Solved that pesky problem of the holes in the side of the bullets for the EC8 connectors!

[Greywolf74]

Solved that pesky problem of the holes in the side of the bullets for the EC8 connectors!​

I took a strip of nickle that I use for making/repairing battery packs and cut small little covers for the holes and spot welded them into place with my mini spot welder. Problem solved! and yes the Progressive RC EC connector punches are worth every penny!

 

[STONER RC]

Solved that pesky problem of the holes in the side of the bullets for the EC8 connectors!​

I took a strip of nickle that I use for making/repairing battery packs and cut small little covers for the holes and spot welded them into place with my mini spot welder. Problem solved! and yes the Progressive RC EC connector punches are worth every penny!


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Oh thats nice buddy. Very nice work

 

[Tunedfrog]

Nice work Wolf.

 

[Greywolf74]

Thanks guys!

 

[Xraycer]

 

[Greywolf74]

LOL, I bought 20 pairs of them. Had to figure out how to make them useful lol

 

[WoodiE]

What are the issues with the hole?

 

[Xraycer]

What are the issues with the hole?

@Greywolf74 OCD

 

[Greywolf74]

What are the issues with the hole?

The solder is prone to leaking out the hole and getting in the groove that secures the bullet connector into the plastic EC housings thus making it incredibly hard if not impossible to get the to seat properly, so I covered the holes

 

[STONER RC]

The solder is prone to leaking out the hole and getting in the groove that secures the bullet connector into the plastic EC housings thus making it incredibly hard if not impossible to get the to seat properly, so I covered the holes

Are the holes actually made for something? I can only assume that there must be a reason for them. But you definitely did a good job. In covering them up and maken them work. Maybe it's for a different application.

 

[Xraycer]

Are the holes actually made for something? I can only assume that there must be a reason for them. But you definitely did a good job. In covering them up and maken them work. Maybe it's for a different application.

I was thinking the same thing, since making the holes would require extra effort during fabrication.

 

[STONER RC]

I was thinking the same thing, since making the holes would require extra effort during fabrication.

Yeah. Wolf might not need the hole for what he's doing or using them for. But like you said it's a extra step in fabrication. So there's got to be a reason behind the holes...like a different connector all together or application..I'm going to look into that little hole. See what it's there for.. Now I'm curious to know why there's a hole... Wolf do they all have the hole in the bullet???

 

[Xraycer]

Yeah. Wolf might not need the hole for what he's doing or using them for. But like you said it's a extra step in fabrication. So there's got to be a reason behind the holes...like a different connector all together or application..I'm going to look into that little hole. See what it's there for.. Now I'm curious to know why there's a hole... Wolf do they all have the hole in the bullet???

Yes, do it! Come back and let us know. Then Wolf will have to make a video on how to undo his doing

 

[STONER RC]

Yes, do it! Come back and let us know. Then Wolf will have to make a video on how to undo his doing

Ok... So the hole in the EC8 is a
VENT HOLE.. it allows the air out while soldering so pressure doesn’t build up. Form the heat and air.. also I guess those are made for big wires 10awg and bigger.. they also say can be used it to tin the inside of connector.. put tip of soldering wand in hole then slide your solder down to tip and allow to melt.. then just slide your 10g tinned wire in end heat up the connector slide into the melted solder.... all done. And they say if you have solder coming out of hole good chance of using a smaller wire or to much solder for the connector... Sorry bud i don't mean anything by this post just was curious why the hole...don't get made at me Wolf.. you did a wonderful job. Making the metal band. To block the hole. I know you like to use alot of solder to make sure you have a good solid joint.

 

[AlanDewey]

Holes in contacts are there for two reasons. In crimp connectors you can see that the wire has been stripped enough so that the conductor reaches all the way inside the connector before crimping. In solder connectors, you can see, again, that the wire is inserted the correct distance, and then for soldering.

Here are instructions for soldering stranded cable into a contact with tin-lead solder. I could tell you how to use 'lead free' solder but that would take hours more.

RC is a hobby, so don't think what I write here is a commandment. But if you practice this you will soon be the guy that everyone hires to do their soldering.

