I'm about to start using some Dean's plugs and was trying to figure out the "standard" polarity used. Which terminals do most people use for positive and negative? I've seen a few batteries etc that come with the plugs already installed and I'd like not to have to switch everything down the road.
Thanks, Steve
Steve, I have a lot of servos, receivers, battery packs, chargers, etc., and I know how convenient it is to have common plugs. I have used Deans more than any other connector...once I went to three-wire servos. Deans are very good connectors. I suggest you resist the temptation to have positive on one side and negative on the other...this would put the servo pulse signal on the middle pin. Even after painting the ends of the connectors with sno-paque, I have reversed the connectors when plugging them in when they were in crowded places. This wipes out the servo and other things when the polarity is reversed...and shorted. I had to switch everyone I had and this was perhaps, 30 servos, 6 receivers, and heaven only knows how many chargers. It was time to check the wiring wear and soldering anyway. I now have the positive on one side, and the pulse signal on the end where the grove is...the negative is on the center pin. This works out well. This puts the positive and negative close for measurements and testing but I haven't damaged anything since I did this. Also, when I would get a servo with a Futaba-type connector, I would cut the servo lead about an inch and half from the connector and put a Deans male on servo end and a Deans female on the other end. This makes me an adapter cable to assist in mixing and matching. Consistency and interchangeability is the main thing...and safety.
Ken
When you buy the connectors the recommended polity is marked on the connector (Deans Ultra Plugs) and there is a diagram on the back of the bag.
Jim
RTFM... err.. Sheet.. Deans usually come with a little diagram that show the pos and neg connections.
| Steve, I have a lot of servos, receivers, battery packs, | chargers, etc., and I know how convenient it is to have common plugs. | I have used Deans more than any other connector...once I went to | three-wire servos. Deans are very good connectors. | I suggest you resist the temptation to have positive on one | side and negative on the other...this would put the servo pulse signal | on the middle pin.
And in case this doesn't make sense, know that Dean (?) makes lots of plugs. The `Deans Ultra Plugs' with two connectors are just one of many plugs that are made by them, though they're probably the most popular.
They also make some smaller plugs (for lower amounts of power) with three, four, five, six, etc. connectors. These are often used to replace servo connectors because they're stronger and work very well for making wiring harnesses so you can plug all four of the servos in your wing in at once rather than keeping track of each servo and where it goes.
When you're replacing servo plugs with deans plugs, Ken is right. Though I normally put the positive lead in the middle rather than the negative, since that's what the stock plugs normally do. But when you're doing multiple servos on one connector, it gets more complicated :) (But it does help in that you generally only need one positive and one negative lead for multiple servos -- it's only the signal lead that needs to be special for each servo.)
| Consistency and interchangeability is the main thing...and | safety.
Yup.
And as another guy said, the Deans plugs rock!
Top of the "T" = positive on all I've seen/have
Dean's Ultra plugs have the polarity marked next to the solder lugs. Always use the female plug for battery leads.
Right, there are markings (kind of hard to see if you don't look for them) on the connector.
See
I do not know why I assumed the subject Deans connectors to be the small, three-connector Deans with the larger gap between the middle pin and the pin toward the alignment groove -- habit perhaps.
I also use their larger, four-pin connectors, in which case I put each two in parallel for more current-carrying capability for 400-sized motors.
I use Sermos Power Points for ESCs and motors pulling more current.
Ken
Waiting on them in the mail now, didn't know there was going to be a drawing on it. Just trying to get a jump start on what to do when they get here.
Thanks for the info everyone...
Steve
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