Solved Soldering

OlliePackman

Active member
The pre tinned wires on my esc are too big to fit and solder in the 2mm motor connectors. How can I get around this?
 

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LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
The size of the wire and connector is related to the current carrying capacity. Depending on the motor and load, you may end up overloading the connector.
 

Ketchup

4s mini mustang
What's the worst that can happen? The motor cut out?
A motor cutting out can be worse than you think at the wrong time. Also in general it is better to not take a “what could go wrong” attitude when it comes to these things, you don’t want to make it a habit. The best option if you don’t have larger connectors is to solder the motor and esc directly together. It isn’t an uncommon method either.
 

OlliePackman

Active member
A motor cutting out can be worse than you think at the wrong time. Also in general it is better to not take a “what could go wrong” attitude when it comes to these things, you don’t want to make it a habit. The best option if you don’t have larger connectors is to solder the motor and esc directly together. It isn’t an uncommon method either.
Ah well. I'll just hope it'll be alright for the maiden. Even if I got unlucky with where the motor dies the worst that happens is I crash and have to fix it with a bit of hot glue. I don't want to directly solder them because I will probably end up robbing the motor and/or esc for another project in the future. So I'll order some 6mm bullet connectors and hope for the best in the mean time.
 

quorneng

Master member
Ollie
To my way of thinking if the wire won't go in the connector then the connector is too small for the likely amps the motor will require. This can lead to heating, which represent a loss of power, and ultimately could melt the solder.
Do you know what amps the motor is actually drawing at full power?
A 2 mm bullet is good for up to 20 A so as long as your motor doesn't go much above that for more than a few seconds you should be ok.
 

OlliePackman

Active member
Ollie
To my way of thinking if the wire won't go in the connector then the connector is too small for the likely amps the motor will require. This can lead to heating, which represent a loss of power, and ultimately could melt the solder.
Do you know what amps the motor is actually drawing at full power?
A 2 mm bullet is good for up to 20 A so as long as your motor doesn't go much above that for more than a few seconds you should be ok.
The motor's max pull is 23 A and I'm running a 30 A esc so I'll just limit using full throttle as much as I can (as I do anyway to be fair) and hope it'll be alright.
 

quorneng

Master member
Ollie
A 23 A load on a 30A ESC would be considered reasonably safe although ESC cooling (or rather avoiding component local over heat) plays an important part. I am sure the bullet connectors will stand 23A, particularly if it is not continuous.
 

nhk750

Aviation Enthusiast
It's an esc connector, so you have three of them which pull way less amps than a battery connector, you are unlikely to have any issues with a small amp draw system like this. I have trimmed wires to fit in connectors before and never had an issue, especially with ESC connectors because they draw less amps than the two larger battery wires. Remember the ESC wires dont supply constant amps and volts to the motor they provide a 3 phase pulse where the battery wires pull constant amps and volts, so most smaller esc's (60 amps or less) connectors are overkill anyway and trimming a little of the wire to fit is no issue as long as you get a good solder joint. Now, that being said, I wouldn't do that for a 100 amp or larger system... I have also trimmed battery wires to fit into XT60 connectors and never had an issue and fly my planes hard...