third time this has happened now. im soldering 16awg silicone wire to the motor pads on a 45a ESC (its a cheap rebranded thing, came with a kit) and every single time i go to route the wires and flex them even slightly the pad just lifts right off the board. i end up with this little copper square stuck to the end of my wire and nothing to solder to anymore.

i dont think im holding the iron on too long, im at 350c with a TS100 and im in and out pretty quick. the solder flows fine. but then two days later im doing the build and i move the wire and pop, pad comes off. not sure if its a quality issue with the ESC or if im doing something wrong. the pads look clean when theyre done, no burning or anything.

running out of ESCs to practice on lol

yeah that sounds like a pad adhesion issue with cheap ESCs more than your technique. some of the budget boards just have terrible pad bonding from the factory, ive seen this exact thing happen with some of the aliexpress stuff where the copper trace literally isnt bonded properly and any mechanical stress at all just peels it.

couple things that might help ? after you solder the wire, put a small dab of hot glue or some UV resin right where the wire meets the board to take the mechanical stress off the joint itself. that way if you flex the wire during routing, the pad isnt taking any of that force. also 16awg might be overkill depending on your motor, you could go 18awg on a 5inch which is more flexible and puts less stress on the pad just sitting there

honestly if the pads are lifting that easily its probably just a garbage ESC, ive had the same issue with kit ESCs before. the pad delamination thing is almost always a manufacturing quality problem not a soldering technique problem ? a decent ESC from speedybee or hobbywing the pads are not going anywhere even if you yank on the wires pretty hard.

might just be worth cutting your losses and getting something better. sucks but ive wasted way more time and money trying to make cheap components work than i wouldve spent just buying decent parts from the start. also strain relief your wires, always, no exceptions