is there an electrician in the house

[akphill]

I had a thought about everybodys esc burnups and yes you can tell me what a dummy i am if you want but i was thinking about that problem since i read about elks and the others catching on fire well i asked a friend of mine about what he thought about what was causing this problemand he basically confirmed what i was thinking this friend of mine makes a living in the generator and altinator rebuild business he says when you solder joints that electric goes through you cause major resistance which cuts down on the amount of amps going to the motor but that is like doubling a water hose in half i think so you will be creating more heat he says crimping would be a better way to hook the electric connections up I know that caterpillar does this on there heavy eguipment no solder also i know that the coast guard has made solder joints on boats ilegal because they can cause fire's i put a set of cat work light's on my semi and it had deans connectors for the electric connectors same size as whats on my belt cp a lot of light for such small wires these are just my thought's on the burnups that are happening ( pushing to many amps through a small hole so to speak ) hope i explained my thought's well enough

[BTCat]

Hello AK, How's the sunshine up there?

You make a very good point about solder and I can tell you from first hand industrial/commercial experience that most manufacturers are moving away from their previous suggestions of using solder splices for field repairs.

We had a discussion about crimps vs. solder before. I personally prefer crimps for my type of work because of some of the things you mention. Too easy to get a cold solder and have excess resistance and solder tends to stiffen the wire and cause breaks due to vibration in the long run.

However, I still solder on the heli. First, I can check the wire condition quite frequently (due to plenty of crash time). Second, if done properly, solder does offer a superior bond on a molecular level. The trick is in the soldering process itself -- making sure there is proper heat in the wire to flow the solder and proper wire cleanliness.

After the joint is soldered, (and here is where people could prevent problems), it is a good idea to check the resistance in the solder joint with a multimeter. There should less than 1 ohm resistance from one end of the wire, through the solder, to the other end. If higher, then there is a potential issue and possibly heat and flames

Kent is the EE in the house, I believe, Dube (if you are still watching ;D) is our welder, and there is quite a bit of other expertize in the forum. It would be good to hear from them on this.

[akphill]

I agree it's just something i was thinking about and yes it would be nice to hear from other experts on here with there opinions valuable information for sure

[19000rpm]

I agree that Kent should weigh in on this. He knows watt's watt. ;D

I'm not an expert, but I don't think the fires are solder related. IMO the ESC's are defective, or in the case of RTF set ups, not properly matched to the motor requirements or even the batteries C capability causing excessive heat in the ESC.

Happy landings

[Raygun]

I was an electrician and a certified welder and I have seen more crimped connectors fail than soldered. Having said that there is a right and wrong way to solder first you need to make a mechanical connection by twisting the wires together if you don't on the larger wires than yes there can be some resistance and if it gets hot enough the solder can let go. A properly done soldered connection will not cause an esc to fail or to draw more current, a crimped connector can heat up and through time of heating and cooling can and will loosen up causing more resistance. As far as residential and commercial wiring, crimped connectors in many states do not meet code because of high failure rate they still prefer the wire to be under a screw or mechanically compressed between two plates.. Ray

[lowbudget]

I always crimp then solder - if it is a high amp draw through the connector i use silver solder ;D = VIC

[19000rpm]

Ray knows his 'tricity. ;D

On hobbly applications I try to solder wires end to end if they are the same size or overlay one on top of the other if they are different sizes. Main thing, IMO, is to get a good flow without using too much solder. I don't know if that's right or not, but it seems to work for me.

Happy landings

[rcdbutz]

The problem that we are all having with our ESCs is likely not due to a solder connection. The gauge of these wires is plenty to get the current flowing through. If you have enough solder that is making a good mechanical connection to a deans connector, then it's probably a good short and thick enough to handle the current.

The reason for these fired up ESCs is the motor. The motor is rated to handle a certain load. If there is something inside the motor, or excessive resistance to the rotor (the part of the motor that rotates, as opposed to the stator, which is the stationary outer shell), it is creating a load that is causing it to draw higher current.

In my case, packaging material got caught in the motor and caused it to pull the extra current. Other issues might be to many teeth on a pinion, or a mechanically resistant head. I'd imagine that adding more blades causes more current draw as well.

[akphill]

You guys are awsum lots of quality info coming along here might have to figure out some kind of test for checking resistance between solder and crimp joints any idea's

[rcdbutz]

You can get a multimeter at your local radioshack, or electronics store, or even Walmart. Most of them will have a setting to detect diode directions, that will also be helpful for detecting a short circuit by beeping. This could be used to measure resistance, current and voltage as well.

[akphill]

ok deal i have to put a brushless system together at the end of the week so i will pick one of those up and see what it says the last tester i used for checking resistance cost around $5,000 to buy maybe for our circumstance a radio shack unit will suffice

[19000rpm]

rc made another good contribution to the ESC fire equation. Defective or blocked motors cause high amp draws that can lead to overloading the ESC. Testing the motor when new and at intervals should help keep the fires down.

Happy landings

[Raygun]

RC is right if solder was causing fires then we are getting some damn poor electronics here. Something is causing an amp overload ie. like a sticky motor something binding ect. I have a clamp on meter that just clamps around whatever wire you are testing and it will give you the amp load. It is also a handy tool. Ray

[rcdbutz]

Phil, a multimeter should not cost anywhere near $5,000. You can probably find a cheap no-name brand for under $50 or you can get a pretty nice Fluke DMM (digital mulitmeter) for under $200. For the circumstance, the cheapo should suffice.

[rcdbutz]

Yeah, if there are any electrical questions, please everyone, feel free to send me a PM. I have a bachelors in EE, so I could at least give you my 2 cents.