Motor soldering question:

[BarnFabRC]

The motor for my B74.1 should be here today. Naturally it will be going straight in the buggy on arrival. I’ve looked at a few videos on wire routings etc. and all of them show the motor wires soldered to BOTH the ESC and the motor. I don’t really like the idea of them being “permanently” attached. For cleaning or motor changes whatever.

My question is: Would it be a bad idea to solder some 4mm sockets directly to the motor tabs and 4mm bullets on the ends of the wires? I’m not worried about the sockets staying in place, I’m pretty good at soldering. Just not sure why all the pros seem to go with the direct method.
Here’s where I’m at so far. Pretty happy with how neatly everything fits.

 

[DavidB1126]

Me and my uncle, and most guys just solder directly to the motor. More direct connection i guess? @bill_delong can go deeper than me on the tech side of stuff
Those battery bullet grips looks nice. I'm thinking about getting the 1UP Racing ones (LowPro) so i don't fry my esc, and to keep the solder joint / wires good. Or maybe the new Maclan bullets.
Here is my setup:

And my uncles setup

 

[BarnFabRC]

Me and my uncle, and most guys just solder directly to the motor. More direct connection i guess? @bill_delong can go deeper than me on the tech side of stuff
Those battery bullet grips looks nice. I'm thinking about getting the 1UP Racing ones (LowPro) so i don't fry my esc, and to keep the solder joint / wires good. Or maybe the new Maclan bullets.
Here is my setup: View attachment 170575

Thanks. Those bullets are just Amazon ones. Like $12 I think. I’ve seen the 1up’s and other than the logo I don’t see a difference. If you get them, be careful when soldering, if you get any on the outside or too much pooled up on the wire the grip covers just won’t go on. They’ve got really tight tolerances. They are great though for connecting and disconnecting. I was always afraid I was going to hurt the wire on the RB10.

 

[Lumikko]

The motor for my B74.1 should be here today. Naturally it will be going straight in the buggy on arrival. I’ve looked at a few videos on wire routings etc. and all of them show the motor wires soldered to BOTH the ESC and the motor. I don’t really like the idea of them being “permanently” attached. For cleaning or motor changes whatever.

My question is: Would it be a bad idea to solder some 4mm sockets directly to the motor tabs and 4mm bullets on the ends of the wires? I’m not worried about the sockets staying in place, I’m pretty good at soldering. Just not sure why all the pros seem to go with the direct method.

Direct soldering at both ends is the most simple, lightweight, and reliable solution. The latter two are the most important factors for pros.

If you’re pretty good at soldering, find ways to get more comfortable with it and soon enough the soldered connections won’t seem that ”permanent” to you. It’s not like you need to change the motor that often.

In case you have specific reasons to change the motor e.g. for different classes, maybe one esc–motor combo for each purpose would fit your needs?

 

[bill_delong]

Internal Resistance (IR) is your worst enemy, as IR increases so does heat and wasted power from your battery where stock racing is crucial to have the least amount of IR as possible.

If you add more connection points, that will drastically increase IR and you'll experience power fade much faster toward the end of a main

Solder will go bad over time, so it's a good idea to re-solder all your connections periodically when servicing the motor bearings, etc..

More tips here I would encourage you to consider before selecting your electronics for stock racing:

 

[BarnFabRC]

That dude is alright. I’ve gleaned a ton of info from watching his videos. He reminds me of a person I used to work with. Very organized and neat. I’ll probably just do the direct solder as you guys have suggested.

It’s just a weird concept to me coming from the automotive/power sports world. You never install something without the ability to just un-plug to make future service easier.

Now I’m just chomping at the bit for the mailman to get here!

Gonna throw the slicks on and head to my favorite parking lot for some testing and fooling around with the hobbywing ESC settings as soon as the motor is in.

 

[BarnFabRC]

And it’s DONE! Gonna go do some testing either later today or tomorrow.

The timing plate came out of the box set to 50° seems steep to me but I really don’t have anything to base that feeling off of. What do you guys think?

Time to clean up the bench and get the pit box all packed up for next weekend.

 

[DavidB1126]

For the timing, if you, or anyone at the local tracks has a motor tuner, or tunalyzer, tell them and see if you can use it, or have them help with it. With mine, out of the box, it was 42 degrees. Upped it to 50 and it was too much. We matched the degrees to kv / load / amps. Idk all the tech and science behind it but I found 44.9/45 degrees being the best. The motor also had a bit more punch to it too. (Hobbywing V10 G4 13.5)

Every motor is different tho.
And I used one of my friends hobbywing tunalyzer

 

[BarnFabRC]

For the timing, if you, or anyone at the local tracks has a motor tuner, or tunalyzer, tell them and see if you can use it, or have them help with it. With mine, out of the box, it was 42 degrees. Upped it to 50 and it was too much. We matched the degrees to kv / load / amps. Idk all the tech and science behind it but I found 44.9/45 degrees being the best. The motor also had a bit more punch to it too. (Hobbywing V10 G4 13.5)

Every motor is different tho.
And I used one of my friends hobbywing tunalyzer

Do I have to de-solder the motor to use that? I’ve seen them before but never while in use.

 

[DavidB1126]

Do I have to de-solder the motor to use that? I’ve seen them before but never while in use.

Nope, all that we did is get the motor off the motor mounts and take off the pinion
It all works with wires soldered on. Might not have the best connection as we had some issues, but it will work.

 

[BarnFabRC]

Nope, all that we did is get the motor off the motor mounts and take off the pinion
It all works with wires soldered on. Might not have the best connection as we had some issues, but it will work.

Great!

 

[bill_delong]

You picked a great motor, hopefully it's a Team Spec rated motor, though it's VERY important to apply thread lock on all the screws for Trinity motors. If not, you'll risk tossing an end bell which can potentially damage the motor. I make it a habit to thread lock the screws for all brands of motors to be safe, but some are better at applying thread lock than others from the OEM.

 

[BarnFabRC]

You picked a great motor, hopefully it's a Team Spec rated motor, though it's VERY important to apply thread lock on all the screws for Trinity motors. If not, you'll risk tossing an end bell which can potentially damage the motor. I make it a habit to thread lock the screws for all brands of motors to be safe, but some are better at applying thread lock than others from the OEM.

That’s good to hear! It was between that one and a hobbywing. When I realized the end of the trinity was purple anno I was sold! Not a great reason, but I’m from the days of purple and orange Novak speedos. Had to have it. I will go through it tonight and thread lock everything.

As far as the timing, I’m not going to hurt anything if it’s not set right am I? Just down on power if it’s off? Should I back it off some? Or is 50° ok? Trying to get together with someone who has an analyzer but until then…

 

[bill_delong]

That’s good to hear! It was between that one and a hobbywing. When I realized the end of the trinity was purple anno I was sold! Not a great reason, but I’m from the days of purple and orange Novak speedos. Had to have it. I will go through it tonight and thread lock everything.

As far as the timing, I’m not going to hurt anything if it’s not set right am I? Just down on power if it’s off? Should I back it off some? Or is 50° ok? Trying to get together with someone who has an analyzer but until then…

I would keep it at the default setting from the OEM, if it's a "Certified" motor then they've already tuned it on an analyzer for you. I recommend removing only 1 screw at a time so you don't jack the timing.

Trinity motors do best with 5.6A draw where the timing is arbitrary, in fact the timing will need to be increased over time as the rotor magnets fade. It's a good idea to test the current draw when you service the bearings in the motor.