Connecting battery and motor to esc

[hansmoolman]

Can anyone please help.

I recently bought my very first RC car and Im having trouble with the wiring. I know how to connect the wires and where they all should go, but the problem is the actual connecting of the wires. Ive tried soldering the red and black wires leading from the esc to the battery to a pair of Deans connectors but with no luck. I tin both the wire and the Deans connector but when I try to fuse the 2 together, nothing happens. The solder on both ends dont melt. The wire leading to the esc only gets red hot and I have to stop because I fear the heat being transferred down the cable might damage the esc.

So a friend suggested that I swap the connectors on the battery out for a pair of these (I think their called spade connectors?).

The connectors on the battery end will be insulated from one another to make sure they dont touch and short out.

And if this is possible, I want to use the same type of connectors on the wires leading from the esc to the motor.
Like shown here. The connector fits tight over the connection on the motor. So no fear of it falling off while driving.

Can anyone tell me if this is possible or not. What are the downsides to doing all of this?

 

[bigchad]

i WOULD STICK TO THE DEANS CONNECTOR INSTEAD OF SPADE CONNECTORS
OR SOLDER DIRECT TO THE MOTOR TAPS AND i USUALLY TIN BOTH WIRES AND THE DEAN TAB BEFORE SOLDERING THEM TOGETHER

YOUTUBE LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYhmzY5wQAA



HOPE THIS HELP

 

[crawlhog]

stick with the deans the spade connectors are the lazy mans way, dont listen to your friend:evil:

 

[AG74683]

from your pictures, it looks like your soldering the battery cables to the spade connectors, NOT the motor cables.

Also looks like your ESC is designed for a Brushless motor (3 wires instead of two) and your motor connection cables are already finished with female bullets.

 

[Greatscott]

from your pictures, it looks like your soldering the battery cables to the spade connectors, NOT the motor cables.

Also looks like your ESC is designed for a Brushless motor (3 wires instead of two) and your motor connection cables are already finished with female bullets.

Read this first:

http://www.castlecreations.com/support/documents/drivers_ed_guide.pdf

AG is correct, you have the leads that connect to the battery connected to the motor.

Page six talks about connectors, I don't think the ones they are talking about are the ones you have. I'm pretty sure they won't handle the power, will melt and start a fire...

 

[hansmoolman]

I would much prefer to solder the connectors but the trouble im having is with the actual soldering. When i try to solder the tinned wire to the tinned Deans, the wire leading from the ESc to the connector that Im trying to solder gets so hot that you cant touch it with your fingers. Im afraid that all this heat will fry my ESC. And the wire and Deans wont actually solder together. They dont even melt!

Could it be the solder that Im using is the wrong kind?

 

[hansmoolman]

from your pictures, it looks like your soldering the battery cables to the spade connectors, NOT the motor cables.

Also looks like your ESC is designed for a Brushless motor (3 wires instead of two) and your motor connection cables are already finished with female bullets.

Oops thats my mistake. Had to take the pics in a rush this morning before college. Didnt pay attention to the orientation of the wires. Just wanted to show the connectors more than anything.

 

[hansmoolman]

Also looks like your ESC is designed for a Brushless motor (3 wires instead of two) and your motor connection cables are already finished with female bullets.

Yeah I was wondering about that too but the Driver Ed of the ESC you can connect it to a brushed motor, all you do is leave the white wire "dangling"

 

[86zuk]

Do you have solder for copper pipe, solder for metal, or solder for electrical work? You need the one for electrcal work and if the iron is a cheap one you can't get it all to melt and stick, I had the same problem till I started useing a freinds iron has gets hot enugh to melt it all. It also helps to put some solder on the iron itself then try to melt the solder on the wire and deans.

 

[AG74683]

Yeah I was wondering about that too but the Driver Ed of the ESC you can connect it to a brushed motor, all you do is leave the white wire "dangling"

Well I learned something today, interesting to know that you can use a brushless ESC for both.

What iron are you using to solder? From what Ive read, the cheap radioshack ones are not really that great when it comes to our type of stuff.

