Question on bullet connectors

[BHChieftain]

on your build thread you stated you used a 40w iron to solder with. your gonna need something heavier duty to solder those wires on the Hydra 240.

Yes, I discovered that!!! The 40W iron barely worked to tin the leads, but it worked, so it is strong enough to apply the connectors, but it isn't strong enough to bond the dual hyra wires togethers-- so much metal that it whisks away the heat too fast...

Do you think a 60W iron would work, or do I need to step up to the solder gun?

-Chief

[BHChieftain]

One of the rules for electronics is.

RED HOT FEMALE.

Therefore the + wire from your batteries = RED FEMALE
The - wire from the batteries = Black Male

Input on your ESC
+ = RED MALE
- = BLACK FEMALE

The out put from your ESC going to the motor is the hot side = Female connectors.
Motors will have Male connectors on them.

Larry

Thanks for the tip. Luckily, I did put male connectors on the motor, so the only rework I have to do is lipos and charger connectors...

-Chief

[blackcat26]

Yes, I discovered that!!! The 40W iron barely worked to tin the leads, but it worked, so it is strong enough to apply the connectors, but it isn't strong enough to bond the dual hyra wires togethers-- so much metal that it whisks away the heat too fast...

Do you think a 60W iron would work, or do I need to step up to the solder gun?

-Chief

I bought a 150/230w gun from sears and I have never looked back since. Works great for soldering my 6mm bullets. Much aggravation was caused with my old less powerful gun. So much that I bounced it off the water heater......

[Jeepers]

Yes, I discovered that!!! The 40W iron barely worked to tin the leads, but it worked, so it is strong enough to apply the connectors, but it isn't strong enough to bond the dual hyra wires togethers-- so much metal that it whisks away the heat too fast...

Do you think a 60W iron would work, or do I need to step up to the solder gun?

-Chief

I think a 60 would work, I am not sure,I use a 80 watt iron, I cant stand those solder guns to bulky.
I picked up a really nice Weller 80 watt from OSE but I cant find it in Stevens store.

[MLJones8]

I use 5.5mm bullets and found some 3/8 inch "screw protectors" that fit nicely on the female connector as protective caps.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_137984-37672...ategoryDisplay

Great tip!

There is no reason to cover the negative (male) bullet if the positive (female) bullet is covered as you have done correct?

[m4a1usr]

Great tip!

There is no reason to cover the negative (male) bullet if the positive (female) bullet is covered as you have done correct?

Actually I only cover the male bullet on a pack. Since the female bullet already has heat shrink over the exposed surface only the male (neg lead) has any chance of making contact with anything. I use something similar to what lectraglide recommends but its sized 1/4" to cover the 5.5 male bullet connector. That way between the heat shrink AND the cap/cover on the male bullet the chance of opposing polarities meeting is highly doubtful.

John

[ozzie-crawl]

i use rubber caps they were a throw away item at a electrical manufacturers i worked at

[MLJones8]

Actually I only cover the male bullet on a pack. Since the female bullet already has heat shrink over the exposed surface only the male (neg lead) has any chance of making contact with anything. I use something similar to what lectraglide recommends but its sized 1/4" to cover the 5.5 male bullet connector. That way between the heat shrink AND the cap/cover on the male bullet the chance of opposing polarities meeting is highly doubtful.

John

i use rubber caps they were a throw away item at a electrical manufacturers i worked at

I too am using a rubber cap... However it only fits snug over the female 5.5 connector, this I assume is fine as the female connector is on my positive discharge wire.

- If I didn't cover it w/ something then about 1/64 an inch or so would be exposed. Theres no reason to worry about the negative lead touching anything other than the positive lead, right?

[ozzie-crawl]

it does not matter which one is covered,both negative and positive can create a short
but as long as one is isolated then no circuit can be created.
care needs to be especially taken with carbon fibre in hulls as its conductive,if the pos and neg both make contact with C/F it can short the battery out.
i put my batteries in my boat before i head to the pond, but i leave the caps on till i connect battery to the esc, once finished i replace caps straight away.

[BHChieftain]

I bought a 150/230w gun from sears and I have never looked back since. Works great for soldering my 6mm bullets. Much aggravation was caused with my old less powerful gun. So much that I bounced it off the water heater......

I could not find a 200+ gun anywhere in stock, so I picked up a Weller 140/100 gun, and it worked out fine.

-Chief