Hi Guys,
Had a failure last night. Approximately 3rd of the way through a 2 hour carve the red wire on to my X carriage came loose. The machine then only moved in the Y and made a right mess before i could stop it.
I’m keen this doesn’t happen again, the question is can i solder the connectors on the back of the carriage rather than using the screw terminal block or will the head from the iron damage the stepper motor?
As a precaution i’ll disconnect the wire from the G-shield to be on the safe side.
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Crimp them down, hold the wire and pull on the connector to make sure it doesn’t come out. Then, screw the spade to the terminal bock and you should be good.
But, if you want to go the solder route, then there’s nothing saying you can’t do it, just makes part swapping/troubleshooting if/when a failure occurs more difficult.
This is my connection setup:
The Ferules are great with the terminal blocks
If you choose to solder the wires then do them properly.
Do not get sloppy or you will have issues that will not point to a poor solder joint.
Use a good iron and make sure the joints are solid. Use heat shrink tubing to help cover the solder areas. Some use Silicone for added protection but I do not think that will be necessary here.
Also after you solder the wires you need to use a brush with a solvent to clean off any flux. Flux left behind can corrode the wires and cause issues. My system only has soldered wires on the Limit switches. I have not had any fall out. you can use locktite on the threads of the screws if need be. Only a tiny drop is required and the screw will stay in place. (Use the blue 3m locktite.) The locktite should be the type that allows you to be able to remove.
I used spade connectors, took the plastic shielding off, soldered the spade connectors to the motor wires, then used colored heat (same color as wire) shrink to cover most of the connector. Screwed them into the terminal strip and have not had any issues what so ever.
Yes, you can. I didn’t buy the Inventables wiring kit, I just soldered my wires to the leads of the steppers. Just heatshrink or E-tape the joints to stop any shorts.
Make sure you solder properly. Improper solder joints cause all sorts of problems.
Solder is fine for most connections that is not intended to flex.
Crimping is better in that regard.
Here’s how I managed after a couple of failures.
I clamped the tinned and hooked wires to the motor pins using a very small plastic tie. Once all were correctly positioned, I used a jewellers eyeglass, I tightened the tie and soldered using a pointed iron tip and thin solder. This is on a 10mmx10mm motor.
Before soldering image.
![image|375x500]
Once inspected and checked I superglued to ensure no movement.
Peter
