Lengthening ESC wires

[chipset35]

I want to lengthen the 2 wires from my ESC, as I need to solder a connector to it, but the wires are too short from the factory and deep inside the aircraft's foam cavity to work with a soldering tool easily.
Is there an electrical connector I can safely use to attach longer wires that do not require soldering?

[fhhuber]

Pull the ESC out of the airplane...

[xviper]

Pull the ESC out of the airplane...

Ditto on that! This is the best solution.
What you're really wanting to do is to find an extension cable from the ESC to the battery. I know of no shops that sell such things. Besides, even if you do find such a shop, chances are, you will not find an extension with the ends on it that you want. You have to make them, so we're talking soldering again and I've already seen you post that you are having some difficulties with this. I think I mentioned this to you earlier ..................... find an adapter. This will give you another 2 to 3 inches of length.

[chipset35]

Ditto on that! This is the best solution.
What you're really wanting to do is to find an extension cable from the ESC to the battery. I know of no shops that sell such things. Besides, even if you do find such a shop, chances are, you will not find an extension with the ends on it that you want. You have to make them, so we're talking soldering again and I've already seen you post that you are having some difficulties with this. I think I mentioned this to you earlier ..................... find an adapter. This will give you another 2 to 3 inches of length.

I was told on this forum not to use an XT60 to EC5 adapter.

[OV10]

I was told on this forum not to use an XT60 to EC5 adapter.

That is one of the issues of forums................. discovering who to believe and not.
One of the things I do is look to see who are posting on a regular basis on a particular subject with credible info.
The two that have made responses to you have met that bar in my book when giving out valid advice in the electrical tech arena.
I too concur with their advice as I am also a electrical tech contributor to this forum.;)
I would be very interested to understand the rationale provided not to use the XT60/EC5 adapter :Thinking:
Best regards,
Warbird Charlie

[fhhuber]

Depends what you are doing...

XT60 is a moderate current plug. Good enoough for 60 amps with well done solder joints. EC5 can reliably handle more than 120 amps.

Each connection (solder joint + bullets + solder joint = 3 connections) is a slight resistance, which reduces max power. Its a VERY SMALL amount if the connections are good.

Deans is really only rated about 35 amps. In good condition with silver soldered joints they can take 100 amps... BVM shipped my 5000+ watt EDFs with Deans soldered on. I conneced up a Deans-4 mm banana bullet adapter and heat shrunk it in place and flew on that for over 5 years. I was pulling enough power through that, that when I tried to get a Wattmeter reading with an Astro Flight (used to be the gold standard for electric power) wattmeter, I melted down the wattmeter. (the wattmeter was rated for 50 volts 100 amps) I saw it read 105 amps before it let out the smoke.

[chipset35]

Ditto on that! This is the best solution.
What you're really wanting to do is to find an extension cable from the ESC to the battery. I know of no shops that sell such things. Besides, even if you do find such a shop, chances are, you will not find an extension with the ends on it that you want. You have to make them, so we're talking soldering again and I've already seen you post that you are having some difficulties with this. I think I mentioned this to you earlier ..................... find an adapter. This will give you another 2 to 3 inches of length.

Ugh, I realized what you meant just now about the adapter.
Unfortunately, I had already committed to soldering an EC5 plug on last week and snipped the XT60 connector off that was factory installed to the ESC.
I ended up using the yellow 2 piece plugs that are crimped to each end to lengthen the ESC wires, then was successfully able to solder and tin the wires to the EC5 connectors I purchased.
Having room to work made all the difference.
So basically, I just used those yellow crimped connector pins to attach a bit of wire length to those wires already attached to the ESC.
Then of course, like I said soldering the wires to the EC5 was easy at this point.
However, I could not keep solder off the outside of the little dimples you fill halfway with solder and then heat the outside out of with the tinned wire inserted into it.
Basically any solder on my soldering gun seemed to get on whatever area I tried to heat up, so all I could do was smooth it out.
They inserted into the EC5 plastic connectors with some force and already started it all up, binded etc.
No explosions!
I do plan in the future to change out the ESC wires again, the reason being the ESC wires are aluminum(silver?)? and the length of wire to the EC5 connector is copper, and of course joined by those 2 piece yellow crimp plug connectors that have a silver/gray metal pin and socket.
Probably best to be all aluminum?
Also, next time I buy an FMS aircraft with a particular type of connector, I am just going to buy a matching battery so I dont have to fiddle faddle

