Hi guys, I've got a question. A while ago, I was told that you're not supposed to exceed 15 amps through a Tamiya connector. What I'd like to know is what happens when you exceed that? Something in the neighborhood of 20-25A, for up to 5 minutes. After 5 minutes it won't matter because I'll either be safe or sunk.
If you run too manys amps through any electrical item it over heats and melts. Now we do have water in our ships so the helps cool things down. But the temps inside ships get really high on a sunny day. I have never heard of anyone melting a connector, unless they had a short, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.
The real problem with the Tamiya connectors is that over time, the female pin starts to wear out and leads to a bad connection. The plug might be plugged together, but the pin has opened enough to give intermittant contact when you need it most ... under load. I highly recommend a better plug, either the Deans, Traxxas, or Sermos/powerpole. It is worth the little extra cost for something that will last longer and make contact far longer than the Tamiya style pins. As a side note: While testing a brushless ducted fan setup last night that drew 69 amps, after a short 30 second full power burst the Deans connector at the battery was lukewarm. It might have been corrosion, but then again, it was 69 amps passing through it.
"15 amps through a Tamiya connector" Just this year I am changing the tamiya conectors in my boats to the Red Chinese Deans connectors, because the Tamiyas have become less reliable when they are overheated. Most fast gun pumps pull many amps and will overheat a Tamiya connector. I was using two batteries to power the pump and that spread the amps between two connectors so it wasn't too bad, but not bullet proof. Deans connectors can source 25 amps or so without overheating.
While I love the real Deans connectors and use them in all my ships I would not get the Chinese faked Deans Connectors. Others have used them. The plastic melts easily when soldering the wires on. This can either destory them or make them hard to plug/unplug. Even if your good they are much harder to plug and unplug then the real Dean. Spend more get the good stuff. Your electrical system is not a place to be cheap. If your drive or pump stops working you sink ever time.
I've got a stack of Deans, I was just hoping to avoid re-soldering all my battery packs since they came stock with Tamiya. I would run two packs in parallel but I'm already at the extreme limit for weight. So I guess I've got no choice left, do I.
I replace all stock battery connectors every time.. I dont give it any thought.. its just what I do when I get a new battery.
