Test-Fit NPC Motor in Battery Box, Wired Up Spare Motor

Going off a tip from Matthew Henricks, I decided to pre-wire my spare Saturn motor, so that if I ever need to swap it out at an event, I won't need to fire up the butane soldering iron in the field.

I needed to check the polarity of the connector that goes up into the leg, so I needed to remove the right battery box to check the connector. While I had the battery box off, I decided to check to see if the NPC motors fit.

They do fit, barely.



With that out of the way, I set up for soldering.



Since I take pictures of everything, I had reference photos of the motors currently on the droid, that shows that the red wire on the connector is soldered to the yellow wire on the motor. Likewise, the black wire on the connector is soldered to the white wire on the motor.

This matters, because these connectors eventually lead to the speed controller, which will apply positive or negative voltage to these wires, to go forward or backward. Connecting these wires incorrectly will cause the droid to move in unexpected ways, and we don't want that.



All done. A quick test on the battery shows success.



I have an event on Saturday, and given the rough blacktop surface, I want to make sure I have a spare motor ready to go.