IS there a reason I couldnt solder my own leads together for servo extensions instead of pay the exhorbatant amounts they want in stores for them?

That's what I do. The only warning I will give is be certain of your soldering skills before trying it. If you're sure you can make good solder joints there is no reason why you can't do it.

Ken

My brother does ours. He's an electronics tech with many years of soldering experience. I wouldn't trust my soldering skills but his I do not worry about.

Get some shrinksleeve if you do. Slide a large piece over the complete cable and smaller pieces over the individual connectors.

Terry

I make my own. I invested in a crimping tool, loose connectors, and some servo wire. I can make whatever I need in whatever length I need, but really, the money savings aren't that great. The cost for the wire and connectors adds up to almost the cost of a factory made assembly.

Ok, I just wanted to make sure before I started .


BTW, I ripped the vertical stabilizer off my trainer in flight today. It ended up in the middle of CR193 and three or four pieces(popped an outside loop and pushed that trainer a little beyond its limits. I think that maneuver snapped it, but the hammerheads I was attempting before that were what weakened it)

In the past I tried a quality crimper but found the it time consuming and actually more costly due to the oops factor.

For some years now I always keep large rolls of both the lighter gauge and the heavier servo wire in the shop. For simple extension like an aileron servo I just cut the lead in half and splice in and exact length required. Six solder joints and shrink wrapped of course.

This is far preferrable to stacking a bucnch of various extensions with extra plug that can corrode and in almost every case an excessive amount of wire the current will have to transit.

If its a long run I will use heavier gauge wire that what is used on the stock lead and solder direct.

i counted one time on my Wing P-38's a total of 67 solder joints each but they are a far better installation than could have been acheved with varios stock extensions.

All sorts of weird stuff is possible like one I have a four way 'Y' for throttles and another airplane a four foot Y to the receiver supply so the battery can be shifted from the tail to the nose when it is flown without the engines.

Currently working on a six engine project and I am in the middle of wireing now soldering custom leads is the only practical method.

John

[link=http://www.badbradgraphics.com/images/servo_extensions.jpg]Servo Extensions[/link]

Get these from Badbradgraphics.com

Soldering wires together is very simple talsk, particularly if you get your hands on one of these "cold heat" soldering tools (http://www.ioffer.com/i/Coleman-Cold...-Iron-26310402 ). No waiting for the iron to heat, cools quickly, and the wires fit between the tips. I use it all the time for servo extensions. Its also good for antenna repairs, etc. Definitely shrink tube the joint for a professional finish.

Brad

The shrink tubing is not just for looks. It is far superior to electrical tape, insluates the connection from other leads and from other metal in the fuselage, and, yes, it looks much better.

Use a size that is about twice the diameter of the wire junction you are working with, cut it at least a quarter inch beyond each bare wire end, then shrink it with a covering blower. Then when all three wires are done, put them together and put a larger piece of shrink over all three, again about a quarter inch beyond each end of the previously shrink-tube covered section, then shrink it down.

It will both look better, add strength, and protect it from any intrusions or short circuits.

One of the more important reasons for heat shrinking is to avoid future breakage. The solder tends to "wick" up the wire, this stiffens it. The point where it transitions from stiff to flexible again will be the failure point and requires support (stress/strain relief). The heat shrink will give a semi-flexible transition that will reduce breakage.

I solder extensions into the wires all the time.

Get some bulk wire here:

http://servocity.com/html/servo_wire__bulk_.html

And solder it in like this:

http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...article_id=172

Soldered connections are much more reliable than the plug-in extensions, especially where they do not get exercised (disconnected and reconnected) very often. So, not only do you save money doing your own, you are increasing the reliability of your system. Of course this assumes you can solder which is a technique really quite easy to master.

Everyone likes different things and I personally do not like the cold heat soldering iron.
I got one as a Christmas present and thought that it was cool, then I tried it out.
There are a lot of things wrong with the results it produces, particularly if you are not familar with soldering to begin with.
Just before I wrote this post I did a web search for 'inductive soldering iron' and found this article
http://www.epemag.wimborne.co.uk/cold-soldering2.htm
I think this is a very detailed and accurate description of the Cold Heat soldering iron.
I recommend a medium wattage Weller with a medium size 'screwdriver' tip and you will be good to go.

I do soldering for a living. Tried the "cold heat" gun once in the field. Didn't care for the quality of connection that resulted at all. I'll stick to my irons.

I also make my own extensions using the crimpling tool and purchased components. It takes me about 5 minutes to complete an extension, the extensions are sized exactly the way I want them including Y harness's.
I dont like soldier unless absolutely necessary for a few reasons:

1: the soldier stiffens the wire and with vibration, the wire can fail at the point the solder ends
2: shrink tubing works well but the stiff soldier can wear right though the tubing.
3: you must be very cautious of a cold joint... ie where the soldier did not really penitrate or the two wires moved while cooling. This can result in a high resistance joint and is hard to detect, especially for a novice.
4: Excessive heat will damage the insulation on the wire so the soldering tool must be just right. A too large iron or gun heats so fast the damage is done in a split second. I have soldiered for years and can control the heat pretty well but I still overdo it sometimes.

Best regards,
Randy

The other thing you can do is open up your servos and replace the stock leads with longer leads. I have done this with many standard and sub-standard sized servos. It does require good soldering skills, a small pencil iron, and either good eyesight or a magnifier work light.

2: shrink tubing works well but the stiff soldier can wear right though the tubing.

That's a new one on me, if the soldering is done properly. Must be using some REALLY cheap tubing.

I had the tubing wear through right where the two wires lapped and formed a bit of buldge. I had the three sets of wires individually insulated and then a larger tube around the whole mass. I think had I not had the larger tube around the mass, the soldier joint would have been ok, but by pulling them together, the knob wore thru, not only the black wire but into the red wires shrink tubing as well. Mind the knob was very very minor but was a high point.
The tubing I use is a thin wall electronics type, very pliable but not much more thickness than black electrical tape.
Since that time I aways inspect my joints and file any small buldges that will cause a stress point.
Regards.
Randy

I've never seen tubing wear through in a model airplane. It would seem that to wear through it would have to flex or abrade. We're not going to see abrasion inside a wing or fuselage of any real strength in a model airplane. And two layers of heatshrink is going to remove any possibility of flexing.

As for vibration breaking a solder joint..... it could happen, but I'd bet on the RX being shaken to death long before joints supported by two layers of heatshrink even thought of breaking. Soldering is actually a very strong mechanical connection. It's used structurally.

As for ruining insulation with too much heat, not everyone will learn how to do some things. Soldering is a skill. But not beyond many to learn to do properly.

The bulge likely had a point on it; this can happen as you pull away from the iron if you are not carefull.

Yes you are probably right. Just sharing my experince and opinion. I am glad some of you have never had a problem... yet.. lol...

Regards,
Randy

I have never suffered a failure form a hand soldered extension either through cracking or shorts from a poor shrink wrap job. There have been literaly hundreds. I have suffered as well as witnessed many failures from stacking multiple extensions and/or a build up of the plug count that never gets exercised (in other words allowed to corrode).

I use only a single shrink over each joint and never shrink the bundle together.

I have never seen heat shrink abaid through and I've seen and one literally thousands of such joints (I worked in an aerospace instrumentation lab) and, properly done, have never had a soldered splice fail. I have seen many connectors fail however, especially the kind we RCers use on our models.

I have never seen heat shrink abaid through and I've seen literally thousands of such joints (I worked in an aerospace instrumentation lab) and, properly done, have never had a soldered splice fail. I have seen many connectors fail however, especially the kind we RCers use on our models.