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Difficulty connecting ESC to Motor


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You should only have to make that connection once. Depending on the motor and ESC size these could involve a number of different connector sizes 2mm, 3.5mm and 4mm are common. For the sizes that you are speaking of maybe even something finer. Personally I'd consider the wire in the typical servo extension lead far too thin to use for motor power. Those thin wires aren;t really much use for more than a couple of amps.

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2 hours ago, Terry Plumridge 1 said:

I am using 2S Lipo and a 10 amp ESC. The bullet connectors on both ESC and motor leads are too big and very difficult to disconnect. Would it be ok to use servo extension lead connectors instead? They are 3 wire and easy to seperate.


Short answer - no, definitely not!

 

Long answer - Wires need to be the right diameter for the current they need to carry. If in doubt consult an online data sheet such as this which gives the rough current capacity if wires of different diameter. Always size with a bit of excess current carrying capacity to avoid any chance of a failure.

 

 

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As everyone else has said, definitely don't attempt to use a servo connector for an esc to motor connection.  With small electric models I tend to use 2mm bullet connectors but, as the connection is rarely (if ever) disconnected I've also not bothered with connectors at all and simply soldered the wires together once I've determined rotation direction is correct. 

 

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On a small model where space is tight you could probably solder the three connections permanently using heat-shrink to insulate the joints, after all you're unlikely to want to disconnect the motor - ESC anyway.

First make one permanent joint & two (insulated) temporary joints, check the direction the motor is turning, reverse the temp joints if necessary. When the running direction is established making the joints permanent.  

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9 hours ago, PatMc said:

On a small model where space is tight you could probably solder the three connections permanently using heat-shrink to insulate the joints, after all you're unlikely to want to disconnect the motor - ESC anyway.

First make one permanent joint & two (insulated) temporary joints, check the direction the motor is turning, reverse the temp joints if necessary. When the running direction is established making the joints permanent.  

 

Yup. Perfect solution. If you DO need to disconnect, just a swife of a knife, and a dab of the soldering iron...

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Just an observation but most simple planes are likely to suffer damage from "unwanted contact with the ground" and need to be repaired well before any electric component is likely to need replacing.

For security and to save weight, particularly where space is limited, I tend to solder and shrink wrap every 'in line' connection except where the plane has to be taken apart for transport. 

After all the only thing that must be disconnected after each flight is the battery. 

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