ESC Bullet Connections

[gmahan3]

I am flying my first platform, a DJI F550 and I have had on two different occasions an autorotation landing due to an ESC bullet connector come undone during flight.

I am working on a better strain relief for these powerlines but what is the overall consensus on taping in those connections shut? If this is standard practice what type of tape is commonly used?

 

[DucktileMedia]

auto rotation specifically refers to single rotor variable pitch helicopters.

If i am understanding you correctly you have loose connectors and are wondering if you can tape them together? If they are super loose, replace them. If they are pretty secure but you want a little extra holding them together, you can use electrical tape. Understand that a loose connector is also a potential area for erratic signals and that is all around bad.

 

[JasonV]

I ended up removing all the bullet connectors and soldering the motor leads right to my esc's.

 

[t smith]

Had the same thing happen, put heat shrink on them, no way they'll come apart then.

 

[Old Man]

If there's no need to separate them, heat shrink is a very effective safety.

 

[PeteDee]

If they are coming apart I suspect that you have mixed 4mm and 3.5mm bullets, eithe replace with all the one type or just solder them.

Pete

 

[jes1111]

Thi sis the big, glaring problem with bullet connectors - they will tend to loosen themselves with vibration, it's inherent to the design. If they're really well made then they can hold together but at the expensive of being a b**ch to separate. As has been said above, heat shrink over them is the only way for them to be safe. But how do you apply heat shrink to the joints on a PDB like this?...

 

[gmahan3]

Iris, my greenhorn shows itself again.

I lost an engine in flight due to a loose bullet connection that occurred after a hard landing. The hard landing was the result of lack of patience and not recalibrating GPS after a battery change.

It sounds like heat shrink is way to go.

 

[SoCal Blur]

Thi sis the big, glaring problem with bullet connectors - they will tend to loosen themselves with vibration, it's inherent to the design. If they're really well made then they can hold together but at the expensive of being a b**ch to separate. As has been said above, heat shrink over them is the only way for them to be safe. But how do you apply heat shrink to the joints on a PDB like this?...

I use a similar PDB. You can use a combination of heatshrink (there is enough of the bullet exposed to get at least some of it under the heatshrink) and also tether the cables to the board so that they can't pull away from the board.