I'm done with EC5's... What next?

[George J]

I wasn't saying its a weld Dave but more a comparison type of thing.

[dillwhacker]

I would have thought that you could determine what's happened by looking at the end of the wire & inside the bucket..
If you can see brass inside the bucket, then it wasn't tinned properly.
If you can see a shape to the end of the wire and a matching shape inside the bucket, then they hadn't fused together properly.
If both look smooth rounded and shiny, then it prolly overheated and melted the solder.
Maybe.

[Peper]

have nothing against EC5's,
I'am setting up a logo 550 for a mate and just about to solder them in there,
the one thing I do say is IF you have issues with the EC5's than give them Supras a go

[Tom Owen]

Only issue i have had with EC5 is on Kontronik controllers, never had a problem on my Castle 160. Not saying Kontronik are crap but maybe use Rc pro plus if using a kontronik

[10x]

2 thread with interesting reading about soldering and current ESC...Bad Solder Joints - cause and effect | RC HELI TALK FORUM
Soldering Castle ESC's *IMPORTANT* - HeliFreak

[hanson]

ive had this happen 4 times in the last 3 months on ec5s, always towards the end of the flight. each time i've gotten the heli down safely, but thats not the point. im not sure what is going on, whether its a bad batch of ec5's, or they have worn over time. the connectors have never been hot when ive gotten to them. ive been flying electric and using ec5's and soldering for some time. im not saying theres no way it was down to my soldering, however it doesn't add up. im also considering changing at some point.

[mahbouni]

I've been using EC5's on my Logo 700, spinning 750-760mm blades for about 2 years. Only recently as I've started to fly harder I noticed the connectors getting warm, but not hot. My Kosmik reports peak currents of over 340A via Bluetooth and the Android app. My Logo 600 with 640mm mains, +-14 degrees pitch pulls about 170A. The section of wires exiting the LiPo are warmer than at the EC5 connector. I'm going to stick with EC5's on my Logo 600 as my Gensace batteries come fitted with them and I can't be bothered to change. I will probably switch to Supra D6 on my Logo 700, when I buy my next set of packs.

Another thing I'd like to add is that Sn60Pb40 solder has a plastic state between liquid and solid. It's during these few seconds that bad solder joints are likely to occur. My advice would be to switch to Sn63pb37, which has a Eutectic property. It changes from liquid to solid much faster and you're less likely to form a bad joint. It also has a lower melting point but your solder joints shouldn't be getting to that temperature in the first place. I actually use Kester Sn62Pb36Ag02 which also has a Eutectic property but the Silver content helps to bond with Gold plated surfaces.

[philipjdall]

Yeah Nick, I've also been thinking about the solder. Where can you buy 63/37 in the UK? I see Farnell have kestrel 60/40 in stock (which is widely recc'd) but the 63/37 is U.S. stock.

Also, don't want to spend £50 just to try it out!

FWIW the solder joint was good on the connector that failed, makes my think the ec5 cage was dodgy. Quite frankly I can't be bothered with screwing around with cheap sh*t when there are known better options out there. Watching my brand new 690 plummet to the ground was bad enough thanks.

[Phill. H]

Don't think it's your solder Phil, I only use the fluxed stuff that's shown in the pic and have done so for years, works ok on 8SWG and 22SWG wire and anything in between and have pushed over 200 amps through it when I was messing with big electric conversions on planes. Last failure of soldered joint/plug I came across was a few weeks ago on a Agile 7.2, heli lost all drive but luckily it had a backup batt on Rx so pilot auto'd it down safely. When he came to unplug the flight batts one of the wires pulled out of the twin socket plastic plug, could not get the plastic plugs apart as they had been hot enough to weld themselves together, cut them open and only then was it possible to see that one of the brass male connectors had lost it's spring tension and arced that much the soldered joint had come apart with the heat generated. I asked him what the plugs felt like when plugging together and he said pretty tight, they were but that was the plastic into plastic. No way you can tell how good electrical contact there is between sockets and pins in a 2 plug just by shoving it together, resistance check by multimeter won't do it either as a small bit of contact will still give continuity. Just had a look at some new EC5's I have and you are relying on friction of the cage into the female socket and friction of the inner part of the cage onto male pin, high voltage applications will eventually weaken the spring tension as the spark generated from constantly plugging them together erodes metal from the spring contact area, not too bad though your ESC system has a anti spark on it.

[Nick_C]

I am also thinking of changing out my ec5s,i have only had 1 failure due to cage be flattened somehow,maybe due to arching,also they were hk ones,use genuine e flite ones with no problems yet,i am thinking of using supra-x 6mm bullets without cases,do you think that would be ok.

[DaveG]

The castle 6.5 polarized connectors are a higher rating than the SupraX, 200A continuous against 160A continuous of the SupraX. Both should be more than enough for your needs.

[Phill. H]

I use these, hell of a crack though when plugging in on 12S on Castle ESC's .

Castle 6.5mm High Current Bullet Connectors CCBUL6.5

[mahbouni]

Yeah Nick, I've also been thinking about the solder. Where can you buy 63/37 in the UK?

I got the first reel from USA. It was expensive but lasted me 5 years. I bought a new reel earlier this year from Ebay. Maybe you can contact the seller and ask if he can get more.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SN62PB36AG...p2047675.l2557

[Rob Barnes]

Looking at these

Supra X Pro D6 Battery Connectors 4Set 8-10AWG REB6808PROD6P8

Although connor had the bullet type, I too prefer a joined connector like above or castle.. Supra Pro D6 is rated to 260A peak, and I like the clip bullet. Not convinced by the castle connectors, lower amp rating and quite short (in length).

Only want to do this once!

I use these on all my helis and with good results ! Im running these on my Diabolo S running on 14s and pulling in excess of 200amps flat out at 2600rpm head speed with 16 degrees of pitch ! . The whole set up comes down really hot and im running a Pyro comp 850-50 with a 200HV Cool Kosmik .

All my soldering is done using a 4% sliver solder too from Maplins !

[philipjdall]

The castle 6.5 polarized connectors are a higher rating than the SupraX, 200A continuous against 160A continuous of the SupraX. Both should be more than enough for your needs.

Look at the supra x d6, 220A continuous with 260A peak. Dare I say it but will we ver need more than this?