Thanks… I wouldn’t be surprised if the motor was bad. Afterall with the first gearing setup it was subjecting to above 200F temps. I spins over freely and there’s no shaft play, but other than that I’m not sure how to investigate a bad motor.
As for the cogging; maybe the wire that ultimately pulled free from the board was causing a poor connection. Perhaps I took a tumble or something that left this wire just barely hanging on and caused a poor connection leading to overheating and ultimately the loose wire?
As for motor connections, they’re very solid. I’m using the CC 6.5mm plugs (the biggest ones) on both ends then a full chunk of heat-shrink over the entire connector. I squeezed nearly 3-inches of solder into each plug so they’re definitely secure!