Tail Motor Wire Question

[1340]

Has anyone done a tail motor replacement?
How have you routed the wires?
Do the wires NEED to go through the tail boom or can they be attached to the outside
so the connector doesn't need to be taken apart in the future?
Thanks.

[stevebaker]

At 2:20, don't press down on the connector like he hid or you'll just bend the pins. Instead, push each pin up using pliers and gripping right next to the connector.



You could go round the boom if the wire was long enough, like a lot of us do with the MCPX. It's not too bad routing through the boom after a bit of practice.

I'm tempted to fit a connector near the end to make swapping motors even easier. Having said that, if I ever bend the tail motor shaft again then I'll just swap the shaft and leave the wire/motor in place.

[shinybrute]

Originally Posted by 1340

Has anyone done a tail motor replacement?
How have you routed the wires?
Do the wires NEED to go through the tail boom or can they be attached to the outside
so the connector doesn't need to be taken apart in the future?
Thanks.

yeah you could do that...I think others have done this. you could zip the wires to the boom and route it threw the frame to the mrs. but......these wires are tiny and will break easy upon impact...if your blades hit the ground they will strike the boom and ultimately cut these tiny wires. ive changed a few now and have gotten pretty good at it..if you can run them through the boom do it. align new this would be a problem and protected them the only way they could through the boom!!

[1340]

Originally Posted by shinybrute

these wires are tiny and will break easy upon impact

Yeah, I guess for the number of times it needs to be done it's better through the boom.

[000pitch]

I agree. The tail motor wires are incredibly delicate and can short out very easily.

Plus the tail motor wires still need to be separated to travel through the frame and out.

That is the first step... then they go through the tail boom itself.

[DPW]

Originally Posted by 1340

Has anyone done a tail motor replacement?
How have you routed the wires?
Do the wires NEED to go through the tail boom or can they be attached to the outside
so the connector doesn't need to be taken apart in the future?
Thanks.

Yes
I have replace my T motor wires a few times.
Now
Stagger the pins buy folding 2 wires. Once you do that it is super simple to push thru the tail tube. I would not attach the wires to the outside. Too much wind to much abrasion. On my Blade stuff you have to add shrink tube to try to protect the wires which is a real big pain.
Now
I have pulled a wire from a pin so I picked up Align's
150 Motor Plug & Pin Set HMP15M01 $7.99
The above set was not really needed but I replaced my M motor plug with the above removable pin pug.
Also
All Align pins and the pins from the set are identical so pin change is simple.

[stevebaker]

I've been using the tail motor wires round the boom on my MCPXs for years without issue. I just add a bit of tape here and there to prevent movement etc. Also route the wires so that a boom strike won't take them out.

When routing the wires through the boom, I actually find it quicker to desolder the plugs first and then quickly pull the wires through. With the plugs there's high chance you'll pull one of them off anyways.
I'm no longer using the black separator part of the connector - I just plug the wires straight into the female on the ESC board.

[000pitch]

If you do route them outside... the wires must be wrapped anywhere near metal friction points.

I learned this the hard way. The metal will rub off the coating on the wires, the wire will short out on the metal, and the wire lead will explode off at the terminal. You heli will spin around and hit the ground.

Its happened to be thrice.. before I started protecting those tiny wires.

[1340]

Originally Posted by stevebaker

I'm no longer using the black separator part of the connector - I just plug the wires straight into the female on the ESC board.

I thought about putting a piece of electical tape lengthwise first, then another over the wires. Protects the wires on both sides, boom side and outside.

stevebaker, have you had any problems caused by not using the black separator?
Thanks.

[PeterQ]

After installing a new tail motor I had smoke comming out of the tail boom area. Then two of the wires snapped while uninstalling the tailmotor and pulling the wires back to check for damage.

After this I replaced the fragile wires with some thin insulated cables I found inside an old PC. They easily go through the tailboom and the little hole in the frame. It means 3 extra solder joints closer to the tail motor, but it seems to work well.