stock 1/16 e revo vxl motor and castle creations esc problem

[chiefb]

i bought a mini e revo a while back as my first rc to get into the hobby but i accidentally ripped the traxxas connecter off the stock esc because the venom lipo battery traxxas connecter was so damb hard to connect to the esc and to disconnect. so i ordered a castle creations sidewinder 3 to upgrade ESCs but the stock motor's wires aren't long enough to reach the CC esc since the esc doesn't have wires(it has the 2 wires for the battery conector but not the 3 for the motor to connect to) even though the picture on eBay showed that it did have wires when i bought it. so you see the conundrum of it all. now my question is, what can i do? is there a way to extend the motor wires or even get some wires to connect to the esc then connect them to the motor. i need help, any suggestions will be appreciated. thanks

[fullmetalsam]

There's also the fact that the connectors are not the same.
Castle uses different connectors than Traxxas (talking about the connectors from motor to ESC, not the battery one).

Castle Bullet Connectors
Traxxas Bullet Connectors

If you confortable with wires and a soldering iron - you could make yourself some ESC wires, with the castle connector on one end and the other connectors on the other end. You can buy these connectors and wire (12 gauge silicon wire) pretty cheap on eBay and they are easy to solder.

Or, you could buy a castle motor that will come with long enough wires to connect to the ESC.

[dacaur]

If you are going to be in this hobby, you NEED to learn to solder. It will not only save you money, but also open up options with what brands you buy.
What you need now is perfect for learn on, as it's two of the easiest types of soldering there is.
Get yourself a $5 soldering iron, and the thinnest solder you can find, watch some YouTube video, and go for it. Buy some castle connectors, and some wire, cut off the traxxaa connectors, solder the wire to the motor wires, the solder on the connectors.

[fullmetalsam]

But then... if you're using this opportunity to learn to solder... I'd first try my hand on the original ESC you had - the one you ripped the connector from. Buy a new one (Traxxas Male Connector) and solder it back on the ESC.

If that works fine, then resell the Sidewinder you just bought... or buy yourself a Castle motor & a new roller to put it in

[jcsfearless]

Just in case you decide to run your sidewinder on the velineon, I'd just like to say that it runs awesome! I'm running mine using the 23t pinion gear and it is just as fast as the stock(idk how many teeth it had)pinion gear. It cost me 10 bucks at my LHS for them to make me the connectors I needed to connect the motor to the esc as well as solder on a new traxxas battery connector.

[chiefb]

i bought the 4mm bullet connectors from castle creation so i just solder some 12 gage wires to it?

[chiefb]

If you are going to be in this hobby, you NEED to learn to solder. It will not only save you money, but also open up options with what brands you buy.
What you need now is perfect for learn on, as it's two of the easiest types of soldering there is.
Get yourself a $5 soldering iron, and the thinnest solder you can find, watch some YouTube video, and go for it. Buy some castle connectors, and some wire, cut off the traxxaa connectors, solder the wire to the motor wires, the solder on the connectors.

so i cut off the bullet connectors of the stock vxl motor and extend those wires? what gage wire are the ones that are on the stock vxl motor?

[chiefb]

Just in case you decide to run your sidewinder on the velineon, I'd just like to say that it runs awesome! I'm running mine using the 23t pinion gear and it is just as fast as the stock(idk how many teeth it had)pinion gear. It cost me 10 bucks at my LHS for them to make me the connectors I needed to connect the motor to the esc as well as solder on a new traxxas battery connector.

can you send some pictures of the set up?

[dacaur]

so i cut off the bullet connectors of the stock vxl motor and extend those wires? what gage wire are the ones that are on the stock vxl motor?

Exactly. Stock on the 380 vxl motor is 16 gage. You can go larger gauge (numerically lower) without problems, and I personally would, just don't go smaller (numerically higher).

I would go with 13 or 12 gauge, that way you can buy a few feet and save the rest for other projects.... the castle motor/esc comes with 13 gauge wire

[Petertje60]

I would leave the connectors on the motor alone and make yourself some extension wires with female 3.5mm connectors on one end and male 4mm connectors on the other end.

[chiefb]

I would leave the connectors on the motor alone and make yourself some extension wires with female 3.5mm connectors on one end and male 4mm connectors on the other end.

yeah sounds good. thanks i appreciate the help.

[dacaur]

That makes sense if you think you will ever use the vxl3m esc again.

BTW, on solder size, I use .032" these days. It looks pretty tiny, but it works great, you just feed it in till you have enoughost. Mostly beginners use solder that's way too thick, which makes things harder in them. #1, it's too easy to use to much, ending up with big blobs, and #2, the thick solder acts as a heat sink, sucking heat out of the joint, which means it takes longer to finish the job, increasing the chance of melting the insulation.

[chiefb]

That makes sense if you think you will ever use the vxl3m esc again.

BTW, on solder size, I use .032" these days. It looks pretty tiny, but it works great, you just feed it in till you have enoughost. Mostly beginners use solder that's way too thick, which makes things harder in them. #1, it's too easy to use to much, ending up with big blobs, and #2, the thick solder acts as a heat sink, sucking heat out of the joint, which means it takes longer to finish the job, increasing the chance of melting the insulation.

thanks for the advice but i think i might buy some 3.5mm bullet connector extension cables off of ebay