rcjon

In ignorance, when I built my first couple of ARFs, I ran the antenna wire down the outside of the fuse and tacked it down with CA.

Of course now I would like to use the Futaba receivers in other projects. I have one rx that has the antenna wire broken off, and another in a plane that I'm going to sell.

Questions: Will anything remove the dried blobs of CA from the insulation of the antenna wires?

Can I splice on new wire, same length and gauge?

Thanks.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

Acetone dissolves CA, but it may dissolve the antenna wire insulation as well. If your handy with a soldering iron, new antenna wires are easy to install. Best to do it at the circuit board rather than splice if you can. They are also inexpensive. www.radicalrc.com carries them, as well as Tower and most hobby shops. Any wire will work, but stranded wire with as many strands as possible is best as it is less prone to fatigue and break.

flyer495th

This is the response that I received from Futaba.

While we can not recommend that anyone change their receiver wire, as this can cause serious problems such as loss of reception and major interference issues, and also void any warranty that you may have on your radio system.

But, if you are very good with a soldering iron, you should replace the COMPLETE antenna at the board, not just solder at the cut. Also after doing so, do a thorough ground check, you would want to look for 22 gauge wire, and the length will be:

approximately 19 1/2" for surface
approximately 39 1/2" for Air

Sincerely,
Krysta
Lead Futaba Customer Service and Programming Technician

blw

My Feedback: (3)

This may be a good time to mention that a low powered soldering iron is mandatory. Maybe something along the lines of 5 watts for circuit board work.

Rodney

I have to dissagree with BLW BLW on size of iron. You will ruin more boards with to small an iron (low wattage) than you will by to hot an iron. speaking after many years of experience on PC board design/repair/quality testing etc. use at least a 25 to 40 watt iron and then get on, do the job and get off, should take no more than 5 seconds if you have the right equipment. If the iron is to small (to low a heat capacity) the iron has to be held on the joint far to long and then starts delaminating the copper foil from the substrate. Of course you can do this with the bigger irons too if you keep the heat applied for to long, just keep the heat on long enough to flow the solder. Of course this assumes that you have properly tinned the wire and cleaned the area to be soldered so there is no residual dirt or impurities. Use a minimum amount of the required flux to make the job easier.

blw

My Feedback: (3)

Rodney,

maybe this is like Fords and Chevys. I've done work for years too, but maybe not to the extent that you have. I can get in and out quickly with 5-10 watts. I've seen a lot of traces lifted by people who don't do this often, or at all, with the bigger irons. I was also aware that the writer may have not done this much, so I recommended the lower power. I do know that inexperience with the size that you recommended rarely turns out well.

rcjon

Thanks all for the replies. I think I'll take a Rx to an electronics shop and see what they will charge to solder on a new antenna.

Is the 39.5" measurement outside of the rx box, or the total length of the wire?

Rodney

The length is not real critical, anything from 39 to 41 inches will work well.

B.T.D.T.

I agree with Rodney on the soldering iron. I do all my small electronics with a Ungar 23W iron. If it's too low of a wattage, you will need to heat it up longer. The heat will now transfer to different areas on the circuit board and can cause damage.

For battery packs get a larger gun. No longer than 4-5 seconds to solder tab or wire. Otherwise you will cook / kill your battery cell.