Seaking 180 installation help please

[Nutbar]

Hey, guys! I am about to order a Seaking 180 amp ESC and a Leopard 4082 1600kv motor. I am planning on using two 3s lipos connected in series for a total of 6s. I am also planning on using Traxxas connectors between the lipos and esc. My question is, what other wires/connectors will I need to install everything? I mean, will I need to order extra wire, or connectors, or what? I'm confused, and I don't want to get the new motor and esc, and then find out I don't have the right parts to even install them in my Spartan! :doh: Thanks in advance for all responses! :biggrin:

[Make-a-Wake]

Do NOT use traxxas connectors......................5.5mm bullets minimum.

[tlandauer]

Do NOT use traxxas connectors......................5.5mm bullets minimum.

:iagree: Further more, if you use Traxxas or Deans, you need to make a Y for the series connection, ditch the idea with these connectors. Like Make-a-Wake said, in these applications, 5.5mm is considered minimum. And you will see how easy it is to connect the batteries to the ESC.

[stadiumyamaha]

+1 the Traxxas handle the amp draw but are a pain in the butt to work with. The only good thing is you can buy an off the shelf y connector.
Go with bullets. Super easy to work with.

[KartRacer]

Nutbar
Just going to throw my .02 cents in here. Go to 6.5 bullets, hardly any more money and when your hobby turns into crazy obsession your batteries are ready to go :)
By the way they are available here at OSE and Steven takes real good care of his customers. Good luck.

[Kramerr]

Even the EC3 connectors handle more current than the Traxxas connectors.

[Nutbar]

Dude....no one has even answered my question yet. Here's my problem. I am a newb to all of this upgrading stuff. The stock esc has THREE WIRES. The Seaking 180 has TWO WIRES.

1. Do I need to buy extra wire in order to make a series connection between the esc and batteries?

2. If so, what SIZE/GUAGE wire do I need?

3. Do I need to order bullet connectors for the esc to connect it to the motor?

4. If so, what SIZE bullets do I need?

5. So, I should use 6.5mm bullets to connect the esc to the lipos?? 5.5mm? 8mm?

6. Could I use EC5's instead?

7. Am I going to need to shorten any of the wires on anything?

8. What is so wrong about using Traxxas connectors anyway? Does ANYONE use them in the Spartan w/upgraded motor/esc/prop?

[stadiumyamaha]

You can use either 5.5 or 6.5 in that setup. Pick one and stick with it.
You will need to put bullets on all three of the motor wires and on the esc side to the motor as well.
If your running in series while using bullets just plug one neg battery cable to the neg side in the esc. Plug the pos of the second battery in to the pos of the esc and then connect the remaining wire on each of the batteries together.

[tlandauer]

Dude....no one has even answered my question yet. Here's my problem. I am a newb to all of this upgrading stuff. The stock esc has THREE WIRES. The Seaking 180 has TWO WIRES.

