Extending motor wires

[TaxpayerTroy]

Hello,
I need to extend motor wires and I have a spare set of hobbywing motor wires that came with max 6. Could I snip the bullets off my 4985 motor and solder on the other motor wires with bullets into it giving me another 4 inches? Thank you

 

[RC-Dude]

Don't snip. Use a soldering iron to remove. You can only solder on the ends of the wire due to the insulation on the wires. If you clip off too short you basically can throw away the motor. Or scratch off some insulation which is tricky and quite a pain as you can barely see where the insulation is off. You risk then not having enough soldering surface on the wires and that could result in de-soldering during driving. That would almost certainly burn the esc as it can not handle giving energy to only two instead of 3 brushless wires.

Better would be to solder wires beeing the right length with 6mm or 8mm bullets that you just fit inbetween motor and esc. Then secure those wires with shrinking tube over the bullets.

 

[TaxpayerTroy]

Don't snip. Use a soldering iron to remove. You can only solder on the ends of the wire due to the insulation on the wires. If you clip off too short you basically can throw away the motor. Or scratch off some insulation which is tricky and quite a pain as you can barely see where the insulation is off. You risk then not having enough soldering surface on the wires and that could result in de-soldering during driving. That would almost certainly burn the esc as it can not handle giving energy to only two instead of 3 brushless wires.

Better would be to solder wires beeing the right length with 6mm or 8mm bullets that you just fit inbetween motor and esc. Then secure those wires with shrinking tube over the bullets.

I see,
But if I were to snip and cut off the insulation and do a good solder job with glue shrink wrap would it suffice? Or just get extensions and plug into motor and shrink wrap where they connect? Thanks

 

[RC-Dude]

I meant the insulation on the wires which is see through and all around the coil on the wires. That stuff is a pain.
Both ways work.

 

[morrjr71]

You can use extensions like these, but with the proper size connectors and correct wire gauge.

https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Connector-Extension-RC-Brushless/dp/B0B12F5DQP/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=4.omm+rc+motor+wire+extensions&qid=1681992658&sr=8-3&th=1

Or, you could buy the female connectors to add to the wires that came with the motor.

 

[joshludden]

You can get extensions from radio control power that are 3" or 6". They work great

 

[Diem Turner]

I wasn't aware that Hobbywing motors have enameled wires like TP, to me the HW motor wires always appeared to behave just like those found on Castle motors.

When I look at the wires of this 4985, those are just your typical, run of the mill silicone 10AWG stranded copper wire. In fact, it appears to be identical to the wire used in those extensions that @joshludden posted.

The way the wires hang off the motor would indicate normal, copper stranded wire. @RC-Dude, are you 100% certain that HW wires have enamel on them? Because there are a lot of indications that this is not the case. TP motors are like what you are describing, but Hobbywing? I have serious doubts.

Surely there are enough people in this thread that own a HW motor and can verify which it is.

@TaxpayerTroy in the meantime, you could cut a small square out of the side of the mantle and check for yourself if you find bare copper underneath or enameled winding wire. But you don't even need to go that far as there's a much easier way to test for it. Are the wires coming off the motor really stiff like the kind of solid wire that's used in electrical home installations or is it flexible like the wires on your LiPo? If it's the former, then you have enameled winding wires that would require a lot of extra work if you wanted to snip and solder. If it's soft and flexible, then you can treat them like you would your battery wires and cut and splice to your heart's content.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Hmm, i've shorted motor wires before (when the stock crap quality bullets de-soldered after moderate amperage) with no seeming consequences.

Unless it's due to what @Diem Turner described above (they might have been soft and flexible, i don't remember). I was always under the impressions that the biggest issues with changing motor wires was the sensitivity of getting uneven lengths (like combustion engine headers) and causing issues. But i'm just speculating here. Mostly because i'm curious how my situations worked.

 

[Diem Turner]

Hmm, i've shorted motor wires before (when the stock crap quality bullets de-soldered after moderate amperage) with no seeming consequences.

Unless it's due to what @Diem Turner described above (they might have been soft and flexible, i don't remember). I was always under the impressions that the biggest issues with changing motor wires was the sensitivity of getting uneven lengths (like combustion engine headers) and causing issues. But i'm just speculating here. Mostly because i'm curious how my situations worked.

If you were able to solder the wires, they were normal, stranded copper wire. 100% certainty. Believe me, had they been the winding wires that are coated either in enamel or lacquer, you would have noticed. You can't not notice because you can't solder this type of wire. It's impossible until you removed the coating (which acts as an insulator so the windings don't short against one another) through either mechanical or chemical means.

Just to illustrate, on this TP motor you can clearly see the windings inside of the can. These windings exit the back of the can in three bundles which are then shrink wrapped and the tips are stripped of their coating and pre-tinned from the factory. These wires are incredibly stiff compared to stranded copper wire and, again, you can't not notice it.

When it comes to the length of the motor wires, I do believe it's relevant with motors constructed like these TP motors where the windings form the wires (to a certain extent, I don't think a few millimeters will make a difference but if one wire is different by several centimeters, I think it's possible that this might mess with the "synchronicity" of the three phases but I'm not 100% on that). In Castle motors (and I'm 99% certain that HW motors are the same) I don't think the length is relevant at all because the windings are terminated inside the can on, what I call, a bridge. On one side of the bridge you attach the winding wires and on the other side you have three tabs to which you can solder normal stranded copper wire. Again, I'm not 100% on this but fairly confident this is the case so, take it with a pinch of salt.

