Are Deans enough?

[BrianG]

While I think Deans are "ok" for most applications, I also think they should be upgraded so they are around 50% larger in all dimensions.

But aside from that, those huge currents are only a problem on take-off or heavy acceleration from a slow speed. Normally, current levels are around 15A or less on average. So, I guess it depends on what kind of driving you do. If you do continual standing backflips where there are a lot more heavy current draws, then maybe a different connector is in order. If you are racing, you generally aren't as hard on the system (as far as burst current is concerned) because you try not to stop and go as much, and so Deans are more than adequate.

I personally don't like bullets for two reasons:

1) They are not polarized so accidental hookups to the ESC can be catastrophic. Yeah, You could put a male on one batt wire and a female on the other, but that leads to point #2.

2) Ease of shorting. Even properly insulated female bullets have a relatively large exposed area where a conductor could conceivably make contact. Not worth the risk.

I suppose you could do something like this to eliminate connector woes:

[zeropointbug]

hahaha Brian

btw, where did you get that? Looks like an electric pack plug.

[BrianG]

I think I got it a partsexpress.com. It was intended to make my old car audio amp rack easily removable, but I went in a different direction and didn't need it after all.

Works really well in my XT8 conversion though. That connector is good for 600v and 150A, so perfect for a really HV setup.

[Snipin_Willy]

I saw those on the site where you can buy powerpoles from. I didn't know how big they were till I read the specs on them. Massive 0.0

[aqwut]

that's F*cking hilarious Brian... haha.. looks like the connectors they use for electrical lift trucks.. I know some of the big trains uses Pole connectors 10 times the size of that. . just plain awesome...

[BL_RV0]

Is that connector on your charger too?

[Mentat]

i just put one male and one female bullet on my pack and one female and one male on the charger, then i use electrical tape on the exposed areas when racing. Issue solved

[J57ltr]

Originally Posted by J57ltr

The funny thing is that nobody that has a high current connector has a rating for them. Before I found Deans I was going to use the smaller Anderson connectors, but I thought a 3.2" long connector was a little large. They are the only ones that have the proper specs as far as I am concerned (Amp derating curves and such, life cycle data you know specs.)

Like I said before he might have a bad connection. If you have a good meter like a Fluke Series 3 or above you can actually measure Siemens. Zero the lead resistance and that will allow you to measure conductance through the system without dealing with lead resistance. Lead resistance always gets in the way on measuring very small resistances.

Jeff

That would be the Anderson connector I was talking about like I said I think 3.2" is a little big.

They also use them on battery powered forklifts and pallet jacks. I even see them used for hooking up power for the aircraft at my Dads work. They are pretty much the defacto standard in high current connectors.and that's exactly how I pictured it in my head.


Jeff

[E-Revonut]

I used one in my high powered car audio system a few years back. Had it in a Grand Cherokee, I wanted to be able to remove it easily. It also made it easy to hook up my power inverter in the back of the jeep. At the time I built electric motors for a living and got them through work.

[iTz Nicholas]

Originally Posted by Snipin_Willy

The biggest concern I have with bullet connectors as battery connection is that even if you heat shrink them they will never be as safe from shorting as deans/trx plugs. Only way to solve this is to find some type of plastic casing that the bullet plugs fit into, similar to the HC Turnigy packs

All you have to do it put one male and one female on the battery and vise versa for the ESC. You would have to be careful when you are storing them tough because something could bridge the gap and poof...

I'm getting some Hyperion bullet plugs because if you wanted you could easily run a series or parallel setup.

[BrianG]

That would be ideal... IF bullets came in some kind of molded housing. Would be a PITA to connect/disconnect because some of those bullets are VERY tight.

I just read a article from MGM.

It says that Deans are unsuitable connectors and are designed for currents up to 30A...

http://mgm-compro.com/pdf/connectors-for-modelers.pdf

[BrianG]

Yeah, someone posted that a few weeks back. Personally, if Deans are hotter than the wires around it, then they are inadequate. Heat would mean power loss on the connector, which means voltage drop, which means contact resistance.

No one has mentioned the age of Deans though. After hooking them up a number of times (especially on anything over 3s), the repeated spark can pit the contacts and introduce contact resistance. Doesn't mean that Deans are bad per se, just worn.

Originally Posted by BrianG

Yeah, someone posted that a few weeks back. Personally, if Deans are hotter than the wires around it, then they are inadequate. Heat would mean power loss on the connector, which means voltage drop, which means contact resistance.

No one has mentioned the age of Deans though. After hooking them up a number of times (especially on anything over 3s), the repeated spark can pit the contacts and introduce contact resistance. Doesn't mean that Deans are bad per se, just worn.

I can't believe they are designed up to 30A. I'm running chinese deans in my Rustler VXL and they never got warm or something like that?
I will also run Deans in my brushless LST with a Pletti Bigmaxximum, Quark Airmaster 125B and Flightmax 5000mAh 30C 5S LiPo. Maybe I should remove those Deans and put some huge bullets on it?

What I understood is that the 30a rating is for continuous amp draw. They'll take higher spikes, but not for long.

I use EC5's. Expensive, but easy to solder. I don't know their amp rating, but they are 5mm connectors, so it should be enough.