Mike Hardy Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I take it Li-Po packs arrive with a variety of connectors attached? Is there a standard? Deans, Bullet, or what? Are these connectors easy to use (pull apart)? What do people on here use? Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 i use deans at the moment, but am converting to bullets slowly as they are easier to solder on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I think you'll find that everyone has their own standard. I happen to use 4mm gold bullets for most things with my battery positive as a male connector and battery negative as a female. Other people favour Deans and others seem to like the ones that have arrived on the scene more recently. XT60 is one example I think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Its very much a personal preference thing. Personally I find Deans hard to separate and fiddly to solder. So personally I've standardised on 4mm bullets. But there is lots of other options - including XT60's and so on. Yer pays yer money etc! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 25/09/2012 13:10:18: I think you'll find that everyone has their own standard. I happen to use 4mm gold bullets for most things with my battery positive as a male connector and battery negative as a female. Other people favour Deans and others seem to like the ones that have arrived on the scene more recently. XT60 is one example I think? Snap - I put the male on the battery positive as well - must remember that if I ever need to borrow a battery at Greenacres! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ashby - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Pop 'connectors' in the search box and you'll find a few threads Mike - this one in relation to our recent poll might be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hardy Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Thanks all - What a bewildering selection I see all use soldered joints, are crimp terminals now out of favour. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Chris, BEB - thats funny. I use the same connectors, but female on the battery positive Was there any thinking behind using the make on battery positive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly P Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Mike - Crimps can be funny beasts at higher ampage/voltages, I use soldered connections as I find they are more durable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Posted by Robin Kearney on 25/09/2012 14:37:46: Chris, BEB - thats funny. I use the same connectors, but female on the battery positive Was there any thinking behind using the make on battery positive? No, I don't think so. I just had to standardise on something and perhaps the chauvanist in me see male as positive!? I've seen just about every combination I think - including two females on the battery - used because it lessens the chances of battery terminals touching and shorting. But I feel that, for me at least, it would mean that the day would surely come when I connected a battery in the wrong polarisation! To avoid the terminals accidentally shorting I just slip a bit of fuel tube over the male connector when in storage. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I love the juxtaposition of fuel tube preventing electric flight batteries shorting out! I went with the mixed male/female after watching a guy at our club connect a 6S to his heli the wrong way round. He was overheard muttering the odd curse word as the smoke billowed from his ESC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly P Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I've got Female on the positive of battery - this follows experiance of electronic std where the power supply line is almost always female. sorry BEB - you can't borrow any of my packs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Having seen a clubmate connect the male to the female of the battery, it seems no combination is foolproof. These days I cut the battery lead for the male slightly shorter than the female, and pop on a small cable tie near enough to the connectors to tie both together, in such a way that they can't be separated enough to be connected to each other. I alse sleeve the male when not in use, usually with a length of white outer sleeving cut from some 5A 3 core mains flex. No reason to go male on battery positive, it could just as easily have been male on the ESC positive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 There's little to match the range of emotions experienced when you do get it wrong though, is there..... Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 My own thoughts are it is desirable to have the Lipo/supply side with female connectors. As these are then fully protected. Another desirable feature that the geometry of the plug and sockets are such that the positive cannot be inadvertently or purposely connected incorrectly (wrong polarity). I have in the past used bullet connectors, until I witnessed on two separate occasions what can happen using them. I then changed to these HXT, but found them bulky and difficult to reliably source. At this point I started using Deans, to date they have worked well. However if starting again, I would consider XT60 ot the EC5 (although these could be yesterdays connector system) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bott - Moderator Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Posted by Pete B on 25/09/2012 15:23:37: There's little to match the range of emotions experienced when you do get it wrong though, is there..... Pete Absolutely, Pete! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chambers Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Posted by Olly P on 25/09/2012 15:06:16: I've got Female on the positive of battery - this follows experiance of electronic std where the power supply line is almost always female. sorry BEB - you can't borrow any of my packs! Exactly the way and the reason why I have my 4mm bullets that way! The positive connection being the 'hot' connection and so shielded. Of course our models tend not to have a metal body negative, so not so much of a problem! I also always colour code it, so when connecting a model, I only have to remember, Red to Red and Black to Black. I originally started on 4mm, then moved to Deans after more and more ESC's and packs used them. Well I say Deans, but never the genuine articles. I switched away, when one day at the field the metal spring on the negative side bent and hit the positive terminal when I was connecting the pack up. A loud bang and a dead pack resulted... So took the step of cutting all the Deans off and moving to 4mm's. I had thought about moving to XT60, but I can't be doing with removing and resoldering all the connectors again. Also 4MM only need a short male to male adapter to connect the pack to a charger - rather than a charging harness with multiple connectors. I've had charging harness wires disconnect/break, forget the harnesses, connected harnesses back to front, etc, etc - hence why I like to have less of them and simplier ones. I usually leave the 4mm male to male adapter permantely connected on the charger. For the smaller stuff (i.e. <10A), I've standardised on the mini red JST connectors. Light, simple to connect in tight spaces, cheap, reliable and easy to crimp. Cheers, Si. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Crook Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Mike If you haven't decided yet, have a look at XT60s. They give a good quality connection, the polarisation is foolproof (they even mark the polarity) and they are cheap and readily available. UK eBay sellers have them for less than £10 for 10 pairs, including heat shrink. They can be a little difficult to separate, but generally better than Deans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Hardy Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Thanks Trevor I will give them a try. Mike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Kearney Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 Mike, if you settle on XT60s, I have 8 pairs sat here which are unwanted. PM me an address and I'll stick them in the post. I bought them in an attempt to standardise across my fleet, only to find out they were two big for at least one my airframes, so went with plain bullets in the end. r. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete B Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have gradually made the transition to XT60's from Deans and can endorse all of Trevor's comments above - with one exception, which is that they are not completely foolproof...... Despite the helpful + and - markings, a brainfade episode meant I sat transfixed as the magic smoke escaped - hence my post earlier! That was after about 20 successful fittings, so it wasn't unfamiliarity - more a case of over-familiarity, I think. For info, the ideal heatshrink size for the XT60 is 4mm for up to 12SWG wire - it fits nicely over the shrouded part of the moulding. Anything thicker needs 5mm, which takes a bit of teasing into the housing. If you're putting together an order from HK, it's always worth topping up the stocks - at a couple of quid for 5 pairs, they're good value. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I have been thinking about this thread a little. On reflection, I have been surprised at the support for bullet connectors. At first I thought of two instances of incorrect connection. On reflection I think I have seen at least five. Sometimes borrowed packs, surprising number just getting it wrong. I think this is where the connectors with geometries to reduce the possibility of incorrect connection really score, in a safety obsessed UK, they must be the way to go? Although it really is just damaged electronics, not a safety issue. Although the most bizarre I saw was two Lipo packs (different sizes) connected together, using bullet connectors, the result was just two very hot packs and a big Hummmphhhh from the miscreant.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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