I've currently got three different ships suffering from old Tamiya connectors. I'm getting fed up with jiggling wires and hoping to get contact, so I think it's time to replace all the connectors in my fleet with something a little more reliable. Whatever alternative I choose, it must be 1) reliable. No faulty connections, ever. 2) cheap. I'm gonna need a lot of them, and I don't want to break the bank. 3) compact. They've got to fit in some really little spaces. So far I'm thinking Deans, but those are also more expensive than Tamiyas. Are there any other options that I haven't thought of, yet?
They have deans knock-offs for around a 1.99 or .99 somewhere. I think I found some at a robot supply store but dont remember where.
I never liked Deans ultra plugs much until I was told to use dialectric grease in them and wow they became much easier to connect and disconnect. I dont want a connector that is difficult to disconnect so that if there is every a fire I can easily unplug the batteries.
Everything is more expensive than Tamiya connectors ... that is why the Tamiyas suck. Heh. The two big types seems to be Deans and Powerpole/Sermos connectors. I personally like both, but have gone to Deans because they seem to need less maintenance and last longer than the Powerpole connectors. The downside to Deans is sometimes, they can be a pain to solder a wire on ... too much heat and the connector pin will melt the plastic case. Powerpoles are easier to solder because the pin can be removed from the plastic. But what I have found out is over time, the metal tab in the connector case can flatten out and cause loose or intermittent connections. Additionally, my really old Powerpole connectors have broken plastic tabs that prevents them from staying connected. The newest connector around is the Traxxas flat blade connectors. I haven't used them, but a couple guys in North Carolina are using them to good results. The metal tabs positively connect together and have wide contact areas for passing large currents.
Deans Vs PowerPoles http://www.rcnavalcombat.com/Forum/tabid/58/aff/544/aft/407583/afv/topic/Default.aspx I think the powerpoles are slightly cheaper but significantly larger, they are both reliable. Either one is worth the price. You get what you pay for afterall. I'll also suggest replacing all the exposed servo connections you have with 3 pin Deans.
I've got three types of connectors in my ships: Anderson Powerpoles (~$1/pair) Love them, easy to use, can align the connectors in several ways that prevent an incorrect hookup, can get them in one small size up to 45A capacity. To respectfully disagree with my friend Mike M, I've never had a Powerpole fail, altho admittedly my oldest set is ~6 years old in continuous ham radio duty, which is less stressful (i.e. doesn't get sunk ever) but gets connected and disconnected a lot and gets used outside and in vehicles. Dean's Gold Connectors ($?/pair, came on cruiser batteries) Like them, already aligned to prevent incorrect hookup, 30 or 45A capacity. Not as easy to solder as Powerpoles. They are reliable though, which is why I am using them vice swapping them out for commonality with my Powerpole-equipped ships. 4mm gold barrel connectors ($3 for 10 pairs from HobbyKing) Started using them for brushless motors, love them. easy to make an incorrect hookup though. I only use them on the 3-phase side of the brushless ESCs so I can reverse the motor's direction on a whim by switching any two leads.
I tried replacing servo leads with 3 pin deans but found myself out of luck when at a battle and needing a spare that I didnt have. I decided to just use the dielectric grease and it has done wonders in preventing corrosion in the servo leads and other 'tinned' pins in the ship. I also like power-poles, keep in mind you can replace the plastic housing easily with a flat head screwdriver or the power-pole removal tool that I have. I also like power-poles as you can color code them so that you don't plug something in wrong. I had accidentally plugged the battery into the return side of the switch and melted the wiring and switch. Since then I use a combination of plugs for different uses and color code them as well. I haven't had any accidents since that time.
I have seen power poles go bad. I was helping someone from Cailfornia at the 2007 Nats, and all his were corroded and bent to the point that they no longer worked. I like the Deans myself. Little grease and they are easy to get apart. Servo city has a great sale on them right now, .99 for a pair. http://www.servocity.com/
I haven't had any trouble soldering the few Deans connectors I've already used. Guess I'll just suck it up and order a bunch. That'll also restore compatibility within my fleet.
While in my personal experience, performancewise Powerpoles and Dean's are a wash... If he got Powerpoles corroded with something other than silver oxide (which is actually more conductive than plain silver), he screwed up (what kind of corrosion was it?). And if he got them all bent up, he screwed up. In their normal use profile, there is no reason for them to get bent up at all. If you abuse anything it'll break.
I won't go to those for my brushless motors, but it might be the next fleet-wide incremental system improvement that I make (i.e. switch my servo wires to the 3-pin Dean's). I have a LOT of corroded servo leads that need to be replaced.
They were bent just due to the corrosion, pretty much eaten away. We had to install new ones before either of his boats would work. Then again they may of been cheap Chinese knockoffs for all I know, the had green, or yellow plastic, not the red and black.
Interesting topic as I keep getting yelled at for having the tamiya connectors. I have replaced them with molex inserts (they are a tiny bit bigger but fit the housing). I plan to go with different stuff but I need power handling and cost to be acceptable before I change all the ships in my fleet one way or the other. Deans seem to cost more but powerpoles are "cheaper/less durable" I'm still not sure yet so I bought a second dx6i and dumped $700 into rebuilding my truck for the NC trip. Guess I'll wait a bit and see where this topic goes. Also post links to cheap finds as that will help.
I use Tamiya connectors and yes they suck sometimes. But I started with them when there were no others. and now I have so many boats and equiptment with them I don't want to replace them all. If I did it all over again I'd buy the Hong Kong knock off Deans.
The color of the powerpole housing does not necessarily mean its a knock off. You can order those colors from powerwerx. I have blue, yellow, purple, red, and black now. I will get more colors next time around.
At this point, replacing the connectors in my fleet is not too bad. I've only got four ships that need re-doing, with two m/f pairs of connectors each. Plus enough female deans to replace the Tamiyas on my collection of 7.2v sub-C packs. I don't care about how much current the connectors can handle, since my most power-hungry ship stalls at two amps. All I want is a connector that won't go kaput when that golden bb bumps the blast shield and jostles it. I've been sunk far too many times because of a total power failure (and the associated lack of pumping) from worn-out Tamiya connectors, and I will not put up with it any longer. Also, what is this dielectric grease I keep hearing about? Will corrosion-X work?
I use the hong kong knock-off Deans, with the grease, and love them. Soldering them is a snip, I have a set of them with a loop of wire soldered to them which I use as a heatsink. Use a soldering iron at a high temp,tin the connectors and wire separatley first, work quickly and you'll have no problems.
