850mx motor bullets

[Excalibur3]

If I'm understanding this they come with 4mm bullets? And my 700top kit came with the 160hv and 4mm female bullets to put on. It looks to be impossible for those to be soldered onto those bullets. The wires are huge.

[puppydog_taz]

That's one thing I don't understand why they use those tiny bullets. I switched mine to 6.5mm. It looks kinda funny with those tiny motor wires in the large connector, but it has to be done with the 8 gauge wire on the castle esc.

[K2Freak]

+1.

5.5mm or larger should be used.

[vtown nick]

All of the kit was a pleasure till this part........ Mine turned out ugly but a very solid connection. Someday I will swap to my castle 6mm bullets but that will be a careful operation on the motor end.

[K2Freak]

There is nothing hard about changing motor connectors. Just be sure to unsolder rather than cutting the wires!

[puppydog_taz]

Originally Posted by K2Freak

There is nothing hard about changing motor connectors. Just be sure to unsolder rather than cutting the wires!

I agree, everyone at this level should know how to solder connectors. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but now I regularly change connectors without any thought about it. I even shorten servo leads now instead of just folding them up. A good solder iron is the key. Many people try do get buy with the cheap or too low wattage. When dealing with 8 and 10 gauge wire, you need a good iron.

[vtown nick]

Originally Posted by K2Freak

There is nothing hard about changing motor connectors. Just be sure to unsolder rather than cutting the wires!

Originally Posted by puppydog_taz

I agree, everyone at this level should know how to solder connectors. I was a bit apprehensive at first, but now I regularly change connectors without any thought about it. I even shorten servo leads now instead of just folding them up. A good solder iron is the key. Many people try do get buy with the cheap or too low wattage. When dealing with 8 and 10 gauge wire, you need a good iron.

Totally agree, I use a really nice digital solder station. I just don't like messing with the align motors. When I built my goblin and discovered Quantum lets the end user solder connectors on the motor I had a different opinion on Align forcing you to use or change later. If castle runs monster wire cutting it to fit the 4mm seems counter productive.

[K2Freak]

Yup. Long standing gripe. Shipping motor and esc that can't share the included connectors...

[atkin]

Once I cut my motor wires to shorten them (on a plank) I used aspirin and an old soldering iron tip to burn the wire clean. The fumes are pretty toxic (I did it in the garage, wore a mask, then ran away from the garage )

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...18&postcount=5

[rhodesengr]

Originally Posted by Excalibur3

If I'm understanding this they come with 4mm bullets? And my 700top kit came with the 160hv and 4mm female bullets to put on. It looks to be impossible for those to be soldered onto those bullets. The wires are huge.

seems like folks have you covered but I'll add my 2 cents. I don't like the Align bullets anyway. I used them on my 550 and they were really hard to put together. The Castle ones seems much better and they have various sizes.

Each strand of the motor wires is separately insulated so if you cut the wires shorter, you better have a way to get that insulation off. If you just unsolder the original bullet, you will have a much easier time of it. You end up with a tinned end that you can re-solder into any bullet.

I strongly advise that you do not cut the motors wires. It turns out, I am working with magnet/motor wire at work and I need to be able to strip that kind of wire. It is not easy or inexpensive. There is a company called The Eraser Company that specializes in strippers for magnet/motor wire. They have a chemical bath called Dip Strip which is molten alkali salts heated to 700 degrees and they have various motorized strippers that basically grind off the insulation even down to small wire like 29 gauge. However, everything they sell is hundreds to a few thousand dollars so not really practical for the average hobbyist. The motorized stripper I bought for work was "on sale" for over $600.

Soldering: There have been numerous threads about which soldering iron to use. I got to say I have been loving my butane Portasol 125. It is just fantastic on EC5's and 10 gauge wire.

[Excalibur3]

Well I just ordered castle 6.5 mm bullets. They look like they'll do the job nicely. I just wonder if they will be sloppy due to the holes they have in the cups. Anyone know why they have holes in each side ?

[K2Freak]

For soldering...

[rhodesengr]

I could do without the holes. I can see having one hole if you solder horizontally but I have been doing bullets and EC5's vertically. Solder does tend to squirt out the hole when I plunge the tinned wire in. I sometimes have to file the excess solder off. I put heat shrink on mine once I know the direction is correct so a little messy solder leakage is not too big a deal.

[K2Freak]

I hear ya. I discovered that if you put the iron on the hole it melts the solder like butter, but I just use ec5s now too...

[rhodesengr]

Originally Posted by K2Freak

I hear ya. I discovered that if you put the iron on the hole it melts the solder like butter, but I just use ec5s now too...

I've been soldering for literally 45 years but I really never had any real training. I have just made stuff up as I go along. I am sure my methods are not "mil-spec". I think the idea of the hole is that is where the solder goes in. I think you are supposed to heat the connector with the iron and when it is hot enough, you touch the solder to the hole and it wicks in.

But I have not been doing them that way. I put the connector vertical in wood block, heat it up, add some solder into the cup, plunge the tinned wire in, and keep heating until I see the solder in the wire reflows. Then I remove the heat and cool quickly with a damp sponge. If solder leaks out a hole or goes over the top, I just file it down.

[AlarmedBread]

Take a pencil and rub graphite where you don't want solder to stick.

[Excalibur3]

Originally Posted by AlarmedBread

Take a pencil and rub graphite where you don't want solder to stick. [emoji106]

Oh that's a cool trick

[semperfib400]

I just put a set of the castle 6.5mm ones on mine. Very nice set of bullets... nice and snug but not too tight. The 6.5mm is the smallest you can go in my opinion and still solder them on there easily enough.

I actually cut and re-tined the wires on the ESC so I could make the ends nice and "tight" by twisting them a little. Then the castle ones literally slide right over the top making a nice joint!

[K2Freak]

welcome to the club...

[Excalibur3]

Well I bit the bullet took out my mini torch and went to town. I converted the edge 160 and 850mx to all castle 6.5mm bullets. Man they are pretty sweet way better than stock IMHO.