Proof that direct soldering battery connector to ESC makes a difference

[Bladecpnitro]

I like to apply my soldering iron to the stock battery leads after they've been cut off when fastening the esc leads to the board. That way solder has to melt all the way through the board to the other side to fasten the esc leads to the board.

[NCcraig]

Originally Posted by Bladecpnitro

I like to apply my soldering iron to the stock battery leads after they've been cut off when fastening the esc leads to the board. That way solder has to melt all the way through the board to the other side to fasten the esc leads to the board.

You would be better off completely removing the stock leads from the 3-n-1 instead of cutting them off.

[Bladecpnitro]

Originally Posted by NCcraig

You would be better off completely removing the stock leads from the 3-n-1 instead of cutting them off.

I suppose the wires left in there could leave room for some voids but the way I solder it from the back of the board it looks pretty solid on both sides. I could snatch the cut wires out I suppose.

Man I did the battery connector mod right after my mild brushless motor fell out in flight and never did get it going again because my motor wires were damaged when the motor fell out. After much x 100 tinkering the motor died for good. I've rewound it several times and checking with an ohm meter everything checks out good on the rewound motor but it still won't run.

I still have yet to see the benefits of moving the wires but hope to soon. I have a 16,600KV motor and new esc coming just in case my esc got fried when the motor died. I have a feeling the esc blew too but if not will have a spare.

[Miracle Boy]

Originally Posted by NCcraig

Just a heads up. The main reason most are getting motor bogging is not the wire used for the battery connection on the 3-n-1 but mostly the crappy QC and soldering from HH. Case in point. I removed the silicone that surrounds the battery wires where they are soldered to the board on a brand new, love that new helicopter smell nano I did a conversion on.

Attachment 397859

As you can see, well kind of due to my crappy camera, the wires are hanging by the strands and solder has not flown from one side of the board to the other. I actually spent some time removing the silicone from inside the holes of the board that the wires go through. So after some use, this heli would start showing signs of bogging as the wires frayed and power is lost due to the quality of the soldering job from the factory.

NCCraig is quite right about the poor soldered joints on these 3 in 1 boards, I have found all of the 3 in 1 boards I have looked at to be just as bad.

However, It's not totally down to HH's quality control though. The trouble is that it's a lot harder to create properly flowed solder joints in today's electronics manufacturing processes where it is now (thanks to the Health and Safety boffins) pretty much illegal to produce circuit boards in the E.U. that are soldered with lead/ tin in it.

Lead free solder is harder to work with than lead solder as it melts at a higher temperature, and just doesn't flow nearly as well a lead solder, creating dull looking joints that look like cold solder joints.

I would recommend to anyone that they remove the battery wires from the main board, wick the lead free solder from the PTH (Pin Through Hole) pads on the board, re tin the battery leads with either 60/40 lead solder, or 63/37 lead solder and then re-solder the leads back in with lead solder. You'll get nice gleaming, properly flowed joints and be sure you've got a good connection there.

[unit3890]

What kinda battery life are you guys getting using the 25c Eflites after moving the battery leads to the ESC? And of course your TC and the voltage of the battery after the flight. I cant get my batteries to fly past 3.80v. It bogs so hard it cant keep itself in the air.

[Bladecpnitro]

That's about where my mild with stock lipos always ended up 3.82 are there abouts. I see no point if flying it once its performance falls off. A lot of folks are liking the extreme 200 mah 35 C lipos in the mild.

[Miracle Boy]

I changed out the stock battery connector wires with some 24 AWG wires last night. I would like to note that I had good stock wires with no fraying before I swapped out the wires.

I just swapped them out as an experiment.

I can say that I have seen little or no improvement in "pop" when doing pitch pumps etc. If anything, it might be slightly worse due to the additional weight.

I'm actually thinking about changing the wires back over as I'm finding that the thicker battery lead wires are getting in the way of my servos mechanical movement of that side of the Nano Anybody else found this?

[bobswika]

I did not yet try connecting directly to the battery but I can say from watching the videos my nano appears to have just as much pop as any of them. I figure why mess with what's working so well.

[Smok1n]

Originally Posted by Miracle Boy

I changed out the stock battery connector wires with some 24 AWG wires last night. I would like to note that I had good stock wires with no fraying before I swapped out the wires.

I just swapped them out as an experiment.

I can say that I have seen little or no improvement in "pop" when doing pitch pumps etc. If anything, it might be slightly worse due to the additional weight.

I'm actually thinking about changing the wires back over as I'm finding that the thicker battery lead wires are getting in the way of my servos mechanical movement of that side of the Nano Anybody else found this?

Yeah, 24 AWG is probably a bit of overkill. I used 26 AWG, but it's not silicone insulated so it's a bit stiff. I don't think the heavier wire OR connecting directly to the ESC made much of a difference in resistance for me, it was already performing great. But replacing the stock battery connector did fix the intermittent total power loss - mostly. I still get this, but not nearly as often as before. I think the connection at the battery is still breaking due to the stiff wire exerting a pull on the connector. Gonna get some better wire and a new connector from Dylan one of these days and hook it back up to the stock board location.

[Miracle Boy]

Originally Posted by Smok1n

Yeah, 24 AWG is probably a bit of overkill. I used 26 AWG, but it's not silicone insulated so it's a bit stiff. I don't think the heavier wire OR connecting directly to the ESC made much of a difference in resistance for me, it was already performing great. But replacing the stock battery connector did fix the intermittent total power loss - mostly. I still get this, but not nearly as often as before. I think the connection at the battery is still breaking due to the stiff wire exerting a pull on the connector. Gonna get some better wire and a new connector from Dylan one of these days and hook it back up to the stock board location.

O.K. thanks.

When I fitted the 24 AWG silicone wire to the battery I used a 2 pin Molex Picoblade connector to the battery. These are the ones that Dylan recommends using and they seem good to me so far.

I have some 24 AWG wire that's silicone insulated, and some with the stiffer non-silicone insulation & it's worth noting that although the silicone wire is a lot more flexible, it is a bit heavier than the stiffer non-silicone stuff. The actual thicknes of the silicone coating is thicker than that of the non-silicone, so perhaps that's where the weight difference is.

I'm gonna leave mine as is for the moment and do some further testing before I decide whether to go back to the stock battery lead or not.