I've rewound a brushless motor stator, this time using larger gauge wire, but when I try to solder it to the esc wires I cannot heat the 1.4mm wire enough to melt the solder.
I know my soldering is poor at best so I was wondering if I could use crimps?
Any suggestions on solder or crimps would be appreciated.
This is what i have. A good soldering iron goes a long way. Don't need to get one this fancy, but a higher wattage/temp soldering iron will do what you need.
You need an iron with more thermal mass, not necessarily hotter. Look at the hammerhead tips that cheapbatterypacks carries. I only use their tips on batteries and larger projects. A 60w iron and a hammerhead is enough for about anything RC related.
I think for your purpose a *small* butane torch may be the best way to go. I'm one of those people who likes to shorten the stock BL motor leads, and I find it necessary to use the torch to melt all of the enamel off of the wires so they can be resoldered. A soldering iron/gun just didn't work- not due to lack of power, but because there wasn't enough contact area to transfer the heat.
Crimps will not work unless you can remove the enamel on the wire some other way. They wont make nearly as good of a connection as soldering would, either. If you have lots of time (and patience) you can use a fine grit sandpaper (220+) to remove the enamel, then soldering (with an iron) will be much easier.
Try dipping the motor leads on solvents such as ether, paint thinner, naptha or acetone. I had good luck removing the wire's enamel coating using paint thinner and naptha. I'm also using a Weller 80W iron with a broad tip.
Castle Neu 1520 on 6S LiPo Powered Gmaxx (Nitro Killer)
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I'm really bad at soldering aswell.
Wat I found to be the most important aspect is that the soldering tip is clean (it HAS to be). It simply won't dissipate enough heat if it isn't. Really makes a world of difference.