| who has ever been into a hobby shop, or needed | | | | to struggle to understand things like rollout and gearing |
| parts for their remote control car will be able to relate. | | | | to front and center one-way diffs, the information is |
| While the hobby shop owners are in no ways impolite | | | | not so easy to come by and often you'll need to put |
| or unhelpful there is a certain quality that they all seem | | | | time on the track to see how it works. |
| to have, also know as the "Simpsons Comic Book | | | | With regard to deans plugs, always replace the |
| Shop Guy" syndrome it's perhaps the best tool in their | | | | standard connections with deans, the standard ones |
| sales arsenal. | | | | will work for a long time, but they all eventually fail, and |
| In the world of RC Cars and Hobby shops, the RC | | | | often a bad battery or motor connection can be very |
| hobby shop owner is king, take for example the point | | | | frustrating to troubleshoot. You will need to solder the |
| in my RC career where I realized I needed to replace | | | | deans onto the wires, and be very careful not to short |
| the standard battery connectors with ultra-plugs, now | | | | the battery out while doing this, as it can completely |
| no one told me when I first got my kit that the | | | | destroy the battery, sometimes even reverse the |
| standard connectors would eventually melt and start | | | | polarity of one on the units in the battery pack. |
| to create an intermittent problem that took months to | | | | Deans Soldering Tips |
| solve. It was only after they failed completely that I | | | | When you solder the ultra-plugs make sure that you |
| realized they were the problem. | | | | leave the male and female attacked, otherwise the |
| So after that I went about getting myself a few sets | | | | plugs can deform from the heat and be very difficult |
| of deans plugs, or Ultra-plugs. There can pass the | | | | to plug and unplug. |
| current without getting so hot that they deform, now | | | | Heat the connection and the attached wire before you |
| typically they come in two different colours, the black | | | | start, this will ensure the solder attaches itself correctly. |
| and red ultra-plugs. You can't tell the difference by | | | | Make sure the surface is clean before you start a |
| looking at them, they look the same and have the | | | | dirty surface won't last long and the solder will |
| same dimentions. They work perfectly well when you | | | | eventually break off. |
| match red to red or black to black, but when you try | | | | Remove any existing solder before you start, old |
| match a red female to a black male they just don't | | | | solder won't bind correctly to the new solder |
| quiet fit together as well as they should. | | | | If in doubt ask your local hobby shop guy to help out, |
| Now I'll bet that the owner of that hobby shop knew | | | | while their advice ensure that you'll be back for more |
| what he was doing when he sold me two different | | | | most of these guys can solder in their sleep, and they |
| sets, the whole time thinking "You'll be back...", just the | | | | love to show off. |
| same as when I got my kit and while he was very | | | | Ensuring that the connection between your electronics |
| helpful, only gave away a tiny amount of information | | | | is good will help improve the life of all out components |
| about what I needed. It something I've notices at every | | | | Use the plastic sleeve that comes with the Ultra=Plug |
| hobby shop I've ever used, and spoken to other who | | | | to seal off the solder, place this over the wire before |
| have had the same experience. | | | | you start, then slide it over the solder once your done |
| Perhaps this trial by fire is the only way to really get | | | | and use the soldering iron to heat-shrink this over your |
| into the sport, because everyone before you has had | | | | work, this will prevent shorting. |