do I really need 5.5mm connectors

[JrValente]

I agree. When i changed over my mystic 29 motor bullets, i hit one wire with my hakko 937 and in a half second the wire came out of the bullet cup. It was barely soldered. I would guarantee it would have left me stranded. Now my mystic is running 5.5s not that they are neded for stock setup but rather to streamline the connectors throughout the boat.

[Skullcracken]

Hey Pepper,
I have 4mm on all my motor connectors. Here's the reason todays fun was cut short:

I suspect I may start switching to 5.5mm on my motors.

For what it's worth...

That's just a bad solder. Wire is clean as a whistle out of that solder in the pic.

[Darin Jordan]

That red wire in the pic above is about to come loose as well... tell-tale sign when the wires are not exiting straight out of the contact... The heat shrink is holding the wire in the molten solder joint while you are running. Not the best solution... :) 5.5's or larger will negate this by handling more heat and concentrating it less at the solder joint. They may not be needed for the amps, but they certainly eliminate the molten solder joint issue... which I personally believe (based on more than your typical amount of experience running Pro Boat power systems), that that majority of "power system" issues with these boats are in fact solder joint failures... SO, even if you are going to retain your 3.5's or 4mms... might not be a bad idea to resolder them to ensure and better-than-factory solder joint...

But, then... what do I know...

[capnswanny]

Hehehe,

Thanks for the advice Darrin!

Corey

[Chrisg81983]

a minimun of 5.5 i have been using lehner 6 mm connectors and they perform way better than castle 8 mm connectors with about 10-15 degreese less heat

[785boats]

I think the main problem is that both Aquacraft & Proboat motors fail at the solder joints because their respective factories use a solder with too low a melting temp.
Any soldering you guys do needs to have a high melting point solder. Be it motors, ESC's, batteries etc. Get some at your local electronics store. It usually has a bit of silver content.
Another point to remember. Do not cut off the soldered ends of the motor wires when changing bullets. Just melt the solder & remove most of the solder, ( I just flick the wire) then re tin it with the new solder.

[sundog]

i have been using lehner 6 mm connectors and they perform way better than castle 8 mm connectors with about 10-15 degreese less heat

That is hard to believe. Maybe you had bad solder joints with the Castle counterparts. I looked on the Lehner site, but couldn't find any pics of their 6mm connectors, do you have a link?

[sansouci01]

Just changed all my connectors to 5.5mm on my impulse 31. What a difference. All the wires were cool to the touch after a run...Thanks for all the advice

[J.W. Pepper]

Hey Pepper,
I have 4mm on all my motor connectors. Here's the reason todays fun was cut short:

I suspect I may start switching to 5.5mm on my motors.

For what it's worth...

Your issue(s) have nothing to do with bullet size, it's a poor quality (more like pathetic) solder job issue.

The biggest bullets in the world won't help if they're not soldered on correctly - see post #6 and post #18 above.

[Chrisg81983]

Your issue(s) have nothing to do with bullet size, it's a poor quality (more like pathetic) solder job issue.The biggest bullets in the world won't help if they're not soldered on correctly - see post #6 and post #18 above.

Oh intresting we have another preacher

[capnswanny]

Your issue(s) have nothing to do with bullet size, it's a poor quality (more like pathetic) solder job issue.

The biggest bullets in the world won't help if they're not soldered on correctly - see post #6 and post #18 above.

Your last point is VERY well taken, but your first claim is a bit bold in my opinion. I've seen multiple suggestions in this thread that the factory job in this case was bad based on the image above, quite understandable. I do not think that is the only contributing factor to this failure. This is about my 50th run on this boat with this motor and ESC after purchasing from another OSE member. I find it unlikely that a completely unsat solder job would have taken the load. I think it more plausible that it is a combination of solder, workmanship, and connector conductivity that caused this failure and that correcting only one of these deficiencies would not prevent future failure.
4.50 is cheap compared to the price of the motor and ESC.
Fair Winds!

[sundog]

A while back I got a bit fed up with determining what minimum bullets to use with each application. 3.5, 4, 5, 5.5 ,6 ad nauseum. So I changed over to 8mm on all boats that required a large battery (5000mah or larger) and have never looked back. I even have them on an H&H Micro Drifter I have for sale in the classifieds (2S draws a lot of current). It has taken me almost a year to change over from Deans to XT60's on my smaller boats (I changed them as I needed to instead of making it a project) and I am glad to say I converted the last of my lipos yesterday. Hallelujah! It sure makes life simpler, knowing my connectors won't be robbing power or cause for failure. The 8mm bullets are not that large physically (size of a pencil eraser) and I don't understand why people fuss about minimum sizes - there is little added weight to the larger bullets, so even racers would benefit by going to the larger size. I think it comes down to peer pressure - "because that's the way it's always been done" comes to mind. Anyways, I'm now a happy camper, er - boater.