[xviper]

Below is a picture of some of my adapters. I haven't even put them all out in this photo. I've been acquiring them over several years and have been using them for many years. Some I buy from hobby shops and some I make myself. None have failed me yet. Yes, you have to have a little smarts to know what kinds of combinations you should avoid. But let's just say, given your own example: You say you have a plane with XT60 plug on the ESC end. That plane was designed to fly on a certain type of battery. So, whatever kind of battery is recommended for that plane means that the manufacturer considers that the XT60 is adequate for the battery you're going to put into it. Now, you say you have or are going to put on an EC5 plug on your battery. Using an EC5 on the battery and going to the XT60 that came stock on your plane tells me that the manufacturer feels that the battery will work no matter what plug the battery has on it so long as IT's plug can handle the voltage and current.

You'll notice on the far left, what adapter that is. Yes, it's an XT60 female to EC5 male and I use it a lot. I also use adapters for charging when the need arises.

[xviper]

I do plan in the future to change out the ESC wires again, the reason being the ESC wires are aluminum(silver?)? and the length of wire to the EC5 connector is copper, and of course joined by those 2 piece yellow crimp plug connectors that have a silver/gray metal pin and socket.
Probably best to be all aluminum?
Also, next time I buy an FMS aircraft with a particular type of connector, I am just going to buy a matching battery so I dont have to fiddle faddle

Are you sure they are aluminum? Copper is the better conductor. Maybe all you see is the end of the wire where it's been tinned.
If you are going with the philosophy of only buying batteries that will match a given stock ESC plug, you will end up with a lot of batteries that can only be used in one type of plane. Your life will be more expensive than it needs to be and very frustrating.
I'm not sure I've seen those "yellow crimp plug connectors" you are using. Can you post up a picture of one? I'm worried that you are crimping something that shouldn't be crimped.

[chipset35]

Are you sure they are aluminum? Copper is the better conductor. Maybe all you see is the end of the wire where it's been tinned.
If you are going with the philosophy of only buying batteries that will match a given stock ESC plug, you will end up with a lot of batteries that can only be used in one type of plane. Your life will be more expensive than it needs to be and very frustrating.
I'm not sure I've seen those "yellow crimp plug connectors" you are using. Can you post up a picture of one? I'm worried that you are crimping something that shouldn't be crimped.

I cut and stripped the ESC wire and although the original tips seemed to be tinned, the remainder is not as there are loose strands.
To be honest with you, from the start , I should have just purchased the XT60 to EC5 adapter that would have connected the ESC with its XT60 and my admiral battery with its EC5 connector, instead of changing the XT60 out for the EC5 on the ESC wires.
Here is a picture of those yellow connectors:

[fhhuber]

Here is a picture of those yellow connectors:

Those light duty automotive crimp ons... Just no.

[RRHandy]

Those light duty automotive crimp ons... Just no.

I concur on that. R.

[xviper]

Yup, those are automotive bullet connectors - good for 12 volt systems pushing a couple dozen amps. I've used hundreds of those in my early car days. You shouldn't mix auto supplies with RC stuff. Something's gonna blow one of these days.

[fhhuber]

The "film at 11" of the airplane in flames as it heads for the ground would be interesting...

[OV10]

The "film at 11" of the airplane in flames as it heads for the ground would be interesting...

:Scared::Devil::Whew:

[chipset35]

The ones I purchased are Tyco Electronics (TE Connectivity) CPGI-YW-SNAP-CONN-KIT-6 and are rated for 35-50 amps maximum for 12-10 gauge wire, and 15-30 amps maximum for 16-14 gauge wire.
I cannot find the voltage for it, but a similar brand has a 600 volt maximum.
I am going to do the right thing and take rifleman's advice and use his steps to remove the ESC for easy soldering, as I am am good at soldering those EC5 connectors to wires if I have the space to work with.

[Elbee]

Here is a picture of those yellow connectors:

CS35, :Scared:Scares me and I'm fearless. My experience has been to use as heavy duty as is reasonable for weight and size. We are dealing with high current rates and the heat has to go somewhere and somewhere is the highest resistance, right? Best, LB