Seen as most in the RC world like to slate Deans connectors, watch this.

[JonnyUK]

Quite interesting video, watch from around 3 minutes onwards for the Deans part.

 

 

[m4inbrain]

Is it though? 

 

Shady video. Or rather, i guess Santa Maria is a "useful moron" in this case, doting over a presentation, and the Deans guy is obnoxiously dishonest.

 

Here's reality. Deans connectors aren't particularly bad. The problem is that you can't tell an authentic plug from a clone if you're unlucky. That's number one. And the second, vastly more important part as to why Deans connectors aren't loved, is that many people simply have melted authentic Deans connectors, including me.

 

I'm not sure why you didn't pick up on this, but the Deans guy pulls a QS8 connector out of his pocket and argues that "drag racers carry unnecessary weight in their rigs". Leaving out the fact that if they'd run his connector, they'd burn the house down. A drag car pulls easily over 150 amps. Speedrunners like Raz pull twice that on average for 30+ seconds, peaking at up to 400A. 

 

Try that through a connector where the "Ultra" version is rated for 60A, 75A burst. People run QS8 because they're rated for up to 190A, no other reason. 

 

edit: forgot two other things that make Deans objectively worse than all the "bullet type" connectors. Firstly, you can actually short them if you're not careful, without forcing something - and secondly, they're just awful to solder compared to a bullet. Not just in terms of technique, if your joint isn't perfect, this entire "low resistance" marketing blurb is straight out of the window. This is much less common in a bullet, since all you do is just fill it with solder and ram a (pre-tinned) wire in there. 

 

I'd run Deans if i had nothing else in my crawlers and other low-powered rigs, i don't "hate" or "slate" Deans. But usually it's people who buy a battery from Hobbyking or Amazon (majority some kind of T-Plug) in their rigs, and are too scared to re-solder the pack to a decent connector. Instead, they re-solder their 1/8th rig ESCs to T-Plug and wonder why they eventually melt or short. 

 

Man, sorry for the long post lol, i just absolutely despise corporate american speak. That QS8 implication made my (non-existent) glasses fog up. 

 

I run QS8 in my X-Maxx (overkill, but that's what my 9500mah packs came with - no such thing as too big a connector in a basher), 5mm straight bullets in my drifters, XT60 in my crawlers (though am considering switching to XT30). I did run a Losi LST XXL 2 (many moons ago) on Deans, and melted them. Ever since, keep 'em. 

 

PS: the guy seriously suggests that it's an incredible waste to run QS8 connectors in quarter scale 12s planes. That's 113g in connectors on a plane that weighs up to 50lbs (or 24000g). So he implies running his vastly undersized 60A connectors to shave 50g off the weight (6000g at the absolute lowest end for an electric 1/4th) is sensible. That's why this annoys me. 

Edited October 9 by m4inbrain

[Gaz!]

Yep more or less same here, i found them a bit fiddly to solder, to the point i melted the outer case so much the tab became distorted and heres the big issue for me, if you have big hands with sausage fingers, Deans connectors are hard work, if the casings were bigger and better to grip might be another story, although i know plenty of guys still using them and are very happy.

 

always been a fan of the Losi ec2/3/5’s up until the Trx4m’s came along, now i use xt30’ and work so much better, small but still enough to grip a hold of.

 

yeah i can agree of the bad publicity of cloned connectors but if people didn’t buy them, they wouldn’t exist, i cant fathom why anybody would spend a small fortune on a rc set-up then use the cheapest connectors out there. Complete false economy!!! Couple that to losing you rc or heaven forbid home due to the knock off connector.

 

the best take away from that demonstration, whichever connector you buy, buy the original not a hundred connectors for 50p shipped. 

[Stormbringer]

To be fair weve only melted 1 deans type connector and that was in Yrkoons Kronos 

After that happened we switched to XT90/ XT60 in our rc stuff 

[lorrylemming]

One reason I really like deans plugs is that the flat plate makes it easy to solder a wide range of wire gauges on and solder two wires on for parrallel wiring. However as @m4inbrain says, if you can't be certain you've bought a genuine one its all a waste of time.

[m4inbrain]

Man i had a rant there, sorry. Crash diet, bit on the hangry side currently lol.

 

Each to their own, in the end, use what works best. I found the connectors a complete manure to solder compared to a bullet, i dislike the housing design (or lack thereof, really).

 

And, worst of all, or biggest reason for me: i'm soldering a round wire to a flat contact. And because they're so awfully designed, you're forced to disconnect them by pulling on the battery lead. A round lead, again, that's connected to a flat contact, on one side. I just can't do that.

 

If they redesigned the housing so you can pull them apart, maybe i'd use them (although, everything i own is XT60, XT90, QS8+ or 5mm bullets straight to battery, so doesn't really make sense to introduce another one if XT and IC/EC are so widespread in RTRs and electrics). I'd at least be open to the idea. As is, i'm not touching them with a ten foot pole - using the leads to disconnect, requiring an immaculate solder job to get just a slight improvement (to the point of imperceivable) over a so much easier to assemble XT or QS connector while also being more expensive (authentic ones).. Nah. Just not worth the hassle. 

Edited October 9 by m4inbrain

[wolfie1]

On my maverick quantum flux it came with a deans connector (stock esc is a hobbywing) so coming from a reputable brand i would expect it not to be a fake and it melted after a few packs so dont use any now

[Yrkoon]

i still use deans in 10 scale stuff only 2s and no problems, although as dad says my kronos melted deans connectors on 4s and it was a pretty hot day so i switched to xt90 for my 8 scale models 🙂

[Ziggy122]

not saying they are wrong with what they said

 

but half of the issues isn't probably where the 2 connectors meet....

it's more likely where the wire meets the connectors

 

all it takes is 1 crappy solder joint, and you get a higher resistance / bigger voltage drop

 

also was the gauge in MILLI volts? ie

it's a tiny voltage drop, which for a removable connector, I wouldn't worry too much for those in the bashing scene

 

sure if your a speed racer and wanting to harness pure power, your gonna works with the setup for voltage/amps vs what gives least voltage drop