Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 After disconnecting my Optipower UltraGuard unit following some flying this morning I noticed damage to the 2S Lipo battery plug. I am not sure how that happened unless it was as I pulled out the battery plug from its housing. The pins in the housing are all intact, plus the cell voltages are both around 4.0V each so no shorting has occurred by the looks of it. Firstly, any idea where I can source replacement blank plugs? Also I may need to replace the female wire connectors on two of the wires. Any suggestions gratefully received! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lee Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 The plug is a standard 2S JST-XH balance lead plug. Obtainable from EBay & most specialist electric flight retailers. If you don't want to mess about replacing wires a direct replacement battery that I use following leaving my original connected for weeks by accident is here for less than £4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Thanks, John much appreciated. I didn't know the correct name for the plug so that's answered that one. The direct replacement battery seems the ticket if needs be. I use a lot of bigger Turnigy batteries and find they perform well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Walby Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 At the risk of opening up a big debate on the pros and cons of these connectors I need to say up until late last year I had used them for servo wing to fuselage connectors + BEC to RX. They seemed to meet my needs as multi pin connectors with a reasonable current carrying capability and were even used on my 6ft Vulcan. Long story short there was a discussion on this forum and a fellow club member expressed severe reservations (backed up by practical experience) and shortly afterwards I found a battery/connector to be very poor to a point of failure. Fortunately I didn't loose a model, but I will be phasing out their use as I work through model servicing this year. If the balance lead does not make connection then the charger will let you know, unfortunately it might be all to late if its supplying the RX etc. Hope this helps, PS Thanks Martin Edited By Chris Walby on 03/01/2019 15:42:44 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel R Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Big expensive model? Personally, I'd want to know exactly how that happened. Critical system, etc. Looks almost like something hot and spherical has been rammed into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I would suggest that the connector pins are a loose fit and it's overheated enough to melt the plastic. I had one of the three 3.5mm bullet connectors ( on a motor to ESC on a 4S Lipo) overheat enough to melt the solder and become unsoldered which seemed to be due to a slightly loose fit which was causing arcing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Adrian, I would be inclined to replace the 2S with a larger capacity one especially if you have servos that pull a fair current. On my Hurricane I now use a 2100 LiFe 2S for the Ultraguard as I have Htec 5645 servos throughout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Interestingly, Ron the plane in question is fitted with Hitec 5645s and is served by an opto ESC with a separate RX 6v power source (nimh) which is why I have the UtraGuard unit. It does look like heat damage though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I thought you did have the same servos as me Adrain, hence my mention of it . I would definitely use a larger capacity Ultra Guard battery as those servos can eat battery power, a 400mAh battery may only give you a few minutes of servo operation, possibly not enough to get you down in the event of main battery failure. Have you go the LED light installed to shown you when it's on emergency power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 I do have the LED light mounted externally under the fuselage, Ron. I must admit when I bought the UG I didn't see the point of buying the unit without the LED warning light. I do have a few 2S 3.6amp lipos which will fit of course, but I am wondering if this is overkill? I will have to check the CoGs again if I use them. I have no idea how long a 450 mAh back up battery supplied would last, however. Yes, supertigrefan I did wonder if this is a possibility. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hess Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Did you by any chance parallel charge them with another battery or otherwise connect them to a parallel board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hess Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Did you by any chance parallel charge them with another battery or otherwise connect them to a parallel board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 No Dave, the unit lipo charges itself during flight from the RX battery automatically. I check the voltages after every flight to see if anything odd is going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Posted by kc on 03/01/2019 16:40:37: I would suggest that the connector pins are a loose fit and it's overheated enough to melt the plastic. I had one of the three 3.5mm bullet connectors ( on a motor to ESC on a 4S Lipo) overheat enough to melt the solder and become unsoldered which seemed to be due to a slightly loose fit which was causing arcing. That must have got very hot - 300 to 350 deg C. I've only inadvertently melted a soldered joint once and that was years ago when I was temperature cycling a circuit I designed for work up to 125 deg C - the oven I used obviously had a serious temperature gradient! Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hess Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Here's my thoughts for what they're worth. It's always possible to get a loose pin, but two at a time would be pretty unusual. I can't see that being the cause. I would say that too much current has been through those wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Can you post a pic of the socket it was plugged into Adrian? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 Yes Ron, will go into the workshop today and photo the other part of the unit where the socket is and post it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 My secondary thoughts too, Dave. The trickle charge for the unit comes from a 6v RX battery, but the unit should manage that. As I say the unit lipo is never charged independently with a charger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Gray Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 I always fully charge the backup battery separately that way I know it’s not pulling power from the main flight battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 As promised some pics of what I have found. The pins themselves look ok and no sign of heat damage. On top next. Rear of plug socket. Now lets look at the plug itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 The pictures are a bit out of focus, but they do tell some story. I cut the female sockets out of the plug making sure no shorting occurs. The red lead socket is intact but bunged up with a bit of plastic plug. Although it's not very clear black lead 2's socket was bent up at right angle (before it broke off completely). The last plug socket was completely intact. I may be wrong but it suggests to me that, in process of me plugging it all in the plug became misaligned leading to 2 of the sockets becoming damaged. Not sure it that's the answer, but it seems the most plausible. PS. I have already attached a replacement battery to the unit and all seems to work as I would expect. Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 04/01/2019 15:02:01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Smith 1 Posted January 4, 2019 Author Share Posted January 4, 2019 Ron. I always try to ensue the voltage of the cells are around 4.0v before I would consider taking the unit out and charging the battery from an independent source. Thus far I have not needed to. I do check the voltages after each session. However, I take your point about reducing any current drain which is probably why I do need to think about a bigger capacity 2S Lipo than the 430 mAh that is provided with the unit. By the way here is a pic of where I locate the LED on my GW Sbach 342. Edited By Adrian Smith 1 on 04/01/2019 15:00:46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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