Tamiya & Deans Connectors

[Ian]

Hi,

Almost finished my first plane when the subject of connectors came up, well, it had to as I have to get the batteries connected.

Knowing nothing them I spotted Tamiya connectors and bought some.

I soldered 2 pairs onto 2 batteries and also to the ESC. I'm not really fussed on them. So yesterday I ordered some Deans connectors that arrived this morning. They look much more robust, except there is no "cover" on the sides where the wires are soldered, so the delaer suggested heatsink to cover the ends of the pins taht are soldered.

That will probably work, as I think I'll put a layer on, heat it and then another layer on top of that for more security is I can put it like that.

Now, as you know, in electric planes, batteries are changed regularly, and there are no "finger grips" to pull the connectors apart, am I correct in thinking it may be awkward to get them apart in the filed, that is when out flying.

Or are there better connectors out there.

Any ideas gratefully accepted and thanks.

 

[wonwinglo]

Ian,the most important thing is to make sure they are polarity protected,in other words you cannot easily place the pins into the wrong holes,they probably are designed that way but just make sure that you cannot make a mistake.

As long as you can grip the connectors to change the batteries then that is ok,but always pull onto the plug and socket and not the wires.

Double sleeving with heatshrink would work fine.

 

[wonwinglo]

Are these the type of connector Ian ? if so the best way is to first solder the wires onto the lugs,then wrap masking tape around making a sort of box shape,the tape protudes just past the lugs,next mix up some fast drying epoxy resin and pour it into the end box made by the tape,this locks all of the wires into place as a moulded module.

 

[Ian]

Yes Barry,

Those are the connectors I got, and what a great idea and one I'd never have thought of. That is what I shall do.

Very many thanks indeed.

 

[wonwinglo]

You are very welcome Ian.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I have actually just ordered some of these for one of my boats, fitted with lights. I don't want to mess around with cables and wires so I am going to arrange one of these that will close when I put the lid on the boat.

Epoxying in the wires is a superb tip, thanks Barry.

 

[Ian]

Barry,

Hopefully you won't mind what I've just "been and went and gone and done".

I thought your ideas above are so good that including the url to the thread and your user name, not your name Barry, I posted them in the RC groups forum.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=551726

 

[wonwinglo]

No problems Ian,these ideas are to share with everyone far and wide to enhance our hobby,good idea,thank you.

 

[Ian]

I've just remembered what a guy done about 15 years ago when the Amiga was all the rage.

He made up a cable with a 25 pin connector. I don't remember why, but he didn't use the normal "housing" to attach to the connector, he used Isopon, the stuff for filling in dents & things in cars. If it worked OK in that connector it should work in the Deans connectors.

There is no mess, it is rock hard. I'm for trying it tomorrow & I'l post my findings.

BTW Barry, I did 5 Deans using your tip for using Epoxy, great idea, this Isopon might improve on it somewhat, as I said, less mess - that is, if you are like me, who else when working at the rear of a plane would get glue on the front of it.

 

[wonwinglo]

P38 Car filler,ideal,it is insulative,dries fast and you can even file it to shape,excellent idea.

Same stuff as your Isopon by the way Ian.

 

[Ian]

Barry,

I went to my local car dealer, he said P40 is better, there is glass fibre in it and it's harder than P38.

Me wifey thingie has gone shopping and I gave her strict instructions not to forget to get me a tube of P40. I'll be trying it on one Dean's shortly and of course I'll post back.

Those that I did with epoxy yesterday are spot on, but I got a bit messed up, my own fault of course.

P40 is £3 approx. 30 minute epoxy is about £9. If P40 works .........

 

[Ian]

I have just tried P40, nope, not good.

It's just like epoxy with the glass fibres wanting "to go their own way".

It's either let the fibres stick out all over the place and trim them off later or just use epoxy.

but, I'm going to try the P38 on Staurday, I'm as sure as I can be that it will be much better, it's a paste so it will be easier to apply and not nearly as messy.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I think the advantage of using an epoxy resin in the form of either Araldite or Davids Fibreglass resin (without the glass) is that it would fill the tape around the connector and flow nicely into all the nooks and crannies. When you remove the tape you will have a neatly moulded resin block.

The trouble with the P.38 is that you will have to push it into the nooks and crannies, as it doesn't flow, and then you wil have to dress it up afterwards with all the potential hazards of damaging the wires.

When I get home and fit one of these to my boat I will wrap tape around it to a level just over the cable sheaving fill it with araldite until it is just proud of the tape and has a neat convex contour to it and it should require no further attention when the tape is removed.

 

[wonwinglo]

You could also use the Clear Casting resin,this is easily obtainable from art shops,its normal use is as an escapsulating resin for embedding trinkets etc.

That P40 stuff is a really messy material,strands of glasscloth go in every direction,this is used when repairing structures.

 

[Ian]

So far what I've done is wrap masking tape around the plug, from the bottom of it so I don't mess the plug and it covers connections adequately, then I used epoxy resin by letting it flow down into the connectors and about 1/2 an inch up the cables.

I let it harden & dry, carefully removed the masking tape after two hours or so, left for a further hour and carefully wrapped black insulating tape around the plug from the base of the plug body, and giving approx 3 layers.

Then I held a match under each side of the plug underneath the tape, let it get nice and warm then pressed on it, doing this on all 4 sides of the plug. The tape is now nice and tight.

I might just stay with the 5 minute epoxy, it's easy to use now Iv'e got the hang of it after doing a couple of plugs.

 

[wonwinglo]

Well nothing is going to move there Ian ?

 

[Ian]

I didn't mention that I posted all the above in the event it may have been usefull to someone.

I know how gratefull I feel when I read of interesting things in members posts, you could call it, returning the help.

 

[duncan]

I wonder if RTV (room temperature vulcanisation) rubber might have applications here too. Advantages are flexible, insulating, heat-proof, mold-able using box method described in previous post for Isopon. (Just grease the mold with Vaseline). Bath sealant is basically the same and comes in colours which might be useful. The latter is 24 hour curing but craft shop ( or Tiranti ) RTV can be quicker to cure. I have never used any of these for this purpose but worth a try ?

 

[Bunkerbarge]

Good point Duncan and maybe in a situation where the cable is being regularly flexed such as a battery terminal it would reduce the high stress at the point where the flex enters the resin.

Probably lots of possibilities here with pro's and con's for each.

 

[jankers]

I've not used the RTV stuff but have used the "hot melt" type of compound. The RTV will probably be ok but is expensive and has a limited shelf life , about 6 months IIRC.

J.