Connectors

[Idahobell]

Which is better the Deans connector or the XT-60 connector?

 

[SoCal Blur]

I changed out my 6S connectors to XT-150 sparkless connectors

 

[Bartman]

of the two choices listed I'd opt for the XT-60 though I've got all of my 4S packs with Deans. Deans are the smallest of the bunch, the lightest, and therefore the easiest to work into tight areas but XT-60's are a bit easier to solder. The EC-3's are similar and are even easier to solder as the poles are assembled/soldered before being pressed into the plastic housings.

There are also Andserson Power Pole connectors to consider but they're noticeably larger and need to be planned into your power wire runs.

For most multi-rotor helicopter applications any of them are suitable depending on your current requirements.

Flame away!

Bart

 

[SamaraMedia]

I've been wondering the same thing lately as I'm starting to invest in 6s batteries for a hex build. I'm using Deans on my 4s but looking for the right plug for 6s.

 

[kloner]

it's not about the packs cell count or voltage and all about the amp draw and the plugs rating..... generally deans and xt60 are 50 or 60 amp plugs... if you never hit that, then technicaly your fine till you do.....

because we run pairs of cells, we make it so if one pack was not plugged in there is still enough amps to cover the flight.... at least you get a chance to catch the problem and not brownout trying.... we like PRC6 from progressive

 

[DucktileMedia]

I was using xt60's. But I just switched to ec5's. How the heck do you get the male bullets in the female housing!?!?! With the male on the lipo I was able to use the retained heat to help snap it in place but I still can't get the esc side to snap in. Part of the problem is that I am adding them to my Heli where the wires aren't long enough to put on the table and push down on. But the other male side I was able to do with heat and just my hands.

 

[Bluerex]

I just don't like the way that soldering makes the wires so stiff and brittle. I have power poles on everything now

C

 

[DucktileMedia]

Yeah that is a little annoying. I didnt realize the Andersons didnt require soldering. How does it get a good connection then? You can tin the wire tips and cut back to where there isnt so much solder as well, which works fine. But I know what you're talking about.

 

[kloner]

the stiffness is the wire infiltrated with solder and it prevents breaking wires like crimping does, loose frays are non existent, etc.... I'm on PRC6 and love em

 

[jes1111]

Yeah that is a little annoying. I didnt realize the Andersons didnt require soldering. How does it get a good connection then?

A (properly) crimped connection has compressed the strands together so hard that they have effectively "fused" into a single, solid bundle. As such the connection is "optimal", electrically and mechanically. It is often believed that "solder is the best conductor". In reality, solder is a worse conductor than either copper or pure silver (the coating on an Powerpole crimp connector). Hence a properly executed crimp has a lower resistance than a soldered connection.

You can tin the wire tips and cut back to where there isnt so much solder as well, which works fine. But I know what you're talking about.

This is a very good idea and what one should do every time. "Best practice" for soldered joints (in military and aerospace applications) calls for the solder to reach no further than "one conductor/strand width of the insulation", i.e. it should not touch the insulation at all. (Note that "one conductor width" of a multistrand wire would be impossible to judge, confirming that multistrand would not normally be soldered - it is so prone to solder wicking that such a standard would be impossible to meet.) So, as you say, the "next best thing" would be to tin the end then strip the insulation back to where bare copper just shows, then trim the tinned part to the required length. There's an obvious difficulty with this method in obtaining a specific wire length when tinning both ends.

It's worth noting that best way to tin the end of a bulky multistrand wire is with a solder pot (which itself requires some practice!). It's highly likely that a factory (making ESCs, for example) would use this method.

the stiffness is the wire infiltrated with solder and it prevents breaking wires like crimping does, loose frays are non existent, etc.... I'm on PRC6 and love em

That "stiffness", far from being beneficial, is a specific weakness. The point at which the solder stops (the "interface") is susceptible to breakage of the strands (which, by definition, will be undetectable) through mechanical handling/deflection and (particularly) vibration. In military/aerospace applications any soldered wire joint (both wire-to-wire and wire-to-device) must be "supported" so that the copper/solder interface point is prevented from moving and protected from vibration. For very small wire this "support" would be heat-shrink, for larger wires (like we use) it would be a mechanical clamp around the wire or wire bundle, back from the joint. Most often, both techniques would be used in combination. A good illustration of "appropriate mechanical support" for a soldered joint is the humble hobby ESC - the heat shrink sleeve, apart from insulating the circuit board, supports the wires by binding them against the board and/or capacitor bodies, giving vital protection to the soldered joints.

 

[kloner]

you can speculate all you want, fact is it works great,,,, hundreds if not thousands of hours of proof

 

[jes1111]

I wasn't having a dig at you, Kloner - you have vastly more flight experience than me and I respect that 100%. But science is science . The aviation and military manufacturing industries have learned (the hard way) how to make connections that stay connected under the most extreme conditions - I'm only stating what I've learned about what they've learned (as it applies to us here).

Sorry if my tone misleads - probably because I'm English and I don't generally sugar-coat things - I just try to use concise, comprehensible language

 

[kloner]

I know, sorry for being that way,,, I'm beat.... we've had great luck on these connectors and I know alot of guys have great success with the andersons,,,, there just so big and strange to me being a long time hobby guy

My style/skill pushes these things into flashes of major amperage draws,,,,, really big

 

[Mikerodrig27]

From a boat mechanics perspective, soldering is a no no for boat use. I thought we used soldering to reduce weight but I guess I was wrong.

 

[Mojave]

Which is better the Deans connector or the XT-60 connector?

Idahobell - great topic - thanks for opening it up! I just soldered a lot of XT 90s on my 6S battery packs. They sure are easier to solder than the XT60s I use on my 4S battery packs.