Go Back  R/C Tech Forums > General Forums > Radio and Electronics
Soldering bullets between the ESC and Motor >

Soldering bullets between the ESC and Motor

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Like Tree16Likes

Soldering bullets between the ESC and Motor

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 02-05-2024 | 10:27 PM
  #16  
disaster999's Avatar
Regional Moderator
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,285
From: Hong Kong
Default

Originally Posted by Garet Jax
Is it a bad idea to solder bullets between the ESC and Motor to make engine changes easy?
Never a good idea to have connections between the motor and ESC. Worse case scenario, the contacts between the plugs isnt good, creating a point contact, which results in high resistance which may heat up the connector to the point where melted the solder and the entire connection coming loose. Even if the connection is secure enough for good electrical connection, theres still a potential that they unplug itself in a crash or whatever. Unless you cant avoid it, always direct solder.

But if you want to swap out motors easier in between classes, having a connectors would definitely help. Just make sure that theres plenty of contact between the plugs and make sure your wires arent so long that they can be easily tugged, unplugging the connection
Garet Jax likes this.
disaster999 is offline  
Old 02-05-2024 | 11:01 PM
  #17  
gigaplex's Avatar
Tech Champion
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 7,766
From: Melbourne, VIC
Default

Originally Posted by disaster999
Never a good idea to have connections between the motor and ESC. Worse case scenario, the contacts between the plugs isnt good, creating a point contact, which results in high resistance which may heat up the connector to the point where melted the solder and the entire connection coming loose. Even if the connection is secure enough for good electrical connection, theres still a potential that they unplug itself in a crash or whatever. Unless you cant avoid it, always direct solder.

But if you want to swap out motors easier in between classes, having a connectors would definitely help. Just make sure that theres plenty of contact between the plugs and make sure your wires arent so long that they can be easily tugged, unplugging the connection
Same thing can happen with connectors between the battery and ESC. Just keep them well maintained and it's fine.
Garet Jax likes this.
gigaplex is online now  
Old 02-06-2024 | 04:13 AM
  #18  
Tech Fanatic
iTrader: (80)
 
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 955
From: Hickory,NC
Default

We do this on brushed crawlers, Deans/t plug. We have burnt a motor or 2 out on the trail/rocks/mud. Always keep a spare.
How many classes are you going to run? Get a car for each class.
The bad thing about running every class is that you never turn marshal. I've seen a lot of guys do that and it's not fair for everyone else.
cul8tr is offline  
Old 02-06-2024 | 07:40 AM
  #19  
the rc guy's Avatar
Tech Elite
 
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 3,433
From: Detroit
Default

No to solder bullets between motor ans esc. seen many a new guys have a motor wire come unplugged.. its no real time saver even if you have 10 minutes to change motors..

learn to solder
get a solder iron with enough watts to get a good solder job
tin all solder joint before
makes the job go smooth

easy as that

learned to solder in middle school 45 years ago
the rc guy is offline  
Old 02-06-2024 | 08:37 AM
  #20  
Tech Master
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 1,627
Default

Originally Posted by disaster999
Never a good idea to have connections between the motor and ESC. Worse case scenario, the contacts between the plugs isnt good, creating a point contact, which results in high resistance which may heat up the connector to the point where melted the solder and the entire connection coming loose. Even if the connection is secure enough for good electrical connection, theres still a potential that they unplug itself in a crash or whatever. Unless you cant avoid it, always direct solder.

But if you want to swap out motors easier in between classes, having a connectors would definitely help. Just make sure that theres plenty of contact between the plugs and make sure your wires arent so long that they can be easily tugged, unplugging the connection

Worst case scenario here is the ESC will just pop its phases when two motor leads contact each other.
Sabin is offline  
Old 02-06-2024 | 11:42 AM
  #21  
gigaplex's Avatar
Tech Champion
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 7,766
From: Melbourne, VIC
Default

Originally Posted by the rc guy
No to solder bullets between motor ans esc. seen many a new guys have a motor wire come unplugged.. its no real time saver even if you have 10 minutes to change motors..

learn to solder
get a solder iron with enough watts to get a good solder job
tin all solder joint before
makes the job go smooth

easy as that

learned to solder in middle school 45 years ago
Doesn't save time? I can reconnect 3 bullet plugs far quicker than I can set up and warm up my soldering iron.
Garet Jax likes this.
gigaplex is online now  
Old 02-06-2024 | 06:33 PM
  #22  
disaster999's Avatar
Regional Moderator
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,285
From: Hong Kong
Default

Originally Posted by gigaplex
Same thing can happen with connectors between the battery and ESC. Just keep them well maintained and it's fine.
Had that happen to be when the connector was too loose. Seen people melt the plastic case on their batteries too because the connector was too loose and causing it to heat up.
We should go back to the nicad or nimh days where we directly solder to the battery tabs.
disaster999 is offline  
Old 02-06-2024 | 07:56 PM
  #23  
gigaplex's Avatar
Tech Champion
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 7,766
From: Melbourne, VIC
Default

Originally Posted by disaster999
We should go back to the nicad or nimh days where we directly solder to the battery tabs.
Let's not do that.
DirkW likes this.
gigaplex is online now  
Old 02-09-2024 | 07:38 AM
  #24  
Garet Jax's Avatar
Thread Starter
Tech Master
iTrader: (115)
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 1,860
From: Baltimore, MD
Default

Well I cut the cables for a perfectly good connection between an engine and an ESC and soldered a connector onto both. The connector can only go one way so it is impossible to attach it backwards. Also because the bullets are in a harness, it is impossible for the wires to touch each other. I used 12 AWG wire - tried 10 but was too big for the holes. 11AWG might be able to fit. I did 1 motor and 2 ESCs to test "switching" and it worked perfectly. I bought the connectors I linked up above. I have no real desire to test added resistance to the connector. The overall length of cabling went up 30-50% because I found the soldering the connector onto cables already connected to the motor/ESC more difficult to work with. When I soldered the wires to the connector first and then to the motor or ESC, it was much easier. I initially thought it was the length of the cable causing me issues, it wasn't. It was the weight of the ESC and motor. They were harder to stabilize than the connector end.

Overall quite pleased with the results. These are 1/8 scale ESC and motor so the connector might be "big" for 1/10 scale. I will be going there next.

PS - The observant will notice a 2 wire connector in the background attached to my other ESC. That is XT-90 for power, not the 3 wire for the motor.




Mac The Knife likes this.
Garet Jax is offline  

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.