Lengthen battery leads on 30A ESC?

[dwardio]

I have an ESC from HK that came with 2.5" leads to both the battery and the motor. Looking at the FT-22 build video, I can see that he has lengthened all five leads.

So here's my question-- What is the best way to solder two lengths of wire together lengthwise? (In this case it's 16 AWG.) Should I somehow solder the them butt-to-butt to ensure a smooth, solid, noise-free connection?

Is there some sort of metal sleeve I can solder them both into, or should I make up "extensions" with male and female 3.5mm bullet connections on each end, or ???

Thanks in advance!

 

[Craftydan]

Have you seen this episode:

He's using some pretty large wires for this, but it will work with smaller gauge wire too. Easy, and solid.

If you want to do bullets, it's always an option. It's not the cheapest/easiest solution, but it would be a good way to allow you to separate the ESCs from the wiring harness for maintenance. A lot more work, but whether it's worth it or not is up to you. If you do this, I'd recommend sticking with the convention the motors use -- male on load end female on the source end -- it's a lot harder to short two female connectors together.

 

[dwardio]

No, I had missed that one.

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed. I've tried meshing the fanned ends before, but is always came out bulky and lumpy. The wire wrap did the trick, resulting in by far & away the smoothest in-line connection I've ever soldered.

I even remembered to slide the heat-shrink over the wires before connecting them.

Thanks-- you guys are amazing!