Source of connectors, 5 & 8 pin.

[David Hall 9]

My lock-down build of an "Inside F5J" kit has been going well, but is now stalled for the lack of some connectors.

Ideally, I'd like an 8 pin Multiplex plug/socket for attaching to the fus (it's a six servo wing) and Multiplex 5 pin (or 4..) for the outer wing panels.

At the moment, I am considering the use of a 3S battery balance connector and a 6 pin MPX connector + a JST 2 pin power connector for the fus connection.

Does any know of a source for the MPX 8 & 5 pin connectors that can supply?

 

Edited By David Hall 9 on 21/04/2020 12:39:48

[MaxG]

Have you tried **LINK** or **LINK** .

Alternatively 4Max do multi way connectors now. Alternatively what about 9 pin D sockets.

Maxg

[David Hall 9]

Posted by MaxG on 21/04/2020 13:45:58:

Have you tried **LINK** or **LINK** .

Alternatively 4Max do multi way connectors now. Alternatively what about 9 pin D sockets.

Maxg

Thanks for the links.... wow, Multiplex-rc.co.uk, i had no idea. They didn't pop up on my searches. You would think that would be exactly the one... they do the 5 pin socket, but not the plug, as far as I can see, and no 8 pin. The other links to a shop which, like others pops up on my searches because they have the usual 6 pin connectors.

But... Nexus models have the 8 pin and are "open" on-line.

I have been thinking of the 9 pin D type, that would be a working solution..

I can use the MPX 6 pin for the wing panel connections, the 4 pin JST connector (lipo balance) will be a better fit, if it is reliable... I've never had a problem with the battery balance connectors I use, other than the time I flashed the pins off.

[Bruce Collinson]

George at 4 Max has standard Mpx as well as Maxloc. I’ve seen a larger Mpx within the last week but blowed if I can remember where, but for sure in the UK. Is this where Google is your friend?

BTC

[Chris Walby]

IMHO and only from my experience I don't think the current carrying capacity of the D type connectors are suitable for servos. The wires are quite fiddley to solder on to the pins + if one wire was to come off it could take multiple servos down or brown the RX out - best fix I have see is to seal them with resin.

I though balance leads were a good alternative to the above and a club mentioned they had had problems, anyway I continued to use them for a few months in various models until I found one plug/socket combination that was intermittent power supply to the RX.

Best use MPX or similar, don't forget you can always use a male and female on each wing with a couple of coloured heat shrink bands to denote port/starboard.

[flight1]

have you looked for molex sl connectors the sam as what used to be sold as 'ashlock'.4max sell them now or you can get from Rs or farnell

molex SL connector housings 2.54mm pitch all sizes + you need the pins tto go with

[David Hall 9]

Thanks for your suggestions.... Looking at the connectors I have to hand, the MPX 6pin looks to be superior to the JST for this purpose. With a little enlargement of the hole, I could use them for the wing outer to centre join.

I can leave the main wing to fus connection until later, so a MPX 8 pin or a 9 D type could be used. I recall seeing that many of the CF moulded F5J gliders use this connector in the wings, so I don't have any worries about overrunning the current spec when on this particular model.

This allows me to continue the build for the time being.

[Nigel Dell]

Nexus

David, I got the 8 pin MPX connectors for my Inside F5j from Nexus Bob, all the MPX connectors are more rugged than the likes of the JST’s in my experience they wear better!

Edited By Nigel Dell on 21/04/2020 16:17:04

[MaxG]

Posted by Chris Walby on 21/04/2020 15:19:22:

Best use MPX or similar, don't forget you can always use a male and female on each wing with a couple of coloured heat shrink bands to denote port/starboard.

Where I have done this I had a male Mpx on one panel and a female Mpx on the other panel. In this way you cannot connect the wrong wing to the Rx harness if you see what I mean.

Maxg

[Martin McIntosh]

If you go to CPC/Farnell you will find 3 to 12 way sockets which are identical to JR/Hitech ones with the pins to match. You do of course need a proper crimping tool for them, also PCB type headers since they do not appear to stock the male counterparts the last time I looked. I have quite a few models with two ailerons, two flaps, two retract units and lights and use these on all of them. No use to attach glider wind tips though. In the above I use one ten and one twelve way so that they cannot be mixed up.

If you look up some of my build blogs you will see how I install them (Mustang, 72" Spit, Lanc., Mosquito, Tucano etc.).

[Allan Bennett]

I use RS Components for the same kind of sockets as Martin McIntosh has mentioned -- they come in single or double row. I use standard PCB header pins for the other half of the connection. I usually make up a PCB for them so I can mount them in the fuselage, but you could also use Vero board or similar.

[Andy48]

Posted by Martin McIntosh on 21/04/2020 17:50:27:

If you go to CPC/Farnell you will find 3 to 12 way sockets which are identical to JR/Hitech ones with the pins to match. You do of course need a proper crimping tool for them, also PCB type headers since they do not appear to stock the male counterparts the last time I looked. I have quite a few models with two ailerons, two flaps, two retract units and lights and use these on all of them. No use to attach glider wind tips though. In the above I use one ten and one twelve way so that they cannot be mixed up.

If you look up some of my build blogs you will see how I install them (Mustang, 72" Spit, Lanc., Mosquito, Tucano etc.).

I have used these too, however it is possible to connect them wrong way round as there is no polarisation. For safety's sake I filled one of the socket holes with epoxy and left the corresponding pin out so they had to be connected the right way round

[Martin McIntosh]

Alan and Andy, glad to see that others have discovered these too. I also use Vero board with mine, it makes connecting up a wing very simple. I just go by the way round I have standardised on for the connectors and double check with the wiring colours. They also mean that you do not need to mess with safety clips on the leads.

[Allan Bennett]

I paint one side of the plug bright yellow so I get it right way up, and I try to arrange the pins so that plugging in wrong way round will not result in a reverse polarity situation.

[Devon Slopes]

Hi David,

nice to see someone else on the forum building an Inside F5J. Please feel free to add any useful experiences to the Inside F5J thread.

This is how I've done the wing panel connectors in my Inside F5J, with some connectors from CPC that look very similar to balance connectors. I've also put an example of the connector buried in the central wing panel in the photo so you can se what it looks like.

The nice things about this setup are that socket connector is the right size to glue straight into slot in the central wing panel rib. Also the flying lead connector (coming out of the orange panel) is crimped, which I think should be more robust than soldering (am I right anyone?). The down side is that I think it might be a bit fiddly to take out (think cold fingers on a snowy Dartmoor), so I may have to make a fork-type tool to grab the protrusions on the side of the plug. And of course, although I have completed inside F5J, I've not flown it yet, so this is all theorising.

I cheated on the connector between the fuselage and the wing by putting a second Rx in the wing, which reduces the number of wires needed considerably!

[Martin McIntosh]

Those are indeed balance lead types and I use them occasionally on i/c models when I want to tap into a lower voltage from the pack for lights for instance. Down side is that the plug half has to be soldered since these are intended for PCB mounting, fine for a glider with zero vibration though.