1. Do I need to buy extra wire in order to make a series connection between the esc and batteries?

2. If so, what SIZE/GUAGE wire do I need?

3. Do I need to order bullet connectors for the esc to connect it to the motor?

4. If so, what SIZE bullets do I need?

5. So, I should use 6.5mm bullets to connect the esc to the lipos?? 5.5mm? 8mm?

6. Could I use EC5's instead?

7. Am I going to need to shorten any of the wires on anything?

8. What is so wrong about using Traxxas connectors anyway? Does ANYONE use them in the Spartan w/upgraded motor/esc/prop?
Dood, no offense, if you were this clear, some of your questions perhaps would have been answered.
1. Is your Spartan new? Or did you buy from somebody and wanting to up-grade. ( Couldn't understand why you say there are three wires on the stock ESC)
2. Every ESC ( not talking those that have two wires for each pos. & neg.---Schulze or earlier CC ) has two sides, the one side with three wires gets to connect with the motor, the other side with two wires gets to connect with the battery(s). You say the stock ESC has three wires , assuming you are refering to the battery side, look closely and you will see there are only TWO wires---one red, one black coming out of the ESC battery posts. There is another jumper wire that connects (bridges) the two Traxxas plugs---that is what I said about the "Y" in my previous post which you will have to make if you so choose Traxxas plug. Any plug that has two polarities combined into ONE unit will need this laid out. Otherwise you would not be able to connect batteries in series config. having said that, I believe you can buy a ready made "Y" so if you solder the two wires to ONE SINGLE plug, it is possible to run your set-up.
3. I personally never use anything thinner than 10 gauge wire for motor-ESC connection, buy good quality wires, OSE has them.
4.Some motors come with 5.5 mm male, if you want to stick with the "minimum", then you need to get 5.5 mm female bullet to solder to the ESC's side which has the THREE wires!
5. EC3, Traxxas are fine for RC cars/trucks, boats have much higher amp draw, the demand is higher, ever see fireman using GARDEN HOSE??
6. I would not be able to tell you exactly how much/or if you need to shorten any wires. The shorter the more efficient and cooler it will run, but you need to determine that once you put everything in the hull.

[Nutbar]

Ok. First, I want to apologize for being a little crotchety earlier. I'm just getting frustrated by all of the confusing, conflicting info on the internet about this topic. So, I think I have decided to go with 6.5mm bullets from the ESC to the lipos, and I now understand how to connect the ESC to the lipos in series. However, I still have a question about connecting the ESC to the motor.

1. Doesn't the motor come with bullets already installed?

2. If so, what size are the bullets?

3. If the motor bullets are a different size than 6.5mm, do I need to change them, or should I just put matching bullets on the ESC, so I can connect the ESC to the motor?

4. I read somewhere that u are NOT supposed to cut motor wires because they are "part of the wind". Is this true? Thanks again for everyone's help! :thumbup:

[Rocstar]

Match all your bullets to the motor to keep things simple, they typically come with them installed. 5.5mm is really all you need and it's best to not cut the motor leads as they are extensions of the motor windings on the Leo.

[stadiumyamaha]

If I remember correctly the leopards come with bullets to match the motor but they are smaller connectors.
I would put the 6.5 on the motor and esc while your doing the other side and batts. Just desolder the bullets off of the motor and re tin the wires using fresh solder and you'll be fine.

[Make-a-Wake]

What do you mean by "the stock has three wires"? What part of the ESC has three wires? The T180 should have the exact same amount of wires, two on batt side and three on motor side.

[KartRacer]

Was it used. Maybe someone took the motor wires off of the ESC. If so the tabs should be there. 5 wires total, no exception.
And I agree make all plugs the same size.

[Nutbar]

What do you mean by "the stock has three wires"? What part of the ESC has three wires? The T180 should have the exact same amount of wires, two on batt side and three on motor side.

Sorry for the confusion. There are only two wires from my stock esc to the lipos. What I meant by the "third" wire on the stock esc was the series "y" connecting "jumper" wire between the two connectors. When u get a Spartan, the esc, and everything else is hooked up already, which is why I bought it cuz I don't know much about boats and would rather spend more time using it than building it, but I want to run on 6s reliably, so I've decided to do the recommended motor/esc upgrade, but whenever I look at the pictures for the Seaking ESC, it appears to not have the same "three wires" like the stock one, so, consequently, I was confused about whether or not I was gonna have to buy extra wire, or if it came with extra wire, or what, which was, basically, my original question of this post along with not being sure if the esc came with bullets, and if not, what size bullets I would need that match the motor.

See, I didn't want to just order the motor and esc, and then get all excited when they arrived just to find out that I could not just "plug and play", and in fact, I should've ordered extra wires, extra/different connectors, and had a bunch of cutting, desoldering and soldering to do just to make everything work. I'm trying to be efficient, plan ahead, predict, and prevent future problems with this upgrade.

1. So, 6.5mm should work well all around, Lipos to ESC and ESC to motor?

2. If I am planning on using two sets of lipos, and 6.5mm all around, then that means I will need eight pairs of bullets total?

[Make-a-Wake]

5.5's are plenty for that setup and they can be bought for alot less than 6.5's. I use 5.5's on all my boats/batts, even the 10s mono, but at my parallel connection I go to 8mm as well as the motor leads.

