Does it matter which way i connect tamiya?

[Hatchett]

I am a noob when it comes to electronics and circuits etc.

 

I have an ARES AMOEBA and the tamiya connector has fully detached. I cannot remember which way on it goes and the wires are not labelled positive and negative(silver wiring).

If i put it on the wrong way will it cause damage to the guns electronics etc?

The amoeba has an electronic trigger so Im just worried about re-attaching it and breaking something. 

 

BTW - cant put deans on cos its not my gun.

 

Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

 

[Iceni]

yes it matters.

If the polarity is wrong the motor will try to spin backwards. In doing this it will either latch on the anti reversal and burn out your connectors. Or eat your gearbox internals.

Best bet is to do a diagnostic from the motor with a multi meter. The motor will have a pole marker on the plastic cap. Or pull the whole box and trace the cables manually. Just make sure you mark the motor and the cables if they don't have any colour markers.

If you get it wrong it will cost you money.

If that sounds like a ball ache, or you don't understand send the gun to a proper tech.

Because the gun is not yours tell the owner what has happened. It's a small repair, but if done wrong it will destroy a lot of valuable and expensive parts.

[Hatchett]

8 minutes ago, Iceni said:

yes it matters.

If the polarity is wrong the motor will try to spin backwards. In doing this it will either latch on the anti reversal and burn out your connectors. Or eat your gearbox internals.

Best bet is to do a diagnostic from the motor with a multi meter. The motor will have a pole marker on the plastic cap. Or pull the whole box and trace the cables manually. Just make sure you mark the motor and the cables if they don't have any colour markers.

If you get it wrong it will cost you money.

If that sounds like a ball ache, or you don't understand send the gun to a proper tech.

Because the gun is not yours tell the owner what has happened. It's a small repair, but if done wrong it will destroy a lot of valuable and expensive parts.

Ok that cleared a lot up, thanks a lot.

[Iceni]

The best thing you can do is tell the owner.

It looks like a home made loom, So chances are they can fix it with minimal fuss. If they can't sending it to a tech and paying the repair fee is a damn sight cheaper than a new gearbox and loom. Depending on upgrades you could be looking at anywhere from a £50-200 repair if you get it wrong.

[Sitting Duck]

YES it REALLY matters especially on Ares EFCS electronic box

you mess up by taking a 50/50 guess on the polarity it will very very very likely blow the unit

 

On a std box the gun will attempt to run in reverse but hopefully be stopped by AR latch

still might damage a regular box with damage to tappet plate etc.....

 

BUT on an Ares efcs box you will really balls it up - so don't risk it !!!!!

 

if you can strip the black insulation back a tiny bit to see if one of silver wires has a red stripe on it ?

if you are lucky the positive/red wire goes to ROUND terminal on small tamiya battery

and round connector on gun plug - just checked

(large tamiya are different)

use a meter to check polarity or continuity if you know what you are doing

or send it to a tech or somebody to figure it out- don't risk it if it is a fancy Ares efcs

 

 

Large Tamiya's are reversed for sure and even then some connectors/converters have got this wrong

I have bought XT60 & large to small tamiya converters that have had the polarity mixed up

Don't know if airsoft stuff is wired different to RC stuff but there is some confusion on tamiya's

 

Deffo know Large & Small polarity differs but airsoft small tamiya red is ROUND

(easy to remember Red is Round)

But on Large Tamiya Red is square - WTF ???

 

 

 

BUT some converter leads have the polarity back to front aka WRONG !!!

Some pics show small tamiya red is square.... - eh ??? maybe for convert/charge leads

but this gets confusing - even to me

 

THIS PICTURE ABOVE IS WIRED WRONG ON SMALL TAMIYA !!!!

I'M DISPLAYING IT AS AN EXAMPLE HOW EASY IT IS TO GET CRAP WRONG !!!!

PROBABLY A CHARGE-CONVERTER LEAD BUT RED IS ROUND ON SMALL TAMIYA !!!!

