Steering Wires Broken

[funkymonkey]

I snapped one of my steering wires (I just KNEW this would happen sooner or later).

Why are they so thin? Do they have to be? Is there something special about these wires, or can I just get away soldering some normal thin wires instead?

Try melting a tiny bit of the insulator off of each end of the snapped wire, and somehow manage to get both exposed ends to fuse into a drop of solder. I snapped the wires in my first car, and somehow managed to get some soldered back together PERFECTLY, a feat which still amazes me to this day.

In response to your question about the wires being so thin...they make them that way so you have to buy a buncha cars after you f*ck them up.

[hogjowlz]

i imagine they are so thin because thicker gauge wire has more resistance. also thicker gauge wouldnt make as good of an electromagnet.

[crazydave]

I would think any thin wire would work, but at any rate, it's already broken, couldn't hurt to try. Let us know if it works.

I'm thinking the wire that is used to wrap an armature on a slot car motor would be perfect. If you don't have an old motor laying around, they sell that thin wire at Radio Shack in different guages.

Dave

[crazydave]

Yeah, shocon2k was posting while I was, but try his way first.

I cut wires and reattach them all the time. This is what I do: Heat up the tip of the wire for a second, get it hot, but not so hot that you get too much heat going back to the PCB. Touch the solder between the tip of the soldering iron and the wire. The solder should flow over the tip of the wire leaving it coated. (That is called "tinning" the wire) Do the same for the other tip, and then smash the 2 end together with the tip of the iron until the solder flows together. Use tweezers or something to hold them together, count to 3, and they should be attached.

As always when soldering, make sure your iron's tip is properly tinned, and clean clean clean. Always have a wet sponge to wipe your tip on, and retin your tip every time you wipe it. That keeps the rosin flowing, and you should have no problems re-attaching your wire
Dave

[crazydave]

i imagine they are so thin because thicker gauge wire has more resistance.

It's my understanding that a thicker wire has less resistance. That's why we use fat 12 guage wire in 1/10 scale modified.

A good metaphor for resistance, is water flowing through a pipe. The larger the pipe, the more freely the water will flow through the pipe.

A larger wire does have more capacitance, which is a bad thing when working with small currents.

Dave

[funkymonkey]

Thanks for all the feedback guys i will give this stuff a try, particularly the soldering tips.

I think crazydave is right, maybe its the larger capacitance of thicker wires makes them less suitable for steering.

I remember when I first opened the bit and saw those wires, I was like "Ohhh bugger". They just look so fragile you know they are gonna get you sooner or later.