"Dan Luke" writes:
"Joerg" wrote:
In addition to Everett's post, why do these servos burn
out? Did the manufacturer of the servos comment? I
would assume they should be protected by some means
such as a circuit breaker against excessive stress, no
matter whether that is due to faulty control signals of a
jammed output load.

Servos also have a finite number of repositions before failure. An
autopilot that was excessively sensitive might overwork the servos and
cause premature faiure.

I'm no expert on autopilot servos, but I do know something
about electric motors in general and would question the
statement about the number of repositions before failure.
Unless a motor is overloaded, it should last nigh onto
forever.