Connectors or Direct solder for esc & motor?
 

Do you guys use connectors to connect your motor to your esc or do you solder them directly?

If you use connectors which are preferrable? Power poles?

I've only had experience with Novak BL so I haven't had to make the connection between the motor and esc.

Thanks in advance, this site rocks.

well most of use just use bullet connectors simple because of ease and because of the low resistance. i.e. less power lost and you wont melt the connectors together like the tamiya ones do.

Corally female plug's work best. Solder the wire as deep as possible and fill the gap in the middle with solder. Don't forget to put on some heatshrink first.

For the Feigao motors, I solder direct to the motor wires usually. The connectors are convenient if you plan to change motors, but a direct solder connection is more reliable with lower resistance.

@mike;

that depends.

If you solder a wire directly to a wire, sideways, the contact area is very small, and there for a rather high resistance. with tight fit plugs, (tight as in, wire to the plug)
there is allmost no solder between the copper and the plug.

@ Serum

I don't think your right (I probably don't understand but intrested in why) If I was to connect deans on, I would still be soldering the wires to the dean on one side, so it would be the same but also resistance from the connectors bonding too.

Unless you mean something that wraps around the whole wire like bullet connecters?

yeah, i mean those bullet connectors. surrounding is the best way to keep resistance low. the deans are rated at 60A, not for nothing.

It sounds like you are suggesting these Bullet connectors. Are these3.5mm gold plugs the best connection?

If you really want to put some serious current through your plugs check these:
http://www.bk-electronics.com/catalo...oducts_id=1384

Mike could probably get you some of these with his next BK order.

Not too useful for 1/18 setups though...

Yeah, i ordered those connectors from BK as well Felix. i thought about 16 sets in totall.

@ Papa, 3,5 is rather small, i would got for a minimum of 4mm.

How many do you get for $2.61?

1 set

Since the solder itself is the least conductive material in the chain, the less solder the better.
You need only one point of solder if you solder the wires to each other, but you need two points of solder to add the bullet connectors (one for the male and one for the female).

Personally, I plan to always use connectors because I move the setups between vehicles regularly and need to make sure I can plug one controller into different motors, etc...

Would powerpole connectors offer a quality solderless connection?

Amen Batfish.. soldering a wire to a wire is not the best connection imo.

powerpoles are good connectors, i know them from APC UPS, the big 350A types. I was impressed by them, it was love at first sight. The contact pressure is topnotch., you need a lot of force to get them loose. i don't understand why they are not used for RC. perhaps it's the soft wire that makes them less suited for the cables as used in RC. the 175A is the best imo. perhaps it's their size that keeps people from using them.

I had the 75 amp powerpoles in mind. The SB series is just Huge!:eek: I have seen the deans vs powerpoles debate before.
Matter of preference I suppose.

@ Batfish For a motor /esc connector are you saying gold plugs?:C:

Yes Papa, he does..

Yes, I use the gold bullet connectors for the motor/esc connection. One of the main reasons is that so many of the motors and controllers already have that type of connector already. For example, the Lehner xl4200 I bought here had 3.5mm bullet connectors on it already, so I just had to add 3.5mm bullet connectors to my MGM. The new-style MGM controllers have 3.5mm female connectors on the controller itself, so you need to put 3.5mm connectors on the end of the wires you plug in.
For me, it's a matter of convenience and reliability.

I suck at soldering, so I try to solder as little as possible :)

I love the standard 35 amp PowerPoles, by the way. They are the only connector I use now on batteries. I've been thinking about using the 45 amp inserts, but haven't tried them yet.

Mike has the 5.5mm BK connectors,at least he did have them in stock when i ordered last.My 20xl came with them,good for the 9920 double wires too.

20XL?! :eek:

Yeah a 7xl,is a BK 20 series XL 7 turn.should have said 20XL/7 maybe.

Just said 20xl 'cause i don't know if the Fiegao xl comes with them.

I use those fat BK plugs too. They feel like business. I think they are good, I will put them on my setups if I intend to try different motors on that ESC.
I use those 3mm bullets too, sometimes.