[Nutbar]

5.5's are plenty for that setup and they can be bought for alot less than 6.5's. I use 5.5's on all my boats/batts, even the 10s mono, but at my parallel connection I go to 8mm as well as the motor leads.

1. So, you are saying I should use 5.5's for batt to ESC, but 8mm for motor to ESC?

2. What do you mean by your "parallel connection"? Your ESC to motor connection?

[Make-a-Wake]

I use 5.5's on all my lipos and motors. The only time I use 8's is for my big Castle 2028 motor leads, and for the parallel connection which is one 8mm splitting off to two 5.5mms. You can use 5.5's all the way around and you will be just fine.

[tlandauer]

I use 5.5's on all my lipos and motors. The only time I use 8's is for my big Castle 2028 motor leads, and for the parallel connection which is one 8mm splitting off to two 5.5mms. You can use 5.5's all the way around and you will be just fine.
This is great advice and you can pick up these 5.5mm plug in quantity of 10 per pack for a saving. I used larger plugs for 10 ga. wire when I had to make extention between motor and ESC, and that is on a Delta Force 45 Sniper using Neu 2230 with a Shulze ESC, 12s set up.
btw, Leopard motors come with 5.5 male plugs ( at least mine did when ordered here from OSE) , now, in the round box , there are three female plugs in a little plastic zip bag, use THOSE on your ESC, as I find that the ones you buy bulk have a somewhat hard time mating with the ones already on the motor. I did not pay attention and didn't see those three plugs in the motor box!

[Nutbar]

Ok, I think I got it figured out now. I ordered my motor from South River RC Boats cuz OSE was out of stock. It arrived today with 5.5s already installed on the motor, and three matching female bullets for the ESC. So, that should be good to go. However, I jumped the gun and ordered nine pairs of 6.5mm bullets from OSE for my ESC to batt connections, and they arrived today too. Should I just use them for the ESC to batt connections, or order 5.5's instead?

[KartRacer]

You have them , use them. Everyone has mentioned " headroom". I think the extra size of the bullets fit here.
Good luck with you setup.

[Make-a-Wake]

To keep the Battery situation simple, use the 5.5's for those and the Batt leads from the ESC, use the 6.5's for motor to ESC:thumbup1:

[Nutbar]

Simple? Isn't that more complicated since I would have to desolder the 5.5s off the motor? Besides, will it make a difference where the 6.5s go, especially since I'll still be using the 5.5s also?

[dana]

I've noticed that the 6.5mm have slightly larger diameter but are shorter than the 5.5. So it seems as tho the surface area of 6.5 contact may be less or the same as the smaller 5.5. Is it really worth it? I dunno

[tlandauer]

You need to ask yourself what are your immediate future plans?
I like both Make-a-Wake and Dana's response, here is why:
If you have ambition to go to bigger set ups, you might want the "head room" for your ESC, that is saying you will use 6.5mm for all future ESC to motor connections ( with the possibility that you will use this particular ESC in another boat ), it is actually not so hard to de-solder the plugs from the motor, NEVER cut it, the wires are extention from the windings and it's hard to solder the lacquered wires ( Hard to strip them clean for proper soldering).
I have all my batteries using 5.5mm plugs, that way I stream line my charger wires. The 6.5mm is shorter and for me I prefer the longer plug ---it is easier on my fingers .
just my $.02

[lenny]

5.5 All the way,
If you had a 8s setup or higher and are pulling high amps,
Then 6 mm to 8mm may be needed at cells to esc and esc to motor 5.5 should be good.

[Make-a-Wake]

I've noticed that the 6.5mm have slightly larger diameter but are shorter than the 5.5. So it seems as tho the surface area of 6.5 contact may be less or the same as the smaller 5.5.

Correct!!

[Make-a-Wake]

and what I'm saying is to use 5.5's on all your batts and ESC batt leads...........and your charging plugs.................get 'em all the same!! Then if you need to beef up on a certain motor you can make adapters, series, parallel whatever and go with those to use on all your boats.........just one set is all you need. If you must, use the 6.5's on the motor to ESC connections.