 

[jojo303d]

it doesnt mater what kind of iron you use just as long it gets hot enough I use a cheapo $12 iron from wallmart. use a flux pen the solder will stick like a mother i had the same problem even when I used fluxed solder

 

[Greatscott]

I would much prefer to solder the connectors but the trouble im having is with the actual soldering. When i try to solder the tinned wire to the tinned Deans, the wire leading from the ESc to the connector that Im trying to solder gets so hot that you cant touch it with your fingers. Im afraid that all this heat will fry my ESC. And the wire and Deans wont actually solder together. They dont even melt!

Could it be the solder that Im using is the wrong kind?

You're not trying to hold the parts together with your hands when you are soldering, are you???

Get something like this:

Or...
http://thejigsup.net/

Also, you want your work as stable as possible when soldering. If it moves before the solder goes to a solid it will cause a cold solder joint, which increase resistance (bad), and are prone to failure (also bad).

 

[AX10wannabe]

i dont solder nothing i crimp some kind of connector on the ends so i can unplug them anytime for any reason.

 

[9700trevor]

all my joint to the motor are direct solder less resistance and alot neater looking also. I also use solder that is from a computer shop that us meant for electronics

 

[hansmoolman]

Well I learned something today, interesting to know that you can use a brushless ESC for both.

What iron are you using to solder? From what Ive read, the cheap radioshack ones are not really that great when it comes to our type of stuff.

Yeah you can use the new Sidewinder SV2 with a brushed or brushless system.
As for the soldering iron its a 80Watt iron that I borrowed of a family member. I think it might the type of solder Im using that might be causing the problem? Did not check the type of solder, its all still a learning process for me

 

[hansmoolman]

Do you have solder for copper pipe, solder for metal, or solder for electrical work? You need the one for electrcal work and if the iron is a cheap one you can't get it all to melt and stick, I had the same problem till I started useing a freinds iron has gets hot enugh to melt it all. It also helps to put some solder on the iron itself then try to melt the solder on the wire and deans.

I think its the type of solder Ive been using. And the iron gets plenty hot. So Ill try to get a diff solder and have a go at it again

 

[hansmoolman]

i dont solder nothing i crimp some kind of connector on the ends so i can unplug them anytime for any reason.

I thought about crimping connectors on the ends as well, but Im afraid that the connectors wont be able to handle the currents and fry the esc or something? But some removable connections would be good in case something needs to be swapped out at any stage. Would solve a lot of hassle unsoldering and resoldering joints

 

[SINister]

60/40 rosin core solder is what you want. Everything else your doing/using sounds good. x2 on the long list of reason why not to use crimp on style connecters.

 

[Rook82]

Will what you are doing work, Probably. The bad part is the connectors you are trying to use have way more resistance then a Deans or Traxxas connector. So there will be a voltage drop (basically less power) in comparison to one of the RC connectors. Crimp on ends tend to loosen over time especially in applications where the wires get moved around such as when you plug or unplug your battery, etc. The good thing is crawling and high turn motors used in crawlers do not pull very much power most of the time. Hence the long run times we get compared to a race vehicle. So it may get you by till you could get it done properly. Most hobby stores can do them for you. Or if you come across someone with a better iron or some better solder then you can put your better connectors on. I would definitely try and do that at some point as the connectors you are trying to use now will loosen eventually and keep falling apart. Good luck"thumbsup"

 

[Greatscott]

i dont solder nothing i crimp some kind of connector on the ends so i can unplug them anytime for any reason.

:shock:

That is why you solder on high currect, low resistance connectors, so stuff can be disconnected in a hurry.

I run Deans for my battery - ESC connections (this prevents reversing polarity by mistake). I run power poles for my motors, so if I need to reverse the polarity I can.

As stated, crimp connectors generate a lot resistance, that resistance is normally disipated as heat, you get enough heat and the connector insolation will melt, electronics will short, fires will start, dogs and cats will start living together... MASS HYSTERIA!!!!