What connectors do you use!?

[Wrcallar]

I've just bought a losi that has little ec2 connectors, and am awaiting some lipos that will have XT60 connectors on it.

Now my Acucell 6 came with a banana to xt60 lead so I can charge these lipos fine, but I then can't use it in the car! I also need a lead so I can charge my nimh that has ec2.

So to sum this up I either make/buy XT60 to ec2 leads (I'll need both male to female of both so will need 2 leads) or I just make everything have the same connector!

I have a MERV which has traxxas connectors and the lipos etc for that are all traxxas, so I think my best bet would be to change the losi esc, and the nimh and lipos for it to traxxas?

The wire is very thin on the losi so hope this will still solder fine.

What did you guys do to get out of this cross make dilemma!?

Cheers

[zebrevo]

can you solder???

If so - pick your connector of choice, buy a bundle of male and female and attach them as required.

I just done all mine, with 10 pairs of deans xt plugs for a fiver.

If not - you're going to end up with a big bundle of adaptors.

[Wrcallar]

Haha no I can't solder! Well I have a solder iron that I got from when I used to collect a magazine called real robots which is rated to 30w so i'm deffo up for having a go, i'm sure it will be fine!? I guess I need to order shrink wrap too? Does it shrink to all different size wires?

Traxxas seem to be quite expensive to be honest, 5 pairs is

[wallisonline]

I have the white tamiya connectors on all my stuff so it all went well together..... that was until i got a second had schumacher mission that had the banana connectors on the battery terminals.

So just for the fun of it and to make sure everything will work with any of the cars I thought I would change all my connectors to the banana connectors, which arrived today.

So my next job is to solder these onto all my battery connectors and my other cars so I can connect em up when needed.

I didnt even think about the charger so I better check that it has the connections for it otherwise it looks like I will be getting an adaptor lead if I dont have the right connectors !

The heatshrink you can buy in different diameters and it will shrink to fit the wire your using.. getting heatshrink that is just large enough to fit over your terminal and wire will provide a better more secure fitting when it shrinks to fit.

[Wrcallar]

Just watched this, deffo helped a lot! Look forward to doing it now.

Is normal solder OK? Conducts fine?

[LukeDavis]

you want lead (flux) solder really, lead free doesn't work as well...your 30w iron will be fine for the job, but it may take a bit longer. I use xt60's on my car...only because my charger came with one...took an hour to change my turnigy to them, but then mine do have 8awg cables! And the solder joins are covered with electrical tape...works fine!

[Brushless 101]

I use deans ultra plugs on all my rc cars and boats .

Edited March 8, 2011 by Brushless 101

[wearypanda]

+1 for mr deans although on my old buggy i have tamiya but i never use it now

[AlexBruv]

XT60's ..... Use on my turnigy with 8AWG wire.. long time to get on but well worth it

[fluffy]

I use the bullet style connectors which were more popular back a couple of years ago ( just watch connecting wrong terminals) I tried deans connectors but found it difficult to solder

[Thunderwolf]

Haha no I can't solder! Well I have a solder iron that I got from when I used to collect a magazine called real robots which is rated to 30w so i'm deffo up for having a go, i'm sure it will be fine!?

wow that takes me back, i got the same soldering iron mate which does a good enough job for soldering conectors.

was using traxxas connectors, changed to 6mm bullets now going back to old faithful, deans connectors, did well in my starterbox so i'll have ago on my lipos

[cbr6fs]

Another one that uses Deans here.

They're certainly no where near perfect, but the compromises are better than the others i've tried (XT60's, Bullet's, EC3's, TRX's, HXT's, Tamiya's etc etc).

Some are easier to solder but a swine to connect or disconnect, others are easier to connect but a nightmare to solder so they're all pretty compromised but Deans less so for me.

It's a personal preference though so it's just a case of finding out what works for you.

