Sick of Deans connectors- what connector do you recommend and why?

[alexcunningham55]

I have sweaty hands this time of year to go along with already pudgy fingers. when it is warm outside i have to use some kind of cloth to help me get my deans connectors separated. i am ready to change connector types.

what type do you recommend. at this point i am leaning towards the XT60 type.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

XT60. Why? Cause it works. I have a bag of Deans connectors in the draw gathering dust.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

XT60s IMHO are superior to Dean's. XT60s sleeve over the connection, totally isolating the conductive material.

A tip for XT60s so they are not super hard to disconnect during use. . . when soldering the wire to the wire cups, connect the female to the male connector, this keeps the female from contracting and deforming.

 

[joshuabardwell]

XT60 all the way. Only downside is that when I naively went into my local hobby shop and asked for some, they gave me a dirty look and said, "We don't carry THOSE, sir."

 

[alexcunningham55]

thanks for the solder tip. i am thinking it looks like a slam dunk for xt60

 

[Tritium]

Don't forget these for higher amp rating:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__24707__nylon_xt90_connectors_male_female_5_pairs_.html

Thurmond

 

[Winglet]

XT60's. Never ever understood why Dean's were all the rage?

 

[rcspaceflight]

I'm not sure I understand the big deal about battery connectors. I just use 4mm bullet connectors and I have the male for the positive on the battery and the female for the negative so I can't have a dumbie moment and cross the two. It's easier to pull out one connection at a time than two at the same time. And if I mess up one of the solder joints, I only have to redo one, not both. Same if I pull out one of the wires.

Maybe I don't see the benefit of a battery connector because I externally mount all of my ESCs and batteries. I don't have to make connections in tight spots.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

One very dangerous reason is you can plug the battery into itself. Not likely but it can happen. That let's the badness out very quickly!!!

 

[rcspaceflight]

One very dangerous reason is you can plug the battery into itself. Not likely but it can happen. That let's the badness out very quickly!!!

I really hope that I'm not that stupid. But I do see your point. Sometimes I have the evil thought of "if I plug these two wires together, fire and destruction will ensue!" *evil laugh*

 

[joshuabardwell]

I know it's a long shot, but bullet connectors make me nervous except when they're shrouded. If the shrink wrap isn't perfectly flush with the end of the female connector, you can get a short. I really prefer connectors where the positive and negative are both captive, and are prevented from touching each other.

 

[Tactical Ex]

XT60s for the WIN. I started with them when I entered the hobby after doing a lot of research. For higher amperage you might need to consider those blue tubular looking ones but other than that XT60s are the best IMO. Unfortunately I always have to order them online because the local hobby shop shuns you at the near mention of them ... so stupid.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

XT60s for the WIN. I started with them when I entered the hobby after doing a lot of research. For higher amperage you might need to consider those blue tubular looking ones but other than that XT60s are the best IMO. Unfortunately I always have to order them online because the local hobby shop shuns you at the near mention of them ... so stupid.

I wonder what their argument is against XT60s? Or is just one of those "old school" mentalities?

 

[stay-fun]

One very dangerous reason is you can plug the battery into itself. Not likely but it can happen. That let's the badness out very quickly!!!

Yeah I know! I do use this trick for my big helicopter though, so I can run 2 6s batteries in series really easy.

I'm using deans, however, lately I ordered 6 4s batteries to power my FT planes (was always using 3s for my helis before that) and they came with XT60... I didn't feel like converting everything to deans, so I've got a couple of adapters...

Deans vs XT60: I've got the grip things on the deans, so they unplug as easy as the XT60s. I do use a parallel charge board, and then they're rotated 90 degrees and it's harder... But the same goes for my XT60 parallel charge board!
So they both suck in that sense

 

[510thousandths]

I wonder what their argument is against XT60s? Or is just one of those "old school" mentalities?

It's because xt60's are a turnigy/hobbyking item. Your LHS doesn't like the fact that you buy stuff from them.

Problem is...the XT60s are AWESOME! There is another thread somewhere on battery connectors. For higher amp stuff, the XT60s are the way to go, for lower amp, I use the eflite EC2...they work SO much easier than JSTs.

If you want to keep your LHS owner happy, the EC2, EC3 connectors work great and they will be happy to sell them to you. They are more expensive and harder to build, but are just as nice to use as the XT60s (use EC3s in place of XT60)

To build the ec2, ec3 connetcors, you solder the wire to the bullet connector and then press the connector into the blue connector...trying not to slip with whatever you are trying to push the connector in with and thus through your fingertip and damaging the connector...did I mention that XT60s are awesome?

 

[Craftydan]

That and EC3 female (battery) connectors can be used in XT-60 male (ESC) connectors, making the XT-60's more versitile.

I've fitted my airframes primarily with XT-60's and can use XT-60 and EC-3 batteries interchangably between all my airframes . . . which opens up the selection of batteries (that don't require soldering) quite a bit!

 

[bicyclemonkey]

I started with Deans, then went to XT-60, now I'm at EC3/EC5 connectors. They even have them at HK. They are the easiest things ever to solder. No heat shrink needed and you can solder them with a micro torch. The only thing I end up putting connectors on these days, though, is ESC's. I normally keep whatever connector is on the battery and solder an adapter to the ESC. I have about three adapter cables and that covers just about any factory soldered battery connector I've come across.

 

[Longbaorder23]

i personally use traxxas connectors on all my aircraft and landcraft, haha. probably because i never used anything other than them, so i never wanted to change my charger and esc and all that. but like on the quad i just made, the battery has HUGE wires, and im 100% sure they wouldnt fit on an XT60. Traxxas connectors are really really easy to solder, and as mentioned with bullet connectors, you do one at a time, room for mistakes. and unlike deans, they have a grippy, rough surface. downsides though, theyre expensive and about 2 inches long when connected, so if space is tight, its not good. But i see them as an improved version of deans.

 

[mcoolin]

Deans connectors or XT60

Honestly I have no preference.

I just wish manufacturers would either provide all the various connectors or better yet just pick one as a standard. I have lost planes due to this connector madness .

I wonder how many others have lost a planes due to this vendor created problem?

 

[Craftydan]

Honestly I have no preference.

I just wish manufacturers would either provide all the various connectors or better yet just pick one as a standard. I have lost planes due to this connector madness .

I wonder how many others have lost a planes due to this vendor created problem?

Ok, there's got to be a story behind that! I can see "I can't fly today" becasue of mis-matched connectors, but Lost?

That sounds like a fete! Come on! spill the beans Mcoolin