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Gebbly

ESC to motor connector size?

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Hi all,

I've just started a GF-01 build which comes with a Tamiya RS540 Torque Tuned motor which has bullet connectors on its wires. I have bought a Hobbywing 1080 as my ESC however I only now realise the wires on the 1080 which connect to the motor do not have connectors on the ends. I would prefer to use connectors rather than solder directly to the motor.

Does anyone know what size bullet connectors I need to buy to solder to the 1080s motor wires so that they will fit the connectors that are already on the Tamiya Torque Tuned motors wires?

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I think they are called 3.5mm bullet crimp connectors. 

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If you want to retain motor connectors and are getting the soldering iron out, I would suggest using the same connector you have on the battery, the Tamiya bullets are not very good.

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1 hour ago, sosidge said:

I would suggest using the same connector you have on the battery

The battery and ESC's battery connector are xt60. Would an xt60 connection between ESC and motor be suitable?

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12 minutes ago, Gebbly said:

The battery and ESC's battery connector are xt60. Would an xt60 connection between ESC and motor be suitable?

Yes.

Direct soldering the wires to the motor will be the cleanest and most efficient, but if you must have a connector, a XT60 would be fine.  I used to use Deans plugs for this purpose.  Friendly tip though... if you do use the same connector as you have on your battery.... make sure to flip the plug on the motor side (i.e. Male Plug on the ESC-to-Battery, and Female Plug on the ESC-to-motor), this way you don't risk plugging the battery into the wrong spot if you ever have the electronics out of the car.

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I use the Tamiya SP245 Snap Connector Set and use Molex crimpers.

The Tamiya bullets do fine for silver can motors and casual driving on SuperStock motors.  I run them specifically on my Tamiya cars.. never had a problem.  For serious driving I usually directly solder the motor leads if brushless, use Deans if brushed  (so that I can cut the comm when needed).

I also run Hobbywing 1060 which come with the compatible bullet connectors on my causal driving cars.  

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2 hours ago, Gebbly said:

The battery and ESC's battery connector are xt60. Would an xt60 connection between ESC and motor be suitable?

Done that before, don't like having a chunk of plastic joining ESC to the motor and sometimes, things get strange with reversed polarity and these plugs means needing a soldering iron to swap instead of a quick unplug and swap job. So I use gold 3.5mm bullets that brushless motors use. Also makes swapping my TBLE between brushed and brushless easy although that ESC is pretty useless to start with. 

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Thanks for the advice everyone. I think I have a crimper tool in the shed I used in the past for ethernet wiring. Taking into consideration all the advice above I am going to give those Tamiya snap connectors a try and see how i get on.

Are the clear plastic tip protectors that come with the kit heat shrink?

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44 minutes ago, Gebbly said:

Are the clear plastic tip protectors that come with the kit heat shrink?

No, they usually comes together with the connector. They are slide on rather then shrink on. However I don't see why you cannot use heat shrink instead. 

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Turns out the crimper tool I have was specifically for ethernet connectors. Quick trip to screwfix is in order

On 7/4/2022 at 11:37 PM, Willy iine said:

I use the Tamiya SP245 Snap Connector Set and use Molex crimpers.

Do you add any solder to it as well to help the conductivity or do you rely purely on the crimped connection? Is there a particular type of crimping tool that should be used (given that mine was specifically for ethernet plugs)?

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On 7/8/2022 at 8:29 AM, Gebbly said:

Turns out the crimper tool I have was specifically for ethernet connectors. Quick trip to screwfix is in order

Do you add any solder to it as well to help the conductivity or do you rely purely on the crimped connection? Is there a particular type of crimping tool that should be used (given that mine was specifically for ethernet plugs)?

I do not tin the wires prior to crimping.  I use a Molex crimping tool 1424A sold at Amazon.  I have several different crimpers, but this one is the right thickness for Tamiya's snap connectors.  

If your tool can crimp the connectors there is no reason to buy another one.  My other ones just happened to be too thick as I use them on my 1:1 car stuff.  :D

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1 hour ago, Gebbly said:

Do you add any solder to it as well to help the conductivity or do you rely purely on the crimped connection?

Is there a particular type of crimping tool that should be used

If you are going to solder, you are better off chopping them off and soldering on some 3.5mm bullets instead. 

In the past, when I was using similar for 1:1 cars audio, I didn't even have a crimping tool, I just used regular pliers. 

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