Best bullet connectors for motors?

[JohnRobHolmes]

I have seen a few guys running 20ga magnet wire in there trucks. Nutty!

[losikid]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

All my stuff has deans on it (except for the brushless stuff). Never had an issue.

I've also never said to myself "Dammit! If only I had soldered that connection I would have won!".

I had it backwards, at the state crawl-off last year, ripped off a motor wire at the beginning of the easy course...if only i had a plug on that wire

[agent00111]

So really, for racing, I get it, solder esc to motor. Solid. x1000 for direct solder for racing.

**However** I'm using bullet connectors so I can swap out my motors without having to resolder. I've got a wraith, and I like to switch out the motors as needed, and go back and forth between brushed/brushless. Which was kind of why I was asking what bullet connectors folks recommend, and not bullet-connector-vs-direct-solder. Yeah, direct solder would be super easy, no argument from me on that one. Bullets are +6 more things to solder for BL. But once everything is done, if I want to swap a motor out, I can do that on the road, and not have to solder anything.

The consensus seems to be 4mm castle bullets, which would be great, except for that they're sold out everywhere (John, you buy these all up!?)

Tekin has some 4mm solid bullets, but those are pretty pricey, especially if I'm going to stick with those for all motors/escs.

Not sure if anyone has experience with Viper, Eflite, protek, etc bullet connectors.

[JohnRobHolmes]

The spring type bullets are pretty much junk. The fail fast and the springs loose pressure as they heat up. The compression (castle) style bullets are much better. The knockoff types are typically hollow in the center. This causes them to heat up more (less copper) and they also cannot produce as much compression because of the thinner copper. You can see the hollow section in this pic HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : Polymax 4mm Gold Connectors (10pairs/set) Good enough for crawling? Probably so. I have gotten many bullets from factories claiming to be just like the Castle style, and they are all hollow.


If people really need some I could put a few 4mm males up on the site, sold individually. I've been meaning to do so for a while, but I'm still backordered from Castle a few thousand units PLUS a few hundred bags of 4mm so I don't want to short my ESCs of goodies.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Don't let anyone make you feel bad about using connectors on your motor, you won't notice a difference.

Solid plugs are best if you can find them. I've got some of the springy connectors and I'm not super happy with them. After a while they will loose their springyness and not make a very good connection. Really all you've got to do is bend them back out with a small flat screwdriver, but that just makes one more thing you've got to check.

[The Violator]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

If people really need some I could put a few 4mm males up on the site, sold individually.

[Charlie-III]

All,

I will agree the original question was, "If you use bullet connectors, what do you recommend?"

I stated I do direct soldered connections.

For the typical crawler application, almost ANYTHING better than a Tamiya plug will work.

I use direct solder, pretty much anything "conductive" (is better than Tamiya....did I mention that before??.....) will work.

What you need/do is likely different from what I need or do.
Go for it.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Charlie-III

ANYTHING better than a Tamiya plug will work.

Scotch-locks are better than Tamiya plugs. Don't think I'd use them though.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

Scotch-locks are better than Tamiya plugs. Don't think I'd use them though.

Fixored....just for you...but worthwhile.....

Scotch-locks are likely better...except they're not conductive.....

[Olle P]

Originally Posted by Duuuuuuuude

... springy connectors ... will loose their springyness and not make a very good connection. Really all you've got to do is bend them back out with a small flat screwdriver, ...

Or, since they're like $0.15 each, just replace it when required.

[JohnRobHolmes]

The only problem with that 15 cent spring connector is that when they give out under load the ESC can be taken out too, especially on a brushless system.

[braq]

Hello,

agree with the said so far. Really want to point out what John already said,
females on the active part (battery and ESC out), otherwise you'd have to really watch out for unwanted shorts.
I found it is easier to stick to one type of connector throughout, and try to keep a good stock of them readily available. Seems you always need them on short notice
No need for huge wire diameters for our kind of application.

cheers

braq

PS: converted from AMP plugs to 4mm plugs

[ik632]

I also go with the Castle 4mm bullets. One thing I've noticed is that they aren't that consistent in length though. You will get all the females the same length, but the males vary. There's a longer one that is the same depth as the recess in the female, then there's a shorter one that's about 3/4 the length of the longer one.

When I got them I was thinking something was wrong and emailed Castle with a pic of both together and never heard back. I checked the packaging multiple times to make sure they weren't knock off ones but they are legit castle.

The other issue I have is sometimes the male won't even fit into the female. It could be I just got a bad set of plugs (different lengths and not fitting to the matching female).

Anyway, I'll still use them, just have several bags of mix and match Castle bullets and I check fit before I solder them up.

[RootBreaker]

wow that button everyone talks about got me here!!!!!!!!!!M

well i went to do the trans mirror.. took the motor off and everything to realize the bullet off my es-2 pulled off... grrrr... guess ill just solder/shrink tube the wires for now when time to clean them up... since im happy with my 27t stocker for now... then when i go to do it again.. deans...

[Docwolf]

you all are going to think I am nuts, but I just use heavy automotive connectors like you get at the auto parts store. For my motor to ESC, well the ESC is in a box, so I drilled the box and ran bolts through with loops on the wires, a nut on each side of each loop ensures I have enough surface area contact. Automotive bullet connectors on the battery. I get plenty of current, no excessive heating and it's cheap. and if I run out, I can go get more on a Saturday morning.

[Duuuuuuuude]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

you all are going to think I am nuts, but I just use heavy automotive connectors like you get at the auto parts store. For my motor to ESC, well the ESC is in a box, so I drilled the box and ran bolts through with loops on the wires, a nut on each side of each loop ensures I have enough surface area contact. Automotive bullet connectors on the battery. I get plenty of current, no excessive heating and it's cheap. and if I run out, I can go get more on a Saturday morning.

You're nuts.

[Docwolf]

See!!!!

[agent00111]

Originally Posted by Docwolf

you all are going to think I am nuts, but I just use heavy automotive connectors like you get at the auto parts store. For my motor to ESC, well the ESC is in a box, so I drilled the box and ran bolts through with loops on the wires, a nut on each side of each loop ensures I have enough surface area contact. Automotive bullet connectors on the battery. I get plenty of current, no excessive heating and it's cheap. and if I run out, I can go get more on a Saturday morning.

Paging doctor Filbert Hazelnut...

[AR Fabrication]

I also use 4mm castle bullets for just about everything.