The importance of good connections

[kalnaren]

This is really no surprise, but might be of use to some of the newer members who are thinking of upgrading their guns.

Recently I installed a modify M110 in my Classic Army G36. For those that don't know, CA guns usually shoot around 315 fps stock, so an M110 is quite an upgrade from the stock spring.

First let me describe how the G36 is wired. The leads coming off the mechbox are very short and plug into another length of wire about 6" long right infront of the magwell. This wire contains the fuse and runs forward into the forgrip where it connects to the battery. These connections are done with mini-tamiya connectors (the type on small batteries).

Long story short, I reassembled the gun, pulled the trigger, and the mechbox locked up 3/4 of the way through the cycle. I immedietly assumed this was because I let off the trigger too soon. After releasing the tension, I plugged the battry into the mechbox, and fired successfully. Time to reassemble again. Went to fire, and the mechbox locked up before doing a single cycle. I knew this wasn't a battery issue because I had done it with two fully charged batteries. After releasing the tension again and successfully firing again (without the other 6" of wire), I pulled the 6" length out of the gun and plugged it in to the mechbox then into the battery. Went to fire and the gun locked up.

End result: I was getting so much resistence through the additional 2 tamiya connections that the gun couldn't pull enough power to cycle the mechbox. After removing this section of wire and reassembling the gun works fine, and while I don't have a chronie handy I'm pretty sure my rate of fire has actually increased despite the stiffer spring. I did a resistance test on the wire and although I didn't get a consistent reading it stayed between 45-120 ohms resistance. That's insane. I knew tamiyas were bad for resistance, but I had no idea they were this horrible.

Moral of the story: When upgrading your gun, remember that there are a lot of other things that can degrade performance beside what's actually in the mechbox. Soon I will be doing a rewire and converting to deans connectors.

Something else I want to add: Some people will tell you to remove the fuse from the gun to improve performance. Be aware that a properly installed fuse will not degrade performance enough to make a noticable difference. An upgraded AEG can pull 20 amps or more.. the fuse is there for a reason.

[Jugglez]

Good advice. I tell customers this all the time.

Also increasing wire gauge size and decreasing wire length will help lower resistance.
I had a customer leave 2 feet of wire bunched up in in a full stock and the motor would heat up insanely after just a few rounds.

You also get a more efficient gun. SHA DO was telling me recently about his wife's P90, getting 1500+ shots on a 400 fps spring with just a little 8.4v mini. All he did was increase the wire size to 14guage

[ujiro]

Yeah, I use the biggest wire gauge I can fit without causing any issues like blocking anything or making contact with the motor pinion for that reason. And of course Deans connectors because they never lose contact (every tamiya I've dealt with has constant interruptions of connections until you force the wires into the back of each plastic piece of the connector) and have way lower resistance.

[FOX_111]

Removing the fuse is only usefull for making room. I removed mine in my P90 to fit a larger batterie. I have the minimum lengt en wire possible and run tamia plugs. At this point, I don't need better plugs, since my batterie is so large and powerfull, the lost in amp is not noticable. The P90 can run fine for more than 3 games and no overheat.

And the P90tr is upgraded to 350fps.

A correcly done wiring job, like you say, is a good upgrade in itself.

[Qlong]

Are the mini Tamiya plugs aluminum?

[kalnaren]

Originally Posted by Qlong

Are the mini Tamiya plugs aluminum?

No idea what they make them out of. They're not copper. They're silver, so I suppose it could be aluminum.

[arman]

....nice im going to be upgrading my g36 to the same spring.... guess ill be switching to deans also...

[m102404]

Good points.

Excessive/crap wiring has also been the source of much frustration with guys who upgrade their AEGs with stiffer springs...and then their rifles just won't seem to shoot.

Tagging on extensions to switch from large to small connectors are also a source of loss.

Snapping two fuse clips together because you don't have a spare fuse is never ideal.

Personally...I don't see the point of using a small connector to attach a stock extension that ends in a large connector. I usually solder the wire, or simply rewire the mechbox completely, with a long enough wire for the setup.

DEANs are really nice. Throughput specs and what-not aside, they don't "loosen" up like Tamiya connectors with repeated connecting/disconnecting. They are zero-worry connectors.

The most pointed case of "what not to do with wiring" was a buddy who brought his M4 to one of my workshops and no matter what he did...he could not get it to pull any spring stiffer than a M100. Even with a systema magnum motor...even with a large battery. But it would pull a M90 and M100 just fine...even with "weaker" motors and smaller batteries. We ripped out all the jury rigged wiring (he had the stock wiring, soldered to a length of extra wiring, clipped to a length of fuse wiring) and simply put in fresh wiring (18AWG). It was like a new AEG altogether...and would easily pull a M120 spring on a small battery.

[Qlong]

Well, if they are aluminum, that's the problem due to the oxide that forms, it basically acts as a resistor.

[Ktown Militia]

Originally Posted by Qlong

Well, if they are aluminum, that's the problem due to the oxide that forms, it basically acts as a resistor.

simple fix to prevent this oxidization on aluminum is to put a OXIDE INHIBITING COMPOUND called "Penetrox."

[kalnaren]

Or switch to brass connectors.

[Qlong]

You mean copper? Alloys tend to have higher resistance than pure metals.

[Jimski]

and use some flux fluid!
when soldering to have super tough connexions.

[FOX_111]

When soldening, I use a compound that is already mixed with that stuff in the metal. I can see it when the "étein" melt.

How do you translate "étein" in english? It's not lead.

[coach]

Originally Posted by Jugglez

Good advice. I tell customers this all the time.

Also increasing wire gauge size and decreasing wire length will help lower resistance.
I had a customer leave 2 feet of wire bunched up in in a full stock and the motor would heat up insanely after just a few rounds.

You also get a more efficient gun. SHA DO was telling me recently about his wife's P90, getting 1500+ shots on a 400 fps spring with just a little 8.4v mini. All he did was increase the wire size to 14guage

you also forgot to mention he changed it to deans.

picking up new wires after work to eliminate my full stock large tamiya adapter and make full use of the deans connectors I just installed on all my batteries.