What's the ideal connector for ESC/battery/motor ?

[durok]

I've had some Deans to Stars be EXTREMELY hard to plug and unplug (though not all of mine) and that's exactly what drove me to the excellent XT60 connectors.

I'm very stoked to see so many companies currently making the move to them - was yet another reason to love the HobbyWing 1080 WP QuicRun ESC, for example...

SMC LiPos making them an option is currently making me do the happy dance!

[fyrstormer]

After 5 years in the hobby, I'm switching to batteries with inboard bullet sockets, and loose bullet connectors soldered onto the ESC's power wires. I have the power wires cut to different lengths so I can't plug them in backwards. It's the ultimate low-profile minimal-space battery connection.

Before this, I used Amass XT90 plugs, and I was happy with them for a long time. WAAAAY easier to unplug than Deans or Star connectors. It wasn't until I started building vehicles where wiring space was at a premium that I started to care about the size of the XT90 plugs.

[durok]

I may be unaware of a reason for this - but one little thing about connectors bugs the crap outta me - Castle X-series ESCs having hard-wired power wires.

I wish they were bullet sockets just like the motor wires.

Not sure why they do that... but I'm also no electronics expert!

[socal gto]

like jato stated I soldered them with the plug as a whole to prevent warping and the opposite side I used one of those helping hand things to hold the connector

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by durok

I may be unaware of a reason for this - but one little thing about connectors bugs the crap outta me - Castle X-series ESCs having hard-wired power wires.

I wish they were bullet sockets just like the motor wires.

Not sure why they do that... but I'm also no electronics expert!

I've wondered the same thing. Bullets/soldeirng terminals are better.

My guess is that it's cheaper.

Might also be so newbs that can't solder don't overheat and destroy the ESCs and then try to make warranty claims.

Would be cool to hear straight from Robert@Castle.

[fyrstormer]

Every connection in the circuit increases resistance, especially at the high amperages our motors run at. A solder joint already adds resistance compared to a continuous strand of wire, though that's unavoidable. But a mechanical plug-in-socket interface adds much more resistance than a solder joint, because the terminals are mostly not-touching if you look at them under a microscope. The optimal setup would be wires soldered directly from the battery pack to the ESC, and wires soldered directly from the ESC to the motor. That's how some people used to set up their racing cars, back before LiPo batteries came along and it was no longer possible to solder directly to the battery without setting something on fire. For convenience's sake, being able to unplug the battery and the motor from an ESC are worth some extra resistance, but having unpluggable connectors at *both* ends of the wires is unnecessary.

EDIT: Good point about noobs and soldering. Soldering wires to ESC terminals is a huge pain, because the terminals are connected to the MOSFETs with big wide strips of copper on the circuit board, and the MOSFETs have heatsinks attached, so they suck heat out of the solder joint like crazy. You have to really crank up the soldering iron to get the solder joint hot enough to flow, and then you have to get the soldering done quickly so you don't accidentally melt any of the other solder joints on the circuit board. (it really sucks when you look at a circuit board you just did soldering on, and you see some random factory-installed component stuck at a weird angle because its solder joint melted while you were working on something else.) Pre-soldering the wires to the ESC saves people who aren't good at soldering a very frustrating step in the building of their vehicle.

[skinnyj]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Every connection in the circuit increases resistance, especially at the high amperages our motors run at. A solder joint already adds resistance compared to a continuous strand of wire, though that's unavoidable. But a mechanical plug-in-socket interface adds much more resistance than a solder joint, because the terminals are mostly not-touching if you look at them under a microscope. The optimal setup would be wires soldered directly from the battery pack to the ESC, and wires soldered directly from the ESC to the motor. That's how some people used to set up their racing cars, back before LiPo batteries came along and it was no longer possible to solder directly to the battery without setting something on fire. For convenience's sake, being able to unplug the battery and the motor from an ESC are worth some extra resistance, but having unpluggable connectors at *both* ends of the wires is unnecessary.

