Tyler Price

iTrader: (2)

I've been running 8th scale with 4cell batteries. I ted to run 2 to 3 mins and the solder melts on one of the dean connecters on the battery. I did solder the plugs on the batteries. I have been using 60/40 Rosin solder. I have been told to try silver solder due to it can with stand more heat. I ran someone else battery which was the same size and had no issue what so ever. All I can think is it's the solder or the dean plugs i'm using. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, TP

Shawner85

Maybe a stupid question but did you try re-soldering it? May have just been a bad joint. If you have and it just melted again I would try a different deans plug. Solder should be fine... but who knows.

tc5 man

If its them thick gauge wires you need a pretty hot soldering iron like 80w with a flat tip kind of big but not to big of a tip. Are you using Radio shack 60/40 solder because that stuff is thick a bit to thick melting .

Hoese37

iTrader: (5)

Poor connection somewhere, or the deans are worn out or not aligning properly.

gatorage

1/8 run a lot less current but still is the wire hot where it come out the battery... if so it could be your running too low of a discharge rate/C rate. if you have good C rate then is the wire bigger on the battery side than the ESC side? if so it will run hot at the joint of the 2 as well. also sometimes even different wire type even if same size have different current flow will do the same. also if the connectors dont fit/plug in tight it will run hot. most the time it's not the solder joint for the fact that it's bigger area contact than the wire but if it's loose or not in the wire good and shiny can run hot as well.

Tyler Price

iTrader: (2)

I was wondering if it was the dean plug because it's just some of them off brand ones off of ebay. I was thinking to change them to the actual Dean plug brand. Or put new ones on with a tight fit.

Mantis Toboggan

iTrader: (4)

Bingo. Cheap Deans are very likely the issue. When soldering up the new Deans make sure to plug in the male to the female so that the heat dissipates better and so if the contact moves from getting too hot, they stay in place. Ultimately, Deans take take a good bit of skill to get right. If you don't have a really good soldering iron, and good soldering skills find a fast guy at the track, and ask nicely if he could help you. Just ask when he isn't elbow deep in a diff or shock rebuild.

Good troubleshooting by the way.

tc5 man

I have some knockoff Dean connecters on my 4s lipos they work fine and there tight but never soldered them on only the original Deans . No problem with them just have a 80w iron with a decent size flat head tip and good solder.

Mantis Toboggan

iTrader: (4)

The quality control for cheap Deans is probably close to non-exsistent. You could have got some that were a little tight, he could have got some that were a little loose. There are so many brands of cheap Deans that you could never compare what you have to what he has. Cheap Deans are hit or miss, why take a chance when real Deans are easy to get, and not expensive? I just don't get why people want to save a dollar on something so important,

tc5 man

My 4s lipos just came with the cheaper Deans and running them two season no problems clogging or getting to hot but i get what your saying.

But no i wouldn't just buy the knockoff ones though i get the original deans if i need to solder.

RockinTheCasbah

iTrader: (7)

If your wires are getting hot enough to melt solder you have a problem somewhere. Could be something as simple as too small of a gauge wire on the esc or battery.

cryofix

iTrader: (11)

This will be a pain to check but here goes.

Your battery choice is important, the C rating in particular. That said I have run good packs at 35C and never had an issue.

Desoldering means you have too much current draw across the wires or connectors, regardless of the connector type or wire gauge the problem usually lies elsewhere.

A simple deans test would be to make sure the connector is not loose when making connection and make sure the contacts are clean, too much carbon build up can reduce the flow of electricity and greatly enhance resistance.

First connect your ESC to a programming box and verify your settings, to much timing can cause heat at the connector, check for any unusual settings.

Next check your motor, make sure the bearings are good, and your solder connections are adequate on the ESC and the motor

Disengage the pinion from the spur gear and rotate your drive-train, at every single point you have a bearing make sure there is no issues, even one crunchy bearing can cause an issue

Verify each diff works correctly and is smooth there should be no "hitch" to a diff unless its brand new and still needs to be broken in.

Finally verify you diff fluid types or levels, if you have an issue with the center diff and it heats up too much it can evaporate the oil, this reduces the oils intended viscosity and you could potentially drop from a 7k to a 4-5k, if it leaks you could drop to a 2k. If you drop down to low in the center it will cause the motor to work harder to achieve your speeds. not to mention your diff will be very hot transferring heat back into your motor which will cause the use of more energy.

Mantis Toboggan

iTrader: (4)

To anyone saying that the problem is because the wire is too small, or the battery is too low of a C rating, or that anything other than the connector is the problem, please read the part of the first post that is in bold.

Tyler, Silver bearing solder does melt at a higher temp, but it is also more difficult to work with if you don't have a nice soldering station. The problem could be twofold. If you have connectors that are loose, and the soldering on them is not right, then those are your problems right there. Either of those alone could cause enough heat to melt the solder, together it is even more likely to cause an issue. If you could post up a pic of your connector, it would really help to diagnose the issue.

If you plan on running electric cars, do yourself a favor and get a good soldering station. I've had a Hakko 936 for about 10 years now, and it still works great. You can find a 936 for less than $60. Then do yourself a favor and get some Cadas Quad Eutectic solder. It special solder designed for building high end audio equipment. Look up what Eutectic means and you will see why it is easier to work with than normal 60/40. Being that it is made for high end audio means that it will have less resistance, and thus create less heat. Like anything else, the right tools make the job way easier. Soldering is not hard when you have a high quality iron, good solder, and you use quality components. Saving a dollar on connectors is not worth the frustration of a DNF.

gatorage

Mantis Toboggan how can you cancel out battery if his battery melts the plug and someone else battery runs ok? how you know what same size is? this tells me one might be his C rate is lower and make more heat build up from the battery wire to the plug (this is what melt plugs most the time and kills batteries). 2nd his C rate could be higher and allow more current flow then the plug or the ESC side wire can keep up with making more heat.

the only way it could be the plug by the bold sentence if the battery of the other guy was 100% same type of battery and had better female connector in his battery end. which could be high possibility but might not be the answer to the Q?

the incubus

iTrader: (17)

Here's what you do… Unsolder those Deans Plugs and promptly drop them in the nearest trash receptacle.

I've found Dean's plugs just plain suck and I used them since they were first released decades ago and I wasn't a fan then. They can either work or they won't. How many thousands of people have we all seen have to slightly separate them in order for the contact to initiate? Plus the solder tabs are simply too close for my tastes and a bit of a pain to work with. In today's RC World, your best option is to use banana plugs, andnot the bird cage variety.