I'd also advise to try them all before you build up you car and battery collection as well, as if i changed tomorrow it'd mean re-soldering around 15 batteries and at least 10 cars

[Gaz!]

i always used to use tamiya but then decided with brushless and lipo was better i moved to the losi ec3.

wouldn`t use anything else now.

[Zoea]

I have some cheap ebay knockoff Deans, not tried soldering them yet (can't) but I suspect they will be lame. Got to choose between xt deans style connectors or xt-60 ones.

Someone said its hard to solder bigger wire to xt-60 is this true? I'm using 12 awg now so should be ok but might use larger wire in future.

Can you get cheap xt-60 in the UK or is it better to stick to deans. That fiver deal seems pretty good. Not sure if hobbyking is cheaper but they would take ages to arrive.

Finally, how come you can get male xt-60 with wire cheap on ebay but not female ones? Seems like someone is missing a trick there.

[anthonyj3d]

i use 3.5 mm bullets on my batterys up to 3s after 3s i use 4 or 5 mm

[HootMaRoot]

i used to use EC3 and have tryed EC5, but have now changed to 6mm bullets on all my gear as they are cheaper as you can buy packs of 50pairs for about

[PaulCa]

I don't have any electric cars yet, but I do have a range of planes and helis. There is no one connector that will do all my connections.

So I select a type of connector based on the amperage of what it is going one.

> 60A = 4mm Bullets. As come on the HK 5000mAH packs. (or are then 4.5mm can't remember).

15-60A = XT60s

< 15A = JSTs (small red things) or just JR/Futaba servo style plugs.

I don't like deans.

Should I get something that draws over 80/100A I'll use bigger bullets.

If something comes with a Deans or other wrong connector (for me), it gets resoldered or I use an adapter.

For power analysing (watt meter has XT60s), I have adapters for everything from JR, JST and Bullets.

Edited March 9, 2011 by PaulCa

[LukeDavis]

I have some cheap ebay knockoff Deans, not tried soldering them yet (can't) but I suspect they will be lame. Got to choose between xt deans style connectors or xt-60 ones.

Someone said its hard to solder bigger wire to xt-60 is this true? I'm using 12 awg now so should be ok but might use larger wire in future.

Can you get cheap xt-60 in the UK or is it better to stick to deans. That fiver deal seems pretty good. Not sure if hobbyking is cheaper but they would take ages to arrive.

Finally, how come you can get male xt-60 with wire cheap on ebay but not female ones? Seems like someone is missing a trick there.

The xt60's should ok with 12awg. Mine were a bugger to solder, but thats with the 8awg on turnigy packs...and i noticed the males are cheaper...i just got 3prs for

Edited March 9, 2011 by LukeDavis

[Wrcallar]

I don't have any electric cars yet, but I do have a range of planes and helis. There is no one connector that will do all my connections.

So I select a type of connector based on the amperage of what it is going one.

> 60A = 4mm Bullets. As come on the HK 5000mAH packs. (or are then 4.5mm can't remember).

15-60A = XT60s

< 15A = JSTs (small red things) or just JR/Futaba servo style plugs.

I don't like deans.

Should I get something that draws over 80/100A I'll use bigger bullets.

If something comes with a Deans or other wrong connector (for me), it gets resoldered or I use an adapter.

For power analysing (watt meter has XT60s), I have adapters for everything from JR, JST and Bullets.

Deans seem to be popular from most peoples replies!

I have chosen to go with Traxxas but will they be ok with my little 1/16 losi SCT because the wire is really thin and they come with really small EC2 connectors as standard. In your opinion are the connectors limited to how much power than can transfer?

[zebrevo]

the traxxas connectors are fitted onto the MMM in the brushless e-revo, so power wise should be fine!

regards the thinner wire - will be much easier to attach (solder) but you must remember that you need to pull the connectors apart by the plastic body and not the wire.

(very) thin wire you can break just by pulling it - so the soldered connection will remain intact but the wire may break off.