You CAN make a wire to wire connection quite effective, actually. I you take a non-pre-tinned 12g wire (ESC), remove 5mm from the insulation, and push the motor lead into the fine strands, so the strands are all around the motor lead, and then tin it all up, I guess its not too bad, either.

The main reason I prefer direct soldering is reliability. I have had on more than one occasion, the motor come unplugged during a race, or partially unplugged(this happens all the time). With a direct solder, this can't happen, so it is one less thing to worry about.

Bullet connectors you use pliars to fix them onto the wires? I guess it is best to add abit of solder too?

if you are worried about the loosing contacts, because plugs get unplugged, you could use a piece of heatshrink that coveres the entire plug, they won't get loose that way.

I use 4mm gold plugs and you need quite some force to plug them in or out.
I have a hard time imagining these unplugging themselves due to some vibrations...

Mybe if the controller isn't fixed to the chassis?

I was gonna use deans connectors when i get my brushless, i guess i'll look into some other better connectors now.

Mike knows how to mount a controller Felix... (I guess ;) )

Pretty sure I have the controller mounting thing down. :) The problem is the sometime very large jumps at my local track, along with an occasional driver error. A sudden impact in the right direction can pull the plugs out. I use 3.5mm plugs, not 4mm, but same idea. Another thing I have against the plugs is the wear. They loose their spring tension over time, which eventually leads to what I described. I use plugs on some, direct solder on others. I prefer direct solder.

I like the 3.5 mm plugs. I have to agree with mike on the coming out. I have done this while bashing. It would really effect the racing. A soldiered joint will have less resistance than a unpluged resistance. I still like the connectors for the simple fact of motor or esc swapping.

I know this is a rather old post, but I just bought some 3.5mm connectors for my motor and controller because I was always switching my BL system between my Maxx and Rustler and having to remove the controller with the motor at the same time was rather annoying.

Anyway, I was wondering exactly how you solder the gold connectors to the wire. My motor and ESC wires are pre-tinned, so I can't fit them into the non plugging part of the connector. Do you just solder the wire to the top of the connector? Also, can I put some shrink tubing on the female connectors so that they won't touch and short something out?

Thanx,
Brijar!!!

What size wires are they?

a non pre-tinned wire (12ga, 4mm2 fits in)

i had that problem too, i dremeled the holes in the 3.5 plugs a tad bigger.

Soldering them on top is a bad idea.
if you heaten up the pretinned wire, and clamp the plug you should be able to press the wire in as well.

They are the stock, regular wires that come on the Feigao 9L and Warrior 9920. I may have to untin them or cut off the tinned part. Are you supposed to solder the wire, or clamp it in the plug? I would prefer to solder it, as then it won't come out.

Brijar!!!

Don't cut the wire on your motor for it has a coating that make the solder not stick.

I usualy just take a fine file to the tinned wire and take off the high spots so it will fit into the connector. Its not removing much material, just enough of the high spots to get it to slip into the connector.

Best way I've found to solder on those bullet plugs is find a way to hold your plug upright (pliers with a rubber band around the handles or something). Then take a mini torch and heat up the plug. Then start filling the hole up with solder until it's about 3/4 full. Then quickly stick the tinned wire all the way into the hole while the solder is still real hot and liquid. Hold it there for a few seconds and shrink tube it and that's it. Much easier that way than with a soldering iron.

I read some of the posts for soldering direct vs plugs and thought of another reason to use plugs: reversing the motor direction. If you decide to mount the motor in another vehicle, then reversing the motor direction is much easier if you can unplug them.

As to soldering the plugs, I use a hot iron (100W). I tin the wire leads and the inside of the plug hole, then insert the wire in and heat the connector while feeding solder into the hole until filled (shouldn't be too much). Works well and looks good for me.

I've also soldered direct and found a trick that works quite well. I get a crimp-type yellow butt connector, remove the plastic shell, and then drill a 1/16" hole on one side of each end. I then stick both wires in each end, but don't crimp. 12GA wires are actually snug in the hole. Then I heat the connector and feed solder into the hole i drilled into the side. When cool, I slide heatshrink tubing over the connection. Because the thickness of the connector walls is about the same thickness as the wire jacket, the heatshrink almost looks like there is no connection with no solder bulges.