Quadcopter build - ESC customisation

This is 4th video in this quadcopter build series and it's about preparing ESC for installation as well as making them black and white so that they will go with my black and white theme.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS STEP IS NOT NECESSARY AND THAT I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU DAMAGE YOUR ESC BY DOING THIS!

If you don't feel brave enough to do this you can only solder 3.5 mm bullet connectors on ESC and that's it.

Now I will explain why I did this:

1. White heat shrink on ESC:
I will try to achieve black and white theme on my quad and red ESC's are not welcome into this story. So, I removed red heat shrink and put white one on there. This part is strictly for looks.

2. Dyeing servo wire:
Again, only for looks. I think that all that different colours make your RC look cheap so I am trying to get rid off them as much as I can. Please note that if you dye your wire you won't be able to know which one is signal/positive/negative so there is a greater chance of screwing things up. Of course, once you solder it back on properly you can't really do anything wrong. But you have to be aware of risk before doing this step.

3. White heat shrink on "battery" wires:
If you put white heat shrink on battery wires you won't be able to tell which one is positive and which one is negative. That's why I've made simple sticker that has labels for all wires. Now I know which one is which.

4. Sticker:
It's a very simple way of personalising your quad. However, the main reason why I made them is because after you make all your wires black and white there is no way of telling which one is which. Since the sticker has all the labels on right places I can now tell what is what without need to having all that ugly coloured wires.

5. Bullet connectors:
You need to solder those on every ESC that doesn't come with connectors already soldered on, so, this is strictly for function.

6. Separating BEC wires:
BEC is short for "Battery Eliminator Circuit". It's a part of ESC that supply constant voltage on servo connector (red and black wires) so that you can power you receiver, flight controller... Turnigy Plush 30A ESC's have 5V and 2A BEC.
Now, since multicopters are using more that one ESC you have more that one BEC. Four of them on a quad to be precise. But you only need one! In fact, it is actually not recommended to plug multiple BEC's in parallel. Therefor, it's good to remove BEC wires from all ESC's except one. You can do this by desoldering them from ESC itself or you can simply pull the red (middle) wire from servo connector and isolate it.
However, 5V power source is a useful thing if you are planing to add LED's or whatever. So, I've made and soldered JST connector on 3 ESC's. Now I have at disposal three 5V/2A power sources to power all kind of things in the future from the main battery. That way I won't be needing extra BEC or extra battery.

7. Foam:
This is a simple way to isolate ESC from vibrations (at least a little bit).
Mouse pad is a great cheap source of foam for this kind of applications.

WARNINGS:
This is very risky modification. There is a plenty of opportunity to damage you ESC. Soldering/desoldering, heating ESC while applying heat shrink on etc. Please be aware what you are doing before you start. Most of this is just for looks and it's stupid to damage your expensive ESC's just because you want them to be a different colour.

1. While heating heat shrink make sure that you don't overheat ESC components. Pause few times and let the components to cool before you continue.

Tips:

1. Don't use lighter to shrink white heat shrink because it will leave brown marks on it. Just use hot air either from a heat gun or a hair dryer.

You will need:

ESC - Turnigy Plush 30A in my case

3.5 mm bullet connectors

JST male connectors

25 mm and 4 mm white heat shrink

Tools:

Soldering iron, 60/40 solder, third hand and soldering paste. 

Scissors, wire cutters, precision knife.

Heat gun (or hair dryer).

Double sided tape and foam (mouse pad)

Enjoy RC as much as I do! :)