Losing my confidence in Spektrum

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by e-pilot

Every extension wire coupling was tested with an ohmmeter after using CA to make sure no separation could possibly occur.

(Above from posting #1 in this thread)
Wow
Don't know how I missed that. Putting CA on ANY connector is real bad news. That stuff can and will migrate all over the place, and very likely also got into the metal contacts of every connector it was used on.

Any contamination using CA anywhere near the small 0.025 inch diameter pins and respective sockets on these connectors absolutely will cause problems down the road, might be 10 minutes, 10 days, or 10 months. But it WILL happen. It might test OK with an ohm meter, but that is not the type of test needed to verify long time reliability of this type of application of CA and wiring. (That CA probably didn't cure for quite a while inside the connector. Once it cures, its an electrical insulator. Its also likely corrosive to electrical wiring.)

Before retiring, I repaired $$$$ high voltage circuit breaker controls where the customer had placed various "Sealing" types of material on the hundreds of contacts inside those controls. This always resulted in a total loss of controls worth well North of $5000 each. The circuit breakers themselves usually cost over $15,000 each.

And, in my experience, CA is 10 times worse than any "Sealing" compound I ran into at work.

Some 15 years ago I did a lot of home project circuit designs with wire wrapping sockets and a wire wrapping tool. Those danged sockets always came loose, so I "CA'd" them in place on one project using eight IC sockets. Great care was made to keep the CA away from the socket pins. That CA migrated all over the place, and did so much damage to the socket pins, I had to throw the half finished project out and start over. Finally used hot melt glue. That stuff is sticky, and won't move or migrate.

For our RC stuff, take a run over to the nearest Harbor Freight store, and buy a roll of shrink tubing to permanently attach a servo extension cable to a servo cable. If you do this, make certain the connectors are gold plated. If not, after several years, non-gold plated connectors can have problems with higher resistance. (Lots of experience on this one.)

Conclusion? ANY model airplane connector that has had CA applied to it should be replaced, both male and female connectors, no exceptions. If it was used in the receiver connectors, that receiver is now junk.

[solentlife]

You can buy purpose built locking tab boxes for servo extension plug/socket combos .... These then allow making and breaking the joints as needed, but are secure when closed.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by solentlife

You can buy purpose built locking tab boxes for servo extension plug/socket combos .... These then allow making and breaking the joints as needed, but are secure when closed.

Yup, they work well. Shrink tubing is cheaper!