Wire Type

[jaskoller]

I used the typical stranded wire to wire one of my tricopters just like everyone else when I built it. This was my first tri. I'm now going back and cleaning up the build and I have a wire question for anyone with an opinion. I bought some of the appliance wire that is very stiff and bendable thinking that I liked the way I could bend it around obstacles on my tri and keep all the wiring together, tight and clean (and the bends would stay bent). Now, appliance wire is not a stranded wire, it is a single 12g strand. I Plan on using this wire only from the ESC to the motor down the booms. Does anyone have any opinion on this one way or another. I did talk to an electrical engineer to make sure the loss was minimal. He said I won't see any loss in a two foot run so I think I should be good that way. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I believe the reason solid copper is not used and most shy away from it is primarily the connections. It doesn't handle connection points well in a vibration enviroment. There's also the micro-fracturing that will occur over very long time periods. However, for my mini, I more or less used solid wire. . . in that I used copper strips to carry the current to the motors to reduce the thrust column resistance. I have yet to have any issues, but I also made sure the strips and contact locations to other wire and bullets are secure. Plus they are encased in shrink, which provides a bit of protection from high frequency vibration. Still, I have probably raised the probability of solder breakage a bit.

 

[jaskoller]

Thank you Cyber, I worried about solder breaks also. I eliminated some of that by leaving the wires coming off the motor as the standard stranded, those should take the vibration on that end. But I do have a solid solder point on my ESC that I am a bit worried about. I just still have not decided if I should continue or scrap the idea and go back to stranded. It seamed like such a good idea when I first started, now I'm not so sure!