Returning to hobby after 35 year hiatus, connector questions

JTMcPhee

Junior Member
My last R/C was a Sig Skybolt with Airtronics 4 channel and a K&B 61. Do not split-S from below 1-error altitude.

I just got an XK A600 DHC-2. Have never dealt with all the tiny connectors, in fact never had to deal with LiPo batteries not inside another gadget. The charger with the plane has EU AC pins and the adapter they sent is for a different EU configuration, not US blade pins. I've ordered another adapter, no big deal there.

But the battery has these tiny connectors. I would like to use the multi-function LiPo charger I bought, but have no idea where to get a pigtail that would convert any of the other connectors on the "octopus" to that tiny little 2 pin. And I would like to be able to balance the battery through the other connector.

Any help? What are those connectors called, so maybe I can look this up myself? The Chinglish manual is useless on this point.
 

dayve

Member
Could you post a pic of your battery and charger with the connectors as visible as possible?

and/or

If you bought them online, a link to the battery and charger would help us figure out what you've got.
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
Assuming you mean this...

http://www.banggood.com/XK-A600-4CH...-Airplane-Compatible-Futaba-RTF-p-974716.html

spare parts...
http://www.banggood.com/search/xk-a600.html?pfrom=0&pto=80&page=1

battery...
http://www.banggood.com/XK-DHC-2-A6...s-7_4V-300mAh-25C-Li-po-Battery-p-987051.html

Its a 2S lipo so should be no problem using your programmable charger. However getting a charge plug with that connector may be a bit more challenging.

The balance connector (3wire) looks like the common JST-XH type so you should be able to plug that into the balance port of your charger. Test that and see if it fits. If so you should be able to use any 2S lipo balance port only charger.

If you want to use a programmable charger you will need to use the main lead also. There's no clear photo of the main plug though so it's hard to tell what that is. More photos might help.

Another option is to replace the main plug with something better like an XT30. If you do that just be careful to cut and solder one lead at a time.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...bbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=92175
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=92135

If you are not that familiar with lipos the watch these...
http://flitetest.com/articles/beginner-series-batteries-and-safety
http://flitetest.com/articles/lipo-battery-bunker
 
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JTMcPhee

Junior Member
Pictures of charger socket and connectors

connectors.jpg
Assuming you mean this...

http://www.banggood.com/XK-A600-4CH...-Airplane-Compatible-Futaba-RTF-p-974716.html

spare parts...
http://www.banggood.com/search/xk-a600.html?pfrom=0&pto=80&page=1

battery...
http://www.banggood.com/XK-DHC-2-A6...s-7_4V-300mAh-25C-Li-po-Battery-p-987051.html

Its a 2S lipo so should be no problem using your programmable charger. However getting a charge plug with that connector may be a bit more challenging.

The balance connector (3wire) looks like the common JST-XH type so you should be able to plug that into the balance port of your charger. Test that and see if it fits. If so you should be able to use any 2S lipo balance port only charger.

If you want to use a programmable charger you will need to use the main lead also. There's no clear photo of the main plug though so it's hard to tell what that is. More photos might help.

Another option is to replace the main plug with something better like an XT30. If you do that just be careful to cut and solder one lead at a time.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...bbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=92175
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=92135

If you are not that familiar with lipos the watch these...
http://flitetest.com/articles/beginner-series-batteries-and-safety
http://flitetest.com/articles/lipo-battery-bunker

Here is what came with the Beaver. Looks like you may have already identified the plug types. I've used the provided charger to fill up the battery, so that works. I would like to be able to field-charge this thing, which would mean, I guess, a sine-wave inverter off the truck battery, or a way to drop the truck voltage to 10 volts, the rated input voltage on the little charger. And the balancer-charger I bought would refill the battery a lot quicker.

Thank you all for the tips. I started with tube-based single channel escapement equipment, 67.5 volt batteries and all, graduated to the old Ace sorta proportional solder-your-own kits, then that Airtronics which I believe was still 27 mhz. Like everything else "tech," the stuff now has run way on ahead of me. I see from videos that LiPos can burn the house down -- the problem with a lot of power based on self-oxidizing chemistry in a small plastic package. I bought one of those bags that are supposed to contain the blast, and will put the charging battery in a big steel pot. So much to learn! Now i have to find a big enough open space to put this little gem in the air!

Thank you for the speedy replies.
 
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pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
That looks like the same plug used by the Hubsan X4 which is a bit surprising. It is usually used for small 1S batteries. I'm not sure what the connector is called offhand but most of the charging cables you will find are for parallel charging 1S batteries. You should not do that with a 2S unless you have a parallel charging board and know what you are doing. I will see if I can find a link to a suitable charging lead.

btw. it is perfectly reasonable to use the charging bag to charge you batteries in. They are effective and easier to used that metal pots etc. The important thing is not to charge near anything that can easily catch fire and never leave it charging unattended - which means means you should be around in case there is a problem rather than you have to watch it continuously
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
Ok so I'm reasonably sure that is a Molex connector as used by Losi and Hubsan usually for 1S batteries. It's an unfortunate choice because different vendors use different wiring conventions so some made up plugs have +ve and -ve one way and others have it reversed. Looks like the XK A600 DHC-2 uses the same convention as Hubsan but be VERY CAREFUL to check polarity before you plug in anything you buy separately. If you don't have one I strongly recommend getting a voltmeter so you can check. If you buy a cable with the wrong color coding/reverse polarity I strongly recommend you remove the pins an switch it to agree with your batteries.

Because they are generally used for 1S, as I suspected most of the charge leads available are for parallel charging which I don't recommend without a 2S parallel charging board. This is typical....https://www.amazon.com/Walkera-Hubs..._SR160,160_&psc=1&refRID=PTS8HEDY0SCC2EZVYCZS

You could use it for a single battery I suppose...

I did find this.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...alkera_NE_Pico_E_flite_JST_AR_Warehouse_.html

IMPORTANT - it has two identical molex plugs wired oppositely for the different types. This is useful if you have both but dangerous if you use the wrong one....CHECK POLARITY before plugging the battery in and again before starting the charger.

You will need a banana plug to JST RCY charge lead to use it with a programmable LIPO charger.
https://www.amazon.com/Banana-Charg...id=1469047744&sr=8-2&keywords=JST+charge+lead

What programmable LIPO charger do you have?