1. the proper size wire is the size that just fits.
2. cut the end of the wire cleanly so all strands are exactly the same length - even on a roll you just bought.
3. Carefully remove the correct amount of insulation. It should end with a nice square edge and make a nice circle around the cable. If you use cheap strippers or wire cutters, you will not have a good edge to your insulation. You can use a very sharp knife to cut the insulation, being careful to not cut any strands of the cable.
4. See that you have a nice clean cut with no 'flying' strands. If you are tempted to 'straighten it up' or anything using your fingers, you must clean it with acetone every place your fingers might have touched before tinning.
5. "tin" the wire with solder. Use as little as you can. You want it to flow into the inner strands, but still look like stranded wire. (The solder does not 'fill' the outside of the cable, you can still see it is stranded conductor (first, buy good wire. Every strand should be tin plated before it is made into cable. a lot of crap is bare copper wire. by the time you get that kind of wire it has invisible surface corrosion and you will have a heck of a time soldering it. If it is copper colored or brownish, it is not tinned and you will regret it. It is possible to solder wire of that kind, but you need a lot of flux and experience and it takes more time than buying good wire in the first place.)
6. insert wire into contact keeping everything horizontal with the hole up.
7. clean your solder iron so it has no excess solder so no solder will transfer from the iron to the outside of the contact
8. heat the contact from the bottom (opposite the hole)
9. insert end of solder into hole a little at a time - give it time to flow inside everywhere. Be patient.
10. watch that you never have enough solder to fill up the hole (this will take some experience.)
11. when you are done, the hole will be 'closed' with solder, but only at the bottom of the hole. how far is not critical. you want to get enough in there that you know putting any more in will just fill up the hole, but not enough to risk actually filling it. Because if you risk filling the hole all the way, you risk over filling it and then have solder on the outside and that will then make it hard to insert the contact into the connector. If that does happen you can use a small, fine, file and slowly slowly slowly file away the solder. Solder is soft and will quickly clog your file.
12. If solder runs out past the wire on to the wire insulation (or drips on your bench) you used the wrong size wire.

 

[STONER RC]

Holes in contacts are there for two reasons. In crimp connectors you can see that the wire has been stripped enough so that the conductor reaches all the way inside the connector before crimping. In solder connectors, you can see, again, that the wire is inserted the correct distance, and then for soldering.

Here are instructions for soldering stranded cable into a contact with tin-lead solder. I could tell you how to use 'lead free' solder but that would take hours more.

RC is a hobby, so don't think what I write here is a commandment. But if you practice this you will soon be the guy that everyone hires to do their soldering.

1. the proper size wire is the size that just fits.
2. cut the end of the wire cleanly so all strands are exactly the same length - even on a roll you just bought.
3. Carefully remove the correct amount of insulation. It should end with a nice square edge and make a nice circle around the cable. If you use cheap strippers or wire cutters, you will not have a good edge to your insulation. You can use a very sharp knife to cut the insulation, being careful to not cut any strands of the cable.
4. See that you have a nice clean cut with no 'flying' strands. If you are tempted to 'straighten it up' or anything using your fingers, you must clean it with acetone every place your fingers might have touched before tinning.
5. "tin" the wire with solder. Use as little as you can. You want it to flow into the inner strands, but still look like stranded wire. (The solder does not 'fill' the outside of the cable, you can still see it is stranded conductor (first, buy good wire. Every strand should be tin plated before it is made into cable. a lot of crap is bare copper wire. by the time you get that kind of wire it has invisible surface corrosion and you will have a heck of a time soldering it. If it is copper colored or brownish, it is not tinned and you will regret it. It is possible to solder wire of that kind, but you need a lot of flux and experience and it takes more time than buying good wire in the first place.)
6. insert wire into contact keeping everything horizontal with the hole up.
7. clean your solder iron so it has no excess solder so no solder will transfer from the iron to the outside of the contact
8. heat the contact from the bottom (opposite the hole)
9. insert end of solder into hole a little at a time - give it time to flow inside everywhere. Be patient.
10. watch that you never have enough solder to fill up the hole (this will take some experience.)
11. when you are done, the hole will be 'closed' with solder, but only at the bottom of the hole. how far is not critical. you want to get enough in there that you know putting any more in will just fill up the hole, but not enough to risk actually filling it. Because if you risk filling the hole all the way, you risk over filling it and then have solder on the outside and that will then make it hard to insert the contact into the connector. If that does happen you can use a small, fine, file and slowly slowly slowly file away the solder. Solder is soft and will quickly clog your file.
12. If solder runs out past the wire on to the wire insulation (or drips on your bench) you used the wrong size wire.

Sorry but you should read the whole post from the beginning bud.

It's not a ? About how to solder bud but thanks.. alot of us know how to solder. That's not the problem. We were just wondering what the little Hole on the one particular connector was for the EC8. As it's not for crimping. I don't think I've ever seen a crimp style connector for the RC hobby..aleast not for the batteries or esc power wires. But it being a sight window is another good reason for it..Thanks for that bit of info. Also you really dont need flux if useing flux core solder.. and got to say love the gardfeild avatar. It was a good editorial on how to solder though. You should ask woodie to move it over to the how to section of the forum. Someone could use that one day. As it is good read on how to solder...

 

[AlanDewey]

In retrospect, I agree with you. I should have stopped after completing the first paragraph.
The Garfield avatar was the first animated gif I ever tried. I stole the animated gif and then added frames to it to make it more interesting.
RE: flux... that is for wire that was not tinned at the factory. Flux-core solder is the only kind on my work-benches.

 

[STONER RC]

In retrospect, I agree with you. I should have stopped after completing the first paragraph.
The Garfield avatar was the first animated gif I ever tried. I stole the animated gif and then added frames to it to make it more interesting.
RE: flux... that is for wire that was not tinned at the factory. Flux-core solder is the only kind on my work-benches.