EDIT: Good point about noobs and soldering. Soldering wires to ESC terminals is a huge pain, because the terminals are connected to the MOSFETs with big wide strips of copper on the circuit board, and the MOSFETs have heatsinks attached, so they suck heat out of the solder joint like crazy. You have to really crank up the soldering iron to get the solder joint hot enough to flow, and then you have to get the soldering done quickly so you don't accidentally melt any of the other solder joints on the circuit board. (it really sucks when you look at a circuit board you just did soldering on, and you see some random factory-installed component stuck at a weird angle because its solder joint melted while you were working on something else.) Pre-soldering the wires to the ESC saves people who aren't good at soldering a very frustrating step in the building of their vehicle.

I've modded guitar effects pedals a few times. What you learn is that some manufacturers' boards are better quality than others. Nothing worse than lifting/burning a trace when you only applied a tiny bit of heat to a solder joint.

[Jeanethics]

I am using XT60 and have had traxxas and some deans. I switched everything in my arsenal to XT60 easy to use and makes a good solid connection.

[carloss9400]

don't buy the Dean plugs from China as they are usually very tight. I wonder if they do any quality on these products.

[fyrstormer]

Probably not. That would cost money. I mean, the parts are all made in the same factories, but the ones that don't pass quality-control standards for the band-name vendors end up getting sold by cheap no-name vendors instead.

[dacaur]

right now I am 100% traxxas plugs for my cars and airplanes, but am planning a change to XT60's. The reason being traxxas' decision to no longer let others use their connectors, or sell packs of connectors at hobby shops.... I can still get knock off traxxas plugs at my local shop, for the same price I used to buy genuine connectors for, or I can get one pair of traxxas plugs online for $10... no thanks and traxxas....

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

Probably not. That would cost money. I mean, the parts are all made in the same factories, but the ones that don't pass quality-control standards for the band-name vendors end up getting sold by cheap no-name vendors instead.

I haven't seen the "all made in the same factories" and the junk ones sold to no-name companies claims in a while, but I've never seen this substantiated. Got links?

[fyrstormer]

No, but if a link to a web article is all it takes to convince you that something's true, then I can provide plenty of links to articles proving we never landed on the Moon and vaccines cause autism.

Ask anyone who actually works in a factory making products of any kind. Unless they have a signed exclusivity agreement with the brand they make products for, they will try to minimize losses by selling the units that don't quite meet spec to other companies with less-stringent QA requirements.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by fyrstormer

No, but if a link to a web article is all it takes to convince you that something's true, then I can provide plenty of links to articles proving we never landed on the Moon and vaccines cause autism.

Ask anyone who actually works in a factory making products of any kind. Unless they have a signed exclusivity agreement with the brand they make products for, they will try to minimize losses by selling the units that don't quite meet spec to other companies with less-stringent QA requirements.

Sure, start the personal attack in attempts to prevent the need for a real response.

An internet link, with sources that can be validated, is as good as a paper Encyclopedia at your local library.

I just asked one of the shop workers here if they sold off our scrap. They said nope. So I guess that right there proves what you said is false.

[Taurus84]

Originally Posted by JatoTheRipper

Bullets are great except they provide no protection for reverse polarity unless you solder one male and one female on the ESC..

You can buy the connectors with housings like these, which you can plug in only one way - https://www.motionrc.com/products/hx...onnectors-pair

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by Taurus84

You can buy the connectors with housings like these, which you can plug in only one way - https://www.motionrc.com/products/hx...onnectors-pair

When you think about it lots of connectors, my preferred XT60 included, are really just bullet connectors with plastic molded housings.

[Ninomaniac]

A philosophical note there.

[JaydenThomas53]

Go with the XT60. It will give you the most versatility in the future. Don't limit yourself if you have the choice of picking any option right now.

[HumboldtEF]

Yep XT60 all the way, I just recent converted all of my connectors from EC3 to XT60 and I love how easy it is to plug in solder and even de-solder, most other plugs I've used (Deans and EC3) are a 1 time use for the most part. Just last night I was taking plugs off of a few batteries that I'm recycling and I was stoked to be able to reuse them on the new batteries.

[mikemcE]

heres some research for you!
Good bye Dean