connectors, what is used?

Three very different types of connectors.

1. The Typical Nylon 66 UL94V-2, 300V 15A Max battery connectors
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   by both Kyosho and Tamiya (except Tamiya puts the female on the battery and Kyosho put the female on the speed control or ESC and charge lead) These are bulky compared to the two following types. These connectors have a rolled tin plated pin which slides into a rolled female tube - the tube expands and becomes a loose fit some use and resistance and or arching increases. IMO Not recommended for E/Flight aircraft. May also be available with gold plated plugs as used on Hitec ESC etc. Good plugs are available as Hitec part #57431
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   #57433 as a set with leads shown at
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   The same outer nylon housings are used for 2 mm gold plated connectors which will not mate with the Tamiya/Kyosho above - these connectors are also used as individual items with just a piece of heat shrink to provide a very compact connection.=

2 mm and 4 mm no housing = ?PID=433912 mm with housing =

1. The Anderson Power Poles ( also known as "Light Speed Connectors" and "Sermos Connectors" ) as shown
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   are a vast improvement over the item 1. These became the standard used by many e/flight and especially the car racing set in this country. The connector blocks can be joined together in several ways to form a compact plug or left as individual pieces. Spring loaded silver plated plates slide together for a positive fit without arching. However, these have now been largely superseded by item 3.

2. Deans Ultra plugs ( also known as "Super Plugs") as shown
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   have become the new standard locally because those gold plated plugs are light, the most compact (50% size of Tamiya/Kyosho style). A flat spring ensures positive locking and zero? loss. Available in several colours.

FWIW, changing to the compact Super Plugs gave my e/flight model with speed

400, 3:1 gearbox and 8 X AA 600 mAH battery, exactly 2 minutes extra flying time more than the original Tamiya/Kyosho type plugs.

regards Alan T. Alan's Hobby, Model & RC Links

| I like Power Poles but I see that many use Dean's. And then | there are the Tamiya connectors.

Pesonally, I really like the Dean's connectors, especially the Deans Ultra plug, though the 4 pin plugs are nice too (if you can find them.)

The Tamiya connectors are crap. They're ok if you're not pushing many amps through them, but once you are, you need something better.

| what are you folks using?

You name it, we're using it. :)

Fly RC magazine had a nice breakdown of all the popular plug types in last month's issue.

I use Deans Ultra plugs. ANYTHING that arrives with a Tamiya (Molex) plug gets that POS snipped off right away. I wouldnt use Tamiya plugs if they were free and came wrapped in dollar bills. Would keep the bills tho, lets not be silly. I had a Goldberg Electra that I was most proud of sail away into oblivion after the Tamiya plug failed and I lost all onboard power. System went dead in perfect trim too. I got to watch my pride and joy sail around in large circles in what must have been a thermal (was only 50' up when I lost power) and slowly make its way up into the local hills a couple of miles away. Took

20 minutes to lose sight of it. Tamiya plugs are crap. Very inefficient when they work properly anyway.

|I use Deans Ultra plugs. ANYTHING that arrives with a Tamiya (Molex) plug |gets that POS snipped off right away. |I wouldnt use Tamiya plugs if they were free and came wrapped in dollar |bills. Would keep the bills tho, lets not be silly. |I had a Goldberg Electra that I was most proud of sail away into oblivion |after the Tamiya plug failed and I lost all onboard power. System went dead |in perfect trim too. I got to watch my pride and joy sail around in large |circles in what must have been a thermal (was only 50' up when I lost power) |and slowly make its way up into the local hills a couple of miles away. Took |20 minutes to lose sight of it. |Tamiya plugs are crap. Very inefficient when they work properly anyway.

The Power Poles are eating up the communications industry. All my ham friends use them. I am surprised that the Dean connectors are so popular, I have never heard of them until I got into RC.

I use the Deans Ultras. They're hard as hell to get apart but then that's a good thing! They're a bit of a bitch to solder to also.

used by both Kyosho and Tamiya (except Tamiya puts the female on the battery

Found this in a Sept 1996 issue of RCCA on tests of popular Connectors:

These are measured values, not "claimed" specs:

At 10 Amps Dean Ultra Plug............ 0.009 voltage drop.......... 0.0009 ohms PowerPoles................. 0.010 voltage drop.......... 0.0010 ohms Astro Flight.................. 0.011 voltage drop.......... 0.0011 ohms

4 inches of 14 gauge..... 0.010 voltage drop.......... 0.0010 ohms Tamiya-style plug......... 0.033 voltage drop.......... 0.0033 ohms

Multiply the voltage drops by 2 of 3 for 20 or 30 amp draws.

I been using Power Poles since 1991

BTW, the Tamiya connector is NOT a Molex connector - it is a Japanese near copy.

David

Deans Ultra

John VB

Hey, no problem. That misnomer has been around for quite a while. Actually, the Tamiya connector is closer to the series that AMP makes IIRC.

Licensed or not, AMP makes connectors exactly like the Anderson connectors - interchangeable for sure.

David