Flux core is the only way to go.. no worries buddy. It was definitely a good read. Very thorough. And well explained for sure.. glad you didn't take offense. Gardfeild was the best cat..

 

[Greywolf74]

Ok... So the hole in the EC8 is a
VENT HOLE.. it allows the air out while soldering so pressure doesn’t build up. Form the heat and air.. also I guess those are made for big wires 10awg and bigger.. they also say can be used it to tin the inside of connector.. put tip of soldering wand in hole then slide your solder down to tip and allow to melt.. then just slide your 10g tinned wire in end heat up the connector slide into the melted solder.... all done. And they say if you have solder coming out of hole good chance of using a smaller wire or to much solder for the connector... Sorry bud i don't mean anything by this post just was curious why the hole...don't get made at me Wolf.. you did a wonderful job. Making the metal band. To block the hole. I know you like to use alot of solder to make sure you have a good solid joint.

No worries Stoner. Always good to find answers to questions born of curiosity.
BTW, I was using 8 and 10AWg wire bro.

Holes in contacts are there for two reasons. In crimp connectors you can see that the wire has been stripped enough so that the conductor reaches all the way inside the connector before crimping. In solder connectors, you can see, again, that the wire is inserted the correct distance, and then for soldering.

Here are instructions for soldering stranded cable into a contact with tin-lead solder. I could tell you how to use 'lead free' solder but that would take hours more.

RC is a hobby, so don't think what I write here is a commandment. But if you practice this you will soon be the guy that everyone hires to do their soldering.

1. the proper size wire is the size that just fits.
2. cut the end of the wire cleanly so all strands are exactly the same length - even on a roll you just bought.
3. Carefully remove the correct amount of insulation. It should end with a nice square edge and make a nice circle around the cable. If you use cheap strippers or wire cutters, you will not have a good edge to your insulation. You can use a very sharp knife to cut the insulation, being careful to not cut any strands of the cable.
4. See that you have a nice clean cut with no 'flying' strands. If you are tempted to 'straighten it up' or anything using your fingers, you must clean it with acetone every place your fingers might have touched before tinning.
5. "tin" the wire with solder. Use as little as you can. You want it to flow into the inner strands, but still look like stranded wire. (The solder does not 'fill' the outside of the cable, you can still see it is stranded conductor (first, buy good wire. Every strand should be tin plated before it is made into cable. a lot of crap is bare copper wire. by the time you get that kind of wire it has invisible surface corrosion and you will have a heck of a time soldering it. If it is copper colored or brownish, it is not tinned and you will regret it. It is possible to solder wire of that kind, but you need a lot of flux and experience and it takes more time than buying good wire in the first place.)
6. insert wire into contact keeping everything horizontal with the hole up.
7. clean your solder iron so it has no excess solder so no solder will transfer from the iron to the outside of the contact
8. heat the contact from the bottom (opposite the hole)
9. insert end of solder into hole a little at a time - give it time to flow inside everywhere. Be patient.
10. watch that you never have enough solder to fill up the hole (this will take some experience.)
11. when you are done, the hole will be 'closed' with solder, but only at the bottom of the hole. how far is not critical. you want to get enough in there that you know putting any more in will just fill up the hole, but not enough to risk actually filling it. Because if you risk filling the hole all the way, you risk over filling it and then have solder on the outside and that will then make it hard to insert the contact into the connector. If that does happen you can use a small, fine, file and slowly slowly slowly file away the solder. Solder is soft and will quickly clog your file.
12. If solder runs out past the wire on to the wire insulation (or drips on your bench) you used the wrong size wire.

I appreciate the input but I pretty much do all that stuff already. I've been soldering off and on for the better part of 15 years. Generally I fill the cup on the bullet connectors about half way so that when I put my tinned wire in the cup the solder from the wire and whats in the cup come s close to filling up the cup and creating a connection with the most possible surface area. Problem with the huge ass 8mm bullets is the bottom of hole goes down just just a couple mm from the bottom of the cup and you can't put much solder in the cup. Even if you only fill it up to the bottom of the hole as soon as you put your tinned wire in the hole it forces some of the solder right out of the huge hole in the side of the connector. This probably wouldnt be a huge problem if it wasn't for the fact that the solder drips rigth down into the groove on the bullet that locks it in to the EC connector housing making difficult and sometimes impossible to get the bullet seating in the connector depending on how much solder flowed out of the hole. So this was my solution. Next time I buy ECconnectors I'm gonna make sure to buy some that have bullets without holes but since I had already purchased 20 pairs of these this was my work around

 

[WickedFog]

I think if you just tin the wire, then stick the soldering iron in that hole to heat the connector, then insert the wire while removing the soldering tip you can then use the hole to finish off the job by feeding solder in til the hole is full. This would require the hole be facing straight up, which if I had to guess, is how they intended those to be soldered, vs pre tinning the connector.