Understanding Batteries / Adaptors

Mode 1

Active member
Happy Tuesday, All.

I've been guzzling as much info as I can as I try to understand this world of electric flight. 3 months back into the hobby and I still feel as if the electric portion of the hobby is a complete mystery. First of all, I don't solder.. at least not yet. I simply don't know how but will learn eventually. That being said, As i'm shopping for batteries I see there are multiple connectors.. Deans, xt30, xt60, JST etc. Are there adaptors to make most of these work with other connectors? My current ESC's are xt60, the batteries I'm looking at are xt30 or JST. Obviously, I could buy new ESC's that have the correct end but I am also looking at the most affordable way to go about powering my power pods. If I don't have to buy something, I'd prefer not to.

Any help / advice / tips would be greatly appreciated.
 

ElectriSean

Eternal Student
Mentor
Adapters can be bought or built, or you can change the connector on the ESC. Learning to solder is pretty easy, and a valuable skill to have. I would stick with the XT type connectors, as they are inexpensive, readily available, durable and actually able to pass decent amounts of current through them. The JST-RCY connectors common on small batteries are rated at less that 9A, I try to avoid them for anything besides super low current applications.
 

Mode 1

Active member
Adapters can be bought or built, or you can change the connector on the ESC. Learning to solder is pretty easy, and a valuable skill to have. I would stick with the XT type connectors, as they are inexpensive, readily available, durable and actually able to pass decent amounts of current through them. The JST-RCY connectors common on small batteries are rated at less that 9A, I try to avoid them for anything besides super low current applications.

Thanks for the reply. It is much appreciated.
 

Merv

Site Moderator
Staff member
I don't solder.. at least not yet. I simply don't know how but will learn eventually.

Learning to solder is one of the most beneficial skills you can have in this hobby. I’d highly recommend a tempature controllable setup, it makes all the difference in the world. I struggled for many months trying to solder with a cheap $10 iron. As soon as I upgraded to a temp controlled unit, I could solder like a champ. Tempature is everything, too cold, solder will not flow, too hot, you’ll burn away your flux. Small stuff like FC boards take a lower temp than bigger stuff like your XT60’s. I spent about $70 on a unit that included a hot air rework station. The hot air is very very useful, but the temp controlled solder unit is an absolute necessity.
 

Mode 1

Active member
So, more basic questions. the description below states it's for a small size FPV....Safe to assume this will work for a plane?

Tattu 800mAh 7.4V 45C 2S1P LiPo Battery Pack with JST-SYP Plug for Small Size FPV Torrent 110
 

ElectriSean

Eternal Student
Mentor
So, more basic questions. the description below states it's for a small size FPV....Safe to assume this will work for a plane?

Tattu 800mAh 7.4V 45C 2S1P LiPo Battery Pack with JST-SYP Plug for Small Size FPV Torrent 110

Yup, batteries don't care what airframe they're installed in :)
 

Mode 1

Active member
Learning to solder is one of the most beneficial skills you can have in this hobby. I’d highly recommend a tempature controllable setup, it makes all the difference in the world. I struggled for many months trying to solder with a cheap $10 iron. As soon as I upgraded to a temp controlled unit, I could solder like a champ. Tempature is everything, too cold, solder will not flow, too hot, you’ll burn away your flux. Small stuff like FC boards take a lower temp than bigger stuff like your XT60’s. I spent about $70 on a unit that included a hot air rework station. The hot air is very very useful, but the temp controlled solder unit is an absolute necessity.

Thanks Merv. Two of my friends are also getting into remote control with one of them taking delivery today of his Simple Cub and transmitter. We were joking Around the other night that one of us was going to need to learn how to Solder :)
 

Mode 1

Active member
This may help get you going on the right track.


Thanks, Psyborg. It is much appreciated. I'll give this a look after work.
I did end up watching about an hours worth of soldering videos last night... Certainly a skill that requires some practice but it seems to a tad easier than I imagined.

Have a wonderful day!