[J.W. Pepper]

Your last point is VERY well taken, but your first claim is a bit bold in my opinion. I've seen multiple suggestions in this thread that the factory job in this case was bad based on the image above, quite understandable. I do not think that is the only contributing factor to this failure. This is about my 50th run on this boat with this motor and ESC after purchasing from another OSE member. I find it unlikely that a completely unsat solder job would have taken the load. I think it more plausible that it is a combination of solder, workmanship, and connector conductivity that caused this failure and that correcting only one of these deficiencies would not prevent future failure.
4.50 is cheap compared to the price of the motor and ESC.
Fair Winds!

I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, so I'll explain my situation and ask you a question based on the first part of your post - it's at the end of this post.

My situation...
I have 3 Traxxas trucks, 4-boats + 3-heli's (don't count cuz they have they're own batts). I'm financially challenged, as such I simply do not have the money to buy 10-dozen batteries so that each of my models can have it's own special group of batteries; sorry, but that's just the way it is, I have to make do with what I have. Which means any batts I buy, have to work with as many of my models as possible.
If you guys can not understand that, well too bad, not all of us are independently wealthy.

2 out 3 of the Trax rigs can run pretty much any batt I have except most of my lipo's, they have 10-ga wire so they won't fit the battery compartment of my Pede & Rusty. My Slash can also run pretty much any of my batts except these... http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-5000-8...flat-hump.html - because of the design of the batt strap.

Boat #1 (Trax Blast) can run all my 6-cell packs & all LiPo's (2S-5000mAh) I have, but no 8.4v anything. Battery tray / compartment is the limiting factor.

Boat #2 can use everything I own, haven't tried it with the LiPo's yet, hope to get some testing done in the next couple days.

Boat #3 is PB Mini-V - pond boat requiring small batt packs that are expensive. Finding LiPo packs that are small enough has been a real challenge & expensive when I do. I refuse to waste my money on NiMH packs for this boat.

Boat #4 is my PB Impulse 31, same battery needs as boat #1 except that it can also use 8.4v NiMH - in theory, I haven't tried it. I've been told that I can expect about 6-mins of runtime per set of LiPo's. That means I need to buy at least 5 more sets (@ $66 per) to be able to stay at the lake for more than about 20-mins.

The weather has been beautiful the past couple/three weeks; instead being at the lake boating, I'm at home fiddle fartin with the IM-31 trying to learn about FE boats, props, bullet connectors, tryin to get 'er ready for the maiden run - Screw that crap, I'm done.

A couple days ago I got so fed up with that &^$%#* boat that I came this close || to taking a hammer to it & chucking the debris in the dumpster. I boxed it up instead, the first person to offer me $190+ship gets the boat + all the extras I've bought for it.

Time to get to work putting boats #1 & #2 together & going boating, let somebody else play build the boat, figure out the props, figure out the bullets, figure out this, figure out that...

Bottom line: converting all my batts to Castle 5.5's would cost me $144, that does not include the ESC's on the trucks and all 4 boats. Now add in countless hours of un/de-soldering and re-soldering, I'm sorry, but that is just not a practical solution, nor is spending hundreds of $$ buying batts just for ONE boat!!

Given the situations above, I am pretty much stuck with using the Traxxas high current connectors on the battery side of all my models (except the heli's) out of economic necessity, I've made that clear on several occasions, this is the last time I'm going to say it.

Now for the motor side of the equation: I've expressed my views on this subject seveal times also. I also stated that I would put 5.5 bullets on the ESC<->motor side if/when I changed to a different motor in the IM.

A very kind OSE member sent me a PM on the subject of soldering, long story short we did quite few PM's back 'n' forth. Turns out he has the exact same model weller soldering station I have, base unit, pencil, even the same tip. He provided me with honest tips and suggestions (not a bunch smart a$$ remarks) for how to un/de-solder bullet connectors from the motor wires. I haven't had the time to try out his suggestions, but, rest assured I am going to when time permits. Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought 'em (they have 9-lives).

The question: several members including yourself have brought up the subject of the actual solder being used in several posts - a very valid point. So just how the heck does one go about choosing the "correct solder" for this particular application?? I am of course referring to the bullet connectors for R/C boats.

I have a brand new in the stink wrap roll of... Radio Shack 60/40 Rosin Core Solder, .032" diameter, P/N 64-005... http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062711 - is that the correct stuff to use?? - I would really appreciate an answer so I'll be using the correct stuff when I try out the tips & suggestions the OSE member I mentioned above gave me.

Thanks...

[Heaving Earth]

Pepper, I'll try not to confuse you here, because you seem to get frustrated rather easily.
60/40 is fine.
Where on earth does it cost that much money to convert a few things to Bullets?
How many batteries do you have? Are you really bad at math?
You can make a couple of traxxas plugs with bullets on the other end, then just use them when you want to run a car or something.
Change em, don't change em, whatever. What's with the huge rant? Nobody cares if you do or don't. Wtf is your question here? What kind of solder to use?
As far as I can tell many of your responses contain attitude, yet you don't want any smartass answers?

[Heaving Earth]

Also, what's wrong with the impulse?
Plug some friggin batteries into it and go have fun. This has to be the 3rd thread I've seem you crying about this boat and talking about giving up, but nobody has any idea what the problem with this boat is? What's wrong with it? Anything?