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RC connector??? Xt60, xt90 or something else.

mkilci

Newbie
Joined
Dec 12, 2016
Messages
25
Location
Pembroke Pines
Hello all. Finishing up my II and need advice on connector selection. Haven't decided on an ESC/radio or batteries yet. I am placing an order for a radio. Wanted to order some connectors. What connector do you guys use. I have several other trucks and a drift car as well. I want to standardize on the connectors.

What do you guys use on the SCX10-II?

Thanks in advance.
 
Deans, Traxxas, XT60, EC3; they will all meet your needs.

Deciding from there is more of a personal choice. Running the most common connector in a group of drivers makes sharing packs possible. If your soldering skills aren't the best, EC3s are probably the easiest to install (no worrying about melting the plastic housing or needing shrink tubing). Packs will most likely come with either Deans or XT60s preinstalled for buy and run convenience. Traxxas connectors are very easy to plug and unplug while XT60s require much more effort. Generic XT60, EC3, and T-plug connectors can be bought in larger quantities much cheaper than Traxxas or genuine Deans if you have many cars or batteries.

Personally, I use Traxxas but will be converting to EC3s in the near future.
 
I don't like Deans just because there isn't enough to grab onto when unplugging the battery. They are very common though, so swapping battery packs between friends would be easy.

I currently run Traxxas plugs on everything, but if I was starting over I'd probably run the XT60 because its easier to find small packs with those connectors on them. Sometimes I just wanna plug and play.
 
XT60, Plenty of Packs out there with XT60 Connectors and they are pretty easy to solder. If I didn't have some Arrma Vehicles using XT90 I would be using XT60 more than likely as my own soldering ability sucks lol, tried Traxxas initially but I just kept having problems getting it done exactly correct everytime let alone seating them. In general though it really is personal preference and if your running with certain people all the time it might be a good idea to see what they are all running as was said that way you can share packs if needed.
 
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Choose some batteries & then whatever plug comes with them, go with that.
A lot of the US suppliers seem to come with deans, down here is easiest to get from hobbyking & the xt60 are more common.

Personally if I never touch another deans plug I'll be quite happy, huge improvement over the old Tamiya plug, but xt60 or ec3/ec5 are a whole lot nice to solder & plug/unplug. That's my feelings anyway.
 
I run castle 8mm bullets or 6.5mm polarized connectors... seriously.

Mainly because I run my batteries in everything from speed run cars, to boats, to crawlers...
 
XT60 is my favorite. I hate Deans with all my passion. They're harder to solder and they're harder to unplug. If you're friends still insist on running Deans it's very easy to solder an adapter if you want to share batteries. You can also buy adapters for a few dollars.

Anybody who says they're bad at soldering probably just has a crappy iron or didn't tin their iron before using it initially. Soldering isn't hard.
 
I've been flying electric RC aircraft for 15 years now. Deans was the best we had for quite a while. They can be a real PIA to unplug, and soldering can be trickier than it needs to be. I switched to XT60's when they came out years ago and was never happier. As soon as I tried them, I switched all my batteries and packs to XT60. Much easier to unplug, great electrical connection, and easier to solder. Try it, you'll like it! I'm building an SCX 10 right now, and it will have XT60's.
 
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The Chinese knock off deans power connectors solder much nicer & are much harder to melt.

There is also Deans Micro 4-pin

Sermose Power Poles (now duratrax) if you want finicky & harder to solder.

dtxc2300.jpg
 
The Chinese knock off deans power connectors solder much nicer & are much harder to melt.

There is also Deans Micro 4-pin

Sermose Power Poles (now duratrax) if you want finicky & harder to solder.

dtxc2300.jpg
Holy crap, power pole! :lol:


I still have about 50 sets of those mostly installed on old stick pack and esc's from my racing days.
 
I recommend being mindful of your most extreme arrangements. For example which of your vehicles has the least amount of space and which of your batteries' wires is the largest. I thought about switching from Deans to EC3 a few weeks ago, but ran into two issues which forced me to reconsider:

1) Whether the EC3 connector could be wedged into a tight space on my Axial Bomber
2) The thick wires on my new SMC batteries didn't fit too well into the EC3 bullets

So, in the end, it was the outliers that had the greatest effect on my decision. I remain with Deans.
 
Just an FYI:
XT60 is rated to 60 amps
XT90 is rated 90+

For brushed crawlers XT 60 is fine but when you get in the 6S-8S range start thinking about a more robust connection. Like the XT90 with spark arrestors.

I can't remember where I found that but if you want supporting literature I will dig it up.

-M
 
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