Solderless Motors?

[freakstyle]

I cant do any soldering in the dorms on the AFB im at, so do you guys have any suggestions for the best quad motors? What has worked best for you?

 

[William A]

HK's Turnigy Multistars.

What size quad you thinking about ?

 

[CrashRecovery]

Freak what style of dorms are you in? If you have a kitchen I don't see why you can't do it in there. Other option is the auto hobby shop. Is there a craft shop on base? We had one at dover. Also call over to either the CES electric shop or the maintenance squadron and see if they have an electronic repair shop. You might find someone sympathetic to your needs

 

[rcspaceflight]

You could always go with crimp on connectors. Crimp on connectors aren't ideal, but if you can't solder, you can't solder.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Freak what style of dorms are you in? If you have a kitchen I don't see why you can't do it in there.

Imagine a Sergeant saying to you, "Airman, does the handbook say, 'no soldering except in the kitchen?'"

 

[freakstyle]

im building the hquad. I found the Park 370 1360kv with looks like 2mm bullet. now I just have to find an esc that will connect a 2mm esc to the motor output. any ideas would be great so keep em coming! and no the dorm doesn't have a kitchen and the auto shop is condemned and the hobby shop is now the airmans attic so nothing I can really solder at.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I'm sorry to say, I don't know of a single ESC that comes with either bullets or battery connector pre-soldered. You might-could find one with bullets pre-soldered, but nobody knows what battery connector you're going to use (XT60, Deans, etc...). If you run out of options, ship one to me (with bullets) and I'll solder it up for you and send it on. I'll even throw in an XT60 if that's what you're using.

I think you could build almost all of a quad without soldering if you really tried, except for the ESC. But if you do have more soldering to do than just the ESC, just ship it to me and I'll solder it up for you.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Alternative: Extension cord running out a window or door, and do it outside at one of the picnic tables in the quad. I've never seen a military base yet that didn't have lots of outdoor common areas. These days, you'll freeze your butt off, depending on where you are at, but maybe it'd be worth it.

 

[CrashRecovery]

I would still see if the maintenance squadron can help you out

 

[rcspaceflight]

I still say use a crimp on connector for everything. When I first started this hobby I did that. I even used crimp on connectors on the batteries. The only issues I had with them is that during a hard crash the crimp on would get ripped off of the wire instead of the connectors unplugging. And if I wasn't careful when disconnecting the battery I pulled the connector off of the wire. But it worked perfectly fine.

 

[joshuabardwell]

I still say use a crimp on connector for everything.

This could work if you were to buy XT60 connectors with pre-soldered leads. It'd be ugly, but it'd fly. Just be sure to get connectors rated for the amperage!

 

[William A]

now I just have to find an esc that will connect a 2mm esc to the motor output. any ideas would be great so keep em coming!

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...oller_SimonK_Firmware_Version_3_US_WH_US.html

 

[William A]

And before you ask...

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...r_Distribution_Board_Lite_USA_warehouse_.html

 

[makattack]

Sounds like you're well sorted. I'm also seeing a lot more ARF (Almost Ready To Fly) kits with all electronics presoldered, where you just supply the receiver/transmitter. I know HobbyKing has at least their FPV250 mini quad in such a setup.

I'm not positive, but I believe the AltitudeHobbies rotorbones and electrohub combo packs have bullets pre-soldered, although I don't see a power distribution set anywhere. Just having the motors, esc's, and flight controller soldered up isn't all you will need. Another important part is either a wiring harness or power distribution board. I just soldered up my own power harness with 2mm bullets for a mini quad I'm building and it was a bit of a pain to do.

Crash had some great suggestions -- and made me realize I really missed the auto hobby shop when I was enlisted. That said, he didn't mention the rec. centers -- some of which, when I was at LRAFB, Ft Knox, and Ft. Benning had rooms you can sign out for such activities. Also, I had been known to use the day room for certain projects when in garrison, especially on the weekends -- but yeah, soldering while people might be playing pool or watching TV wouldn't make you real popular.

Wow... a presoldered power distribution board... WilliamA just posted it, and I hadn't even known it existed. That would have saved me a whole day... it even has an accessory pin; although, my wire harness has two accessory leads ending in JST connectors, a pair of current/voltage sensor leads, one pair of regulated 5V out. I stopped there, though I was going to wire in an LC filtered line too, but decided to make a modular LC filter and connect it to one of those JST connectors.

 

[William A]

Another style of premade PD setups. I make up this style on my builds (sans bullets).

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...r_ESC_Power_Breakout_Cable_US_Warehouse_.html