to shorten the servo wires or not to......?

[t-driver]

i have the hs-45's with too long wires (for my taste anyway)
and i'm thinking to shorten them.

but i'm kinda worried that the stiffness around the solder joints, heatshrink, etc.
won't let me re-route them as i want to..... :dontknow

what did you guys do??

[rotorhead58d]

i left mine alone, but i just didn't want to mess around with it. my receiver is mounted kinda weird, so they were just long enough

[jad]

I mounted the receiver upright on the front and cut all the servo wires down, makes a lot neater job I think I took 3 to 4 inches off.
What I did do was buy new futaba connectors for the ends as I use the 6ex receiver. Go for it just watch your joints. ( I didin't do the gryo or tail servo )
I got all the leads going over the top of the front servo and then down into the reciever. I think it looks right

[sc204]

I shortened my servo wires as well. Makes for a much neater installation. Of course you are sort of stuck with servos for a specific use when you do that. Replacing the leads would be tough on a servo that small. All of the extra wire also added up to about 6 grams removed. I would not reccomend soldering new connectors but to use the proper crimping tool to do the job with new connectors available from many places. The job is really quite easy with the proper tool and longer lasting than a solder joint. The only caveat I would give is to use the better quality crimping tool. I had one of the $15-19 versions I bought for using on Anderson Power Poles and it did not do a good job on servo connectors. I bought one of the ratcheting types with two levels in the crimping area ($35) and it works great.

Stuart

[t-driver]

well, i did it,and destroyed a brand new servo :arggg:

smartass me wanted to solder the shortened wires directly to the servo....
no dice.... almost burned up my receiver and esc too. the esc got hot in no time.
i don't know what went wrong,
i can solder, and the solder joints are clear and not soldered together.
maybe it just couldn't handle the heat....

anyway, don't do this if you don't want a good servo turn into spare parts.....:arggg:

[sc204]

The wire lands on the HS 45 are very small and close together. There are also componants to either side. I hope you had a magnifier to check your work, I do not think you could be sure of not producing a short otherwise. You did solder them back in the same order didn't you :)
Stuart

[crabfu]

I shorten all of the wires on all of my helis, but only after I am sure that I like the placement of things. I'm a bit anal about keeping things clean, but on the gaui 200, it's almost a must, as servo and gyro wires are so long for such a small space, and every little bit of weight savings help. Shortening the wires also reduces the chance of glitching etc. I'd recommend shortening only after you are sure you want to keep the setup :)

I've never soldered the servo wires, but use the crimping tool & new servo connectors. Once you do one, it's a piece of cake, and well worth it in my opinion, especially on the 200.

-Crabfu

[t-driver]

The wire lands on the HS 45 are very small and close together. There are also componants to either side. I hope you had a magnifier to check your work, I do not think you could be sure of not producing a short otherwise. You did solder them back in the same order didn't you :)
Stuart

i had a magnifier,and i did solder them in the correct order.:dontknow
already ordered a new one.....


I shorten all of the wires on all of my helis, but only after I am sure that I like the placement of things. I'm a bit anal about keeping things clean, but on the gaui 200, it's almost a must, as servo and gyro wires are so long for such a small space, and every little bit of weight savings help. Shortening the wires also reduces the chance of glitching etc. I'd recommend shortening only after you are sure you want to keep the setup :)

I've never soldered the servo wires, but use the crimping tool & new servo connectors. Once you do one, it's a piece of cake, and well worth it in my opinion, especially on the 200.

-Crabfu


i was using a crimping tool too,until they stole my car and some rc stuff with it.
havn't thought to buy a new tool since then,now i know better.....

[jad]

I soldered mine without any problems, I brought new connectors, I also used a lead solder as it could be done at a low heat. Worth doing but do it properly!

[chichiuno]

I ended up opening up the servos and cut the servo leads down.. and resoldered.

[SurfCity]

I shorten all of the wires on all of my helis. I've never soldered the servo wires, but use the crimping tool & new servo connectors. Once you do one, it's a piece of cake, and well worth it in my opinion, especially on the 200.

-Crabfu

Crab, what crimping tool and connectors do you use? Do you have a link? I got all my electronics located in great places, neat as a pin, but then there's this GLOB of wires to put somewhere, and like a sea creature with tentacles, it wants to creep and sprawl and wrap itself around things and basically take over the heli. So I'd like to shorten EVERYTHING. Tidy, accessible, light.

[crabfu]

Crab, what crimping tool and connectors do you use? Do you have a link? I got all my electronics located in great places, neat as a pin, but then there's this GLOB of wires to put somewhere, and like a sea creature with tentacles, it wants to creep and sprawl and wrap itself around things and basically take over the heli. So I'd like to shorten EVERYTHING. Tidy, accessible, light.

Hey Surf.... sorry I got the crimping tool a while ago and don't remember where I got it - my memory is not much better than a goldfish. Anyway what was I saying? oh yeah... I get the servo connectors from amain http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/2_389_446/products_id/17874

-Crabfu

[sc204]

There are two types of crimping tools. The basic one usually sells for less that $20 and available from many places, just do a quick search. The one that I bought did not do a great job and required several crimps and repositioning to be sure the crimp was done.

The better tool is a ratcheting crimper like the one here.
http://www.thunderboltrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=82_85&products_id=280
It makes the job a snap. If you can get one I would opt for spending the extra $10.

Stuart

[SurfCity]

The better tool is a ratcheting crimper like the one here.
http://www.thunderboltrc.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=82_85&products_id=280
It makes the job a snap. If you can get one I would opt for spending the extra $10.

Stuart

Thanks, Stuart. I'll get one. The site has a nice tutorial, too.

[xrbcoronalogoflyer]

i prefer not to cut wires, so i used the coiling technique (wrap the wires tightly around a #1 phillips screwdriver shaft, and pull the shaft out)...no glitches, and doesn't look half-bad after the canopy is installed...ken

[dazzla777]

i prefer not to cut wires, so i used the coiling technique (wrap the wires tightly around a #1 phillips screwdriver shaft, and pull the shaft out)...no glitches, and doesn't look half-bad after the canopy in installed...ken

Hi,

where did you get that blade holder from. Also, I noticed your blades fold back far enough to cross each other, for some reason mine cant dd that, which blades do you have, are those the woodies, mine are the plastic

Regards

Darren

[xrbcoronalogoflyer]

hi darren...i use plastic blades...i used a #11 blade to notch the root of the blade a little...at the same time, i used a dremel to grind a bit off the metal blade grips where the blade was making contact...i doubt that i weakened the blade or the grip...afaic, gaui did a sloppy job in machining the blade grips anyway...the blade holder is a hbk2 item, ek1-0504, that i bought from www.jaghobbies.com ...ken
http://www.jaghobbies.com/images/rc_planes/esky/ek1-0504.jpg