How do I wire up my motors?

I'm cool Are you Big Gun guys running direct drive, or gearboxes? Most Fast Guns BBs draw 10A or so at ahead flank, whether using ESCs or MAG throttle. A neat alternative to either is a card from Team Delta that has 2 relays on it that switch like a mag throttle does. Solid state, and you can coat the whole thing with waterproofing of your choice. I use a Scotch product but can't recall the name. They have one rated at 9A up to 20V, and a bigger one that I can't remember what it's rated for, but it's pretty rediculously high by our standards. I have one of those (9A one)for Hyuga, and a single relay card for the pump control (rated at 20A, just in case). I agree with Andy, if someone is pulling 20A they have smoke coming out of their ship.

 

Deans connectors? Are you guys nuts!?!?!?!? LOL


Seriously, I use Anderson powerpole connectors, same type as Ham operators use. They're cheap(75 cents/pair), easy, and they're rated for 30A or more, depending on which model. Oh, and the contacts are silver plated. They take a tiny bit more room than deans connectors, but not enough that it'd be a problem even in destroyers.

Again, lots of room for disagreement between reasonable people. Most guys in MWCI that I know use Deans just because that's what they have on their other ships.

 

Exactly. I believe the Andersons to be superior, but not SO superior that it'd be worth swapping out connectors if I already had Deans ones installed. And if I had Deans ones installed, on one ship, I'd probably go with them on the others for uniformity's sake.

That said, when the web store opens, it'll have the Powerpole connectors in it I buy them in batches of 200 pairs or more, so I get a very reasonable price for them I looked at Deans website, and they list prices as:

#2010 1 Female Pigtail $4.25 Retail
#2013 1 Male Pigtail $4.75

So 9 bucks for a battery connection. At non-bulk prices for Powerpoles, the same set of connectors is about $2. I'm not pimping my store cause I don't have one yet, and if anyone wants to know where I buy them, I'll cheerfully share the source in the spirit of RC naval carnage-inducing brotherhood. I'm just saying... for the price difference... ya know?

 

Well, I drive my ship out onto the pond until the damn resistance takes a shot at it. That's how I find them. Then I pound the rebel scum into oblivion, unless they blow up my Death Star first.


Seriously, which resistance do you mean? The resistance of the whole electrical system?

 

I like to use 12 or 14 gage wire, and the Powerpole connectors. I fuse the drive motor(s), but not the pump.

For wire, almost any 12 or 14 gage will be fine, the main thing is to make good solder joints (so they're low-resistance joints). The Radio Shack cheapy 100W solder gun will do just fine for this, or if you have a temperature-controlled solder station, that will too.

For connectors, as we've already discussed, I like Powerpole and lots of people still use Deans (more expensive, probably same performance). If you're worried about replacing connectors by the lake, I'd see what the rest of your squadron uses, and get that. Having highly cool Powerpole connectors won't help if everyone else has Deans. On the other hand, I just have a big bag of Powerpole connectors in my toolbox

For wiring the drive motors, I like series, Justin likes parallel, and a fair number of people wire them either way. However they get wired, the key is to make sure they turn in opposite directions, with the prop blades going up on the side next to the hull. I also put capacitors from + to - and from - to the motor case, on each motor, to reduce interference.