What motor connectors?

[jrohland]

I use these (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?&I=LXHEB5) connectors from Astro Flight. They are a little larger than the usual bullet connectors but, they hold great. If your motor runs backwards, just flip one side over and plug it back in. I put the connector under the MX400 with a piece of double-sided foam tape and a cable tie. This combo works well for me.

You should not let your motor connectors hang loose because the vibrations might cause one of the motor wires to break at the connector.

jrohland

[xStatiCa]

Is it difficult to solder the wires to the connectors? Their site does not show any technical pictures of it.

[Raven_darkcloud]

Finnless has vids on how to solder them in his tech room under the trex se build.

[xStatiCa]

I did not find any videos for the Astro Flight zero-loss connectors. I am just curious how the wires solder onto the connectors at both ends.

[jrohland]

They have a tube the wire slides into. You should be able use down to 10 guage, stranded wires with these connectors. You can see the connectors at this (http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LX3604&P=7) Web site.

I find them much easy to solder to than Deans because you actually slide the wire into the tube. Heat the connector and feed solder into the tube. If you get it hot enough, everything should work great.

As always, tin the wire before making the connection. I do not think there is any value in tining the connectors but, you can if you want.

I use one of these (http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-2-Helping-Hand-w-Magnifying-Glass-Soldering_W0QQitemZ290004552026QQihZ019QQcategoryZ 10323QQcmdZViewItem#ebayphotohosting) helping hands and, this (http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?pid=00927320000&vertical=Sears&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes) high-power soldering gun. While that soldering gun is really strong for this kind of work, for me, it gets the job done without cold solder joints.

jrohland

[xStatiCa]

Do you know what a minimum size soldering gun to use for the job? I tried using a 25 watt soldering iron but had problems with cold soldering joints with the deans connectors(I got lucky with one it seemed though). I took it to work and the experts soldered it for me in 1/10 of the time it took me to screw it up :)

[jrohland]

Do you know what a minimum size soldering gun to use for the job?In the Finless video, Bob says he is using a 30 watt soldering iron (Radio Shack). It is clear in the video it works very well.

A really big part of the job is how you are holding the pieces while soldering. If you are holding the Deans connector with steel pliers or a steel alligator clip (such as on a helping hand), hold the plastic part. If you hold the metal part with a steel tool, you will create a heat sink. If you are sinking the heat away with a holding tool, the soldering iron will not be able to get the connector hot enough . Same with the wire, hold the wire with a tool several inches from the end or, you will create a heat sink on the wire.

Good soldering takes practice. Just do it enough times and you will learn how. Also, for these high current power connectors, it is hard to put too much heat on the solder joint. I recommend a bigger, rather than smaller soldering iron. However, you can melt the plastic of the Deans connector if you make it too hot.

jrohland

[xStatiCa]

I followed the instructions by holding the plastic part with plyers but the difficulty I had was when joining the wire with the connector. It took a long time to get it hot enough( 30 seconds). I ended up pushing too hard on the wire(which was resting on the connector) which cuased the plastic part of the connector to melt from the heat and pressure. The metal part of the connector ended up at an angle.

I think my problems are because of too low wattage soldering iron causing it to take too long to heat up, heating the wire instead of the connector to join them. In other words... inexperience. Small wires and connectors I don't have problems with :).