth, the “cyrstals” are the things plugged into the outside of the transmitter and receiver with plastic covers with numbers printed on the outside. Make sure the numbers match; that the crystals are properly seated; and that the crystal labeled TX is in the transmitter and RX is in the receiver. If after all of this checking, there is still a problem, unfortunately the boat should go back to the manufactuer for replacement. Its likely the transmitter/receiver is the problem, not the servos. Good luck.
Roy,
Thanks for the 5 suggestions. On the fifth, I’m not clear on what I should do. I don’t see anything plugged into the outside of the transmitter. Do I have to take it apart? I see the labels with the #1 and the Mhz frequency on the transmitter and receive and the #s match. In the boat, I see a little “box” that has tape on it. Do I need to fish that out and look at the crystals? I have no idea on the transmitter how to get at the crystals.
Sorry for my ignorance.
Not ignorance at all!
If you can see and read the paper tags of the crystals, then that’s all you need to do. The Crystals might look like this 
I would suggest that you try one more thing. First make sure that your servo and battery plugs are on the right slots in the receiver (RX). Sometimes it?s easy to mix up where the battery has gone. Now remove one of the servo plugs, either the rudder or the winch. Dose the servo that is plugged in work yet? If not plug in the one that you unplugged, and unplug the other. Work yet?
The suggestion that you might be too close to the boat with the transmitter is a good one. Still not working?
Hmmmmm???
Make sure the antenna on the transmitter (TX) is secure. Not sure what radio this is, but it might screw in or snap in, or might even be fixed.
Do the servos act differently with the TX on and off?
Are the servos twitching, or are they really moving a lot? How are they moving?
What kind of radio do you have? I had a similar problem with my Futaba Attack radio. It turned out that the antenna was loose inside the radio and only made intermittant contact with the metal base. The antenna snaps into a metal fitting at the bottom, so all I needed to do was give it a good solid push and it snapped back into place.
- Will
Will Gorgen
Hi All,
Well good news. I tried everything you suggested but to no avail. So I gave up and took the trans and boat back to the manufactured and it turns out the transmitter was bad.
All is good now. I can’t wait to sail it for the first time.
Thanks again.