 

So you really have to be careful as it so easy to get confused even if you think you got it right

You "think" you got polarity correct at gun and plugs but like I tried to explain it is confusing

You get it wrong and the unit will blow....

 

Even I had to just double check on a battery & small tamiya gun that red is round etc....

(got me worried)

 

Best bet is to check, double, triple.check etc....

plug or align battery plug too to ensure the polarity runs consistently red to red to red etc....

It is so easy to get confused and balls it all up even when you think yup that is correct

bloody hate tamiya's - that is before the polarity mix on large/small connector/polarity

 

[Hatchett]

The owner is a friend of mine but he is absolutely clueless when it comes to anything technical. This is something I think I can do so I may invest in multimeter or just disasemble gearbox like you said. Multimeter sounds like the easiest option to me though. 

 

[Sitting Duck]

Seriously be VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY CAREFUL !!!!

i JUST GOT A BIT CONFUSED WHEN SOME LEADS SHOWED RED IS SQUARE - NO THAT AIN'T RIGHT

Red is round on small tamiya but opposite on large tamiya (red is square)

then some charge convert leads are wired up wrong that adds more confusion....

 

Seriously - check on another gun that just take anything on the internet as 101% gospel

yup that even includes my responses too

 

triple check EVERYTHING - follow the wire all the way through the gun - connector(s) to battery

no really, coz you can't afford to get it wrong on the Ares

 

PS if I have made you confused - GOOD coz YOU really need to triple check this stuff

I will take no responsibility coz even I'm getting confused with some polarity pics out there

check against an existing gun also -please be careful ffs

[Iceni]

If you do go the multimeter route then it's normally the red/+tive terminal on the motor that is direct to the battery.

Dropping the probes on the red motor connector and using a continuity test to the broken leads should give you only 1 cable with a reading. Looking at the wireing for the ETU this also looks to be the case although images are generally best avoided as a source of cannon information.

You can see in the image the red is soldered onto a single point as a passthrough. The black is harder to see but there are 2 contact points for it (one is hidden by wires under the middle mosfet). The black terminal should always be a dead circuit it needs power from the +tive side to open the mosfet gate and complete the circuit.

Because it's a v2 gearbox it will be impossible to visually tell cables apart as they sit inside the gearbox. Some gearboxes like V3's have all external wiring and are much easier to diagnose.

You won't need a fancy multimeter. Provided it has resistance (ohms) or a diode test you can check continuity. A £10 maplin one is more than enough.

[Sitting Duck]

Trouble is some circuits can show resistance or continuity through the pcb circuitry too

I'm no expert but got some bizarre readings on some circuits at times

some pics show a red striped silver wire and other pics show two plain silver wires at plug

 

Bloody bad luck to have BOTH WIRES pull out of tamiya plug

One wire = no problem but both wires - that is a bitch,

pity nobody - including Ares, didn't mark one wire with red paint/heatshrink or something

[Hatchett]

Thanks for all the advice. Definitely going to take my time and be careful on this one. I presume the safest option would be to dissemble gearbox and trace the wires because of the risk that some circuits can show resistance or continuity through the pcb circuitry?

[Sitting Duck]

Well you can give it a go....

 

set meter to resistance and start testing wires at motor & end of loom

hopefully you should see a deffo result on 1 wire to 1 wire & vice versa

trouble is some of the circuitry can link up the wires under certain conditions

you should start with a figure of 1 & then drop to 0.00 or nigh on when you get a complete circuit

(just the pcb circuit "could" throw up some results but I'm no expert)

 

If you don't have a meter then this will most likely do....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Electrovision-Y023BD-Continuity-tester-Screwdriver/dp/B000KMGP6G

 

very sensitive - but identifies blown fuses, broken circuits - even if a main cable is live if you hold it opposite way

so you can sense if a blown fuse on your kettle just by placing it near the kettle's lead

(if the thing don't light then very likely fuse in plug has blown as no live is flowing to kettle)

 

Test meter is very useful but so is this screwdriver thingy majig too

They do bust with abuse but cost peanuts so worth having around

(instructions should be supplied how to use it for various tests)