Diega

Hi all,

I'm hoping for some advice. I'm getting back into the hobby after a somewhat lengthy break (20 years ish!)

I've done my homework, and gone with a Schumacher Cat K1 Aero, Tekin 6.5t motor coupled with an RSX ESC.
I've gone with the Reedy 5700mah 2s saddle pack and now I'm seeking some support from those with experience or point me in the direction of what route to go next.

I haven't done any soldering in a VERY long time and I'm a little apprehensive about possibly damaging my shiny new car!

I notice that some people solder the ESC directly to the motor but I would like to know if I can buy cables with bullet connectors pre soldered so I can dismantle the electrics should I need to. I've seen some YouTube vids but watching a vid won't give me the experience I feel I'm lacking when it comes to something as delicate as this.

Can you tell me what your setup is and why? I'm trying to make an informed decision about what will work best for me.

If you happen to know of somewhere I can buy pre soldered bullet connector cables suitable for motor > ESC connections and battery > ESC connections then I'd be very grateful.

Cheers

NEED-MORE-SPEED

iTrader: (11)

I'm sure you can solder up some connectors for the ESC/Motor but I'm certain that will cause some issues in future reliability and possibly overheating (connectors) and be little more clutter in your shinny new ride.

When dealing with electronics and maximizing the performance in amps and voltage, you want the least path of resistance. Having additional connectors, excessive wires and poor connections would surely cause some issues down the road. Soldering directly to the motor and esc would be much cleaner also maximize your performance, reliability and longevity of your electronics and shinny new ride

Diega

Cool, thanks for the info

zaraz

iTrader: (38)

go to your lhs and ask if they offer services for this, and they will have connectors they can show you, also they might even know someone who can do it for you, if they don,t

locked

iTrader: (1)

You definitely could wire a motor with bullets. I know the speed passion motors used to have bullet connections for the 3 phases (might still have them like that), but it really isn't a great idea. When I started in the hobby I had a couple of motors wired up like this. It was just a headache. Had cogging issues all the time.

Get a good soldering station. Makes soldering a breeze.

Odin544

iTrader: (93)

Soldering is inevitable in this hobby. Learn to do it. Practice on some wires by just joining them together. Go to your local track and ask someone to help you if need be. But learn how. It's really not hard.

http://www.rctech.net/forum/radio-el...ef-lesson.html

My setup is as few connectors as possible. Wire directly from esc to motor. Solid bullets to the battery. All the wiring gets shortened so there is no excess.

AudioStylz

iTrader: (15)

Definitely good advice here.

I do everything just like Odin544 has explained. The shorter the wires are the better your battery amperage/voltage will be. Less is more in this case. Less wire = less resistance which will result in higher performance overall.

It is a good idea to learn how to solder. I just went from a 1amp 40watt trigger solder gun that wasn't great at soldering wires bigger then 12 gauge. My wife went out with me to menards and bought me a 3 amp 120watt pencil style iron. Tip temperature when fully heated up gets to around 900* which is more then hot enough to do what I need. Made soldering wires to the motor SOOO much easier and cleaner as well as wires to my 4mm bullet conectors.

BTW, use the bullet connectors and not those spring style bullets. They get weak over time and can spark causing damage. Never seen one short anything out but it wouldn't surprise me.

Diega

Thanks guys, this is really helpful stuff.
Given your advice I'll wire up directly then with as few connectors as possible.
Really appreciate the help!
Looking forward to running the little beast!

dan_vector

iTrader: (27)

Good luck! Avoid connectors wherever possible especially with a high power system as you have in your new ride. The only connectors I have on my cars are the 4mm bullets for my lipos. The motor/esc is hard wired together.

Biggest tip is you need a minimum of a 60W soldering iron to solder 14 gauge wire successfully and an 80W iron to solder 12 gauge well. Remember that the higher the wattage iron the less time you'll need to have the iron on the joint - this means you transfer less heat into the motor and esc internals which is an important thing to consider!

dan_vector

iTrader: (27)

By the way the CAT K1 Aero is a lovely car and I run one mainly on an astro track. I pretty much leave the car on stock setup with the only change being 300cst oil in the front shocks and 350wt in the rear with stock pistons. I run the schumacher mini-pins all round to good effect.

There is a good thread over on the Electric OFFROAD area of RCTech. You wont find much here in the ONROAD section