genuine and counterfeit MG996R servo

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello, there seems to be two types of MG966R servos. They look identical on the outside (to me at least,) but once I open up the case, they are different. One has 3 very thin, red or black wires from a square shape potentiometer, and it has a motor height about 25mm and the 2 motor wires are usually black. The other type has 3 thicker white wires from the round shape potentiometer and 2 same gauge white wres for the motor and the motoris about 20mm height. Also the act differently, the one with red wires does not have as wide of a range as the one with white wires and also the one with red wires does not have as much torque as the one with white wires, even its motor is bigger. I suspect the one with red wires is the counterfeit one but I don't know for sure. How can I tell from the outside from one to the other?
Thanks

2

Let me make a wild guess: you have not tried googling "counterfeit MG996R servo".

3

One has 3 very thin, red or black wires from a square shape potentiometer

Note that the potentiometer doesn't "need" thick wires...

4

Either would be marginal at best.

I can remember when servos came in their own individual plastic case and cost $40 each, not that long ago either.

I use these MG996 units but usually in non-critical systems i.e. NOT in aircraft etc.

If you are concerned with the quality of a $7.00 servo, then maybe look at Spektrum , JR or others.
Plenty to choose from.

5

If I had a loose assortment and needed to tell difference between the two I probably would use a gram scale.

Just because the servos are different doesn’t mean one is counterfeit. Manufactures often switch suppliers to get the cheapest possible product as long it meets their minimum standards. Which frequently changes to get the part cheaper.

6

There are a lot of clone servos about too. These aren't counterfeits because they don't have TowerPro labels but they're still likely to be what turns up if you just buy "MG996R" or "SG90" etc servos. The thing is some of them are easily as good as "real" TowerPro servos but some aren't...and there's no easy way to tell.

But since even the original TowerPros are not exactly super quality don't worry about it. Just buy one or two extra to make up for the odd failure. Overall you'll probably still be saving money over buying name brands.

Steve