Copyright © Parallax Inc.
ELEV-8 Quadcopter Kit (#80000)
Version 1.
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Page 8 of 26
Step 3: Apply Heat-shrink Tubing to Motor and ESC Leads
Heat-shrink tubing will protect the solder joints and prevent unintended electrical contact. In the top picture, the tubing is fully shrunk over the
motor-ESC lead solder joints. However, in the bottom picture, the tubing is only partially shrunk over an ESC lead’s EC3 connector. This keeps the
leads from accidentally making contact with each other, yet the connectors to be plugged and unplugged if needed when testing motor
connections in a later step.
1.
Locate the 27-inch length of 3/16” black tubing.
Measure and cut it into 3/4-inch (1.9 cm) pieces, 36
pieces total.
2.
Slip a piece of tubing over each solder joint on each
motor lead.
3.
Apply heat with a heat gun or blow dryer to shrink the
tubing over the solder joint, as shown (top).
4.
Slide a piece of tubing over an ESC lead.
5.
Plug in the opposite connector from the motor
assembly. Position the tubing to cover both
connectors and solder joints.
6.
Disconnect the motor assembly lead but keep the
tubing in place. Carefully apply heat to just the very
end of the tubing where it covers the ESC lead and
connector solder joint. Apply just enough heat to
secure the tube to the wire behind the connector, as
shown in the picture (left). Do not let the other end
of the tubing shrink.
7.
Test that you can still plug and unplug the motor lead
connector into the ESC connector.
8.
Repeat with the other 11 ESC leads, and then
disconnect the motors from the ESCs for now.
