Wiring N20 motor terminals

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voorsk
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Wiring N20 motor terminals

Post by voorsk »

Hi chaps!

I've recently deconstructed my bots for the fourth or fifth time, and some of the motor terminals don't appear to be enjoying the abuse of being soldered and desoldered over and over, so I've got a few questions:
  • Are there any connectors that fit the motor terminals?
  • What wire would fit through the terminals? I've found 22AWG is a little too large, so what range of diameters could I use? Presumably some might be too narrow?
  • Can you fix a motor if one of the terminals falls off? One of mine has done this. :(
  • I really like the Pimoroni push header shims, but they're a bit big. Has anyone found anything similar, but smaller?
..and any other advice would be greatly appreciated, especially by my motors. :D

Thanks!
Team BLEEP Suspicious Houmous / Sprouting Potato / Fermented Melon / Black Carrot
MySolderIsOlder
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Re: Wiring N20 motor terminals

Post by MySolderIsOlder »

When I was starting out, I really struggled with those little N20 solder tags. However I'd read somewhere that it was a good idea to put a small capacitor across the motor to reduce sparking - that's when I discovered the wire on those tiny capacitors that ship with the Das Mikro ESCs will fit through the holes on the motor terminals. It's a bit of a faff but with care and some small pliers, you can thread both capacitor leads through from the inside face of each terminal and solder them securely, so the capacitor sits neatly between the two terminals, snug against the back of the motor. You can then trim the leads to a suitable lenght and bend them into a pair of bunny-ears onto which it's easy to securely solder a heavier wire (I'd slip a short length of heat-shrink on, just to reduce risk of shorting).

I don't generally bother with this any more (I think the advice about motor capacitors is more relevant to larger weight classes and my soldering has improved a bit) but you might find it makes it easier for regular desoldering/resoldering.

I did try some of those Pimoroni header shims but as you say - they are way too big and awkward to fit neatly inside most antweights.
Stuart (Tony's dad)
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MarkR
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Re: Wiring N20 motor terminals

Post by MarkR »

Maybe we should design (as a community) a more compact version of the Pimoroni one. I quite like the concept, but the side-mounted 0.1" right angle header seems less-than ideal. Perhaps a small surfce mount connector which can go right on the back of the motor? Right-angle or straight?

I'm thinking either the JST-XH, like the pack charging leads, or the little connector which is used for 1S charge/discharge?
Robots: Betsie - RaspberryPi controlled flipper bot with gyro stablisation - too clever for her own good?
Stacie - tidy flipper; 4wd driven by hair bands
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voorsk
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Re: Wiring N20 motor terminals

Post by voorsk »

I do like the little 1S connectors.

Another two terminals snapped off at the hole last night, just before I was going to remove the old single core (terrible idea) with some flexy 24 AWG wire (lovely stuff).
I think I managed to salvage the motors by using shims and soldering them onto the stumps, which were just long enough to reach the contact on the shim. I removed the pins from the shims, to give them a lower profile, and soldered wire into the holes that were left. They're now ready to propel a razor-wielding melon about an arena (for about 5 seconds). :D
Team BLEEP Suspicious Houmous / Sprouting Potato / Fermented Melon / Black Carrot
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