 

[TaxpayerTroy]

You can get extensions from radio control power that are 3" or 6". They work great
View attachment 294209

Word I probably do that

Hmm, i've shorted motor wires before (when the stock crap quality bullets de-soldered after moderate amperage) with no seeming consequences.

Unless it's due to what @Diem Turner described above (they might have been soft and flexible, i don't remember). I was always under the impressions that the biggest issues with changing motor wires was the sensitivity of getting uneven lengths (like combustion engine headers) and causing issues. But i'm just speculating here. Mostly because i'm curious how my situations worked.

This is true I don’t wanna short

If you were able to solder the wires, they were normal, stranded copper wire. 100% certainty. Believe me, had they been the winding wires that are coated either in enamel or lacquer, you would have noticed. You can't not notice because you can't solder this type of wire. It's impossible until you removed the coating (which acts as an insulator so the windings don't short against one another) through either mechanical or chemical means.

Just to illustrate, on this TP motor you can clearly see the windings inside of the can. These windings exit the back of the can in three bundles which are then shrink wrapped and the tips are stripped of their coating and pre-tinned from the factory. These wires are incredibly stiff compared to stranded copper wire and, again, you can't not notice it.
View attachment 294215

When it comes to the length of the motor wires, I do believe it's relevant with motors constructed like these TP motors where the windings form the wires (to a certain extent, I don't think a few millimeters will make a difference but if one wire is different by several centimeters, I think it's possible that this might mess with the "synchronicity" of the three phases but I'm not 100% on that). In Castle motors (and I'm 99% certain that HW motors are the same) I don't think the length is relevant at all because the windings are terminated inside the can on, what I call, a bridge. On one side of the bridge you attach the winding wires and on the other side you have three tabs to which you can solder normal stranded copper wire. Again, I'm not 100% on this but fairly confident this is the case so, take it with a pinch of salt.

Thanks for the insight broski

 

[RC-Dude]

I wasn't aware that Hobbywing motors have enameled wires like TP, to me the HW motor wires always appeared to behave just like those found on Castle motors.

When I look at the wires of this 4985, those are just your typical, run of the mill silicone 10AWG stranded copper wire. In fact, it appears to be identical to the wire used in those extensions that @joshludden posted.
View attachment 294212

The way the wires hang off the motor would indicate normal, copper stranded wire. @RC-Dude, are you 100% certain that HW wires have enamel on them? Because there are a lot of indications that this is not the case. TP motors are like what you are describing, but Hobbywing? I have serious doubts.

Nope sure about 100%. I had the problems with aeroplane motors where I had to throw motors away. To much hassle to remove in order to solder new. But I have no idea how a motor winding would work at all if there is no covering layer on them.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Returning to this. I recently had an issue with loose motor bullets plugging directly into my ESC, so i changed out to a different type. @Diem Turner is this what you were talking about with the motor wires being "special" and not good for soldering?

 

[Diem Turner]

Returning to this. I recently had an issue with loose motor bullets plugging directly into my ESC, so i changed out to a different type. @Diem Turner is this what you were talking about with the motor wires being "special" and not good for soldering?
View attachment 296524
View attachment 296525

Those do look like windings and not stranded wire so, I'm leaning towards yes. In as much as a picture can make a wire look stiff, this would be one of those times. But those are already tinned so they (theoretically) should solder up alright. Maybe dab the ends in a little flux paste before soldering them to try and help re-flow the solder cuz it's looking a little dull (I just hope you don't tell me that's just silver paint marker or something like that).

 

[Hector_Fisher]

Those do look like windings and not stranded wire so, I'm leaning towards yes. In as much as a picture can make a wire look stiff, this would be one of those times. But those are already tinned so they (theoretically) should solder up alright. Maybe dab the ends in a little flux paste before soldering them to try and help re-flow the solder cuz it's looking a little dull (I just hope you don't tell me that's just silver paint marker or something like that).

You learn something new every day.

Honestly I had no idea what it was. I didn't give it two thoughts when I found it like that the first time I stripped the braided (and oddly stretchy) motor wire sleeving back. But now that you say it, i think you're right, its the tinned end of the motor windings. Not the biggest fan of the quality/design of these motors, but its for a cheap basher. And honestly, it's what I get for buying cheap surpass motors.

Seemed to work okay last time I soldered on bullets to this motor, so here's hoping it works again this time as well I'll report back with success or failure!

 

[Diem Turner]

You learn something new every day.

Honestly I had no idea what it was. I didn't give it two thoughts when I found it like that the first time I stripped the braided (and oddly stretchy) motor wire sleeving back. But now that you say it, i think you're right, its the tinned end of the motor windings. Not the biggest fan of the quality/design of these motors, but its for a cheap basher. And honestly, it's what I get for buying cheap surpass motors.

Seemed to work okay last time I soldered on bullets to this motor, so here's hoping it works again this time as well I'll report back with success or failure!

It's not really an indicator of a cheap motor per se. TP Power does all of their motors like that and I don't think I'd call those "cheap" motors (though some of them you could classify as affordable compared to the performance). It's not a bad design though you need to be a bit more mindful of how often and how vigorously you bend the leads back and forth because those stiff winding wires will suffer metal fatigue a lot faster than stranded wire and just break at some point so try not to put and hard kinks into them and avoid bending them back and forth repeatedly...if at all possible.

Good luck on the solderations!!