What kind of wire?

[mr_dove]

Ok, I'm a bit of a newb to soldering and to RC in general. I recently upgraded to Deans plugs and bought a soldering iron to do the work.

I soldered all the plugs with no problem using the stock wires on the batteries and ESC.

Later the leads on my motor melted so I decided to use a leftover set of Dean's connectors to make my two motors "quick change" as well.

All I had was some copper wire from home depot that is rigid, doesn't bend well and doesn't seem to take the solder very well.

So, what kind of wire should I be using to make my motor leads?

[Just Gundam]

12 gauge silicon wire should be good.

[davec-nitro-rs4]

Rigid and doesn't bend...sounds like solid wire, not stranded? Solid wire is cheaper for home wiring, but uses mechanical connections at terminations.

[mr_dove]

It IS stranded wire. I just counted 18 strands but it is thicker than the other wiring in the car and not very flexible.

What makes silicon wire good? Is it easier to solder in addition to being more flexible?

Another thing about the wire I was using is that the entire length of it would get VERY hot while I was trying to work with it. Not hot enough to melt the cover but hot enough to make it hard to work with.

[Just Gundam]

Silicon wires are very finely stranded (try counting the number of strands! :D ) which makes them very flexible, so they are not so easily ripped off of soldered joints by vibration etc.

Apply some soldering wax, and use a third-hand tool (like pliers) to hold them when soldering. Make sure your soldering iron is up to task, else it will take forever to solder, I use a 100W iron.

[pleaseletmeon34]

"Silicon wire" is referring to the outer jacket, it has nothing to do with the amount of stands. It is much more flexible than the THHN/TWN building wire you got at Home Depot, it will also withstand higher temperature. The finer strand wire will carry a little more current then solid wire of the same size, and its very flexible.

[Just Gundam]

I may be mistaken since the silicon wires that I have come across are generally finely stranded :p . Finer strands or not, wires with the same total cross-sectional area (not including insulation) are equally capable of carrying the same current.

[RC10tee3]

http://www.hobbypeople.net/gallery/625191.asp