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Battery connectors

Old 01-27-2011, 06:52 AM
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Default Battery connectors

What's a better option than the traxxas or deans connectors? It seems like every time I solder one of them up I put too much solder on them and can't get the prongs pushed all the way into the plastic body. I don't like having connections that are not perfect I invest way too much money to be chancing on that. So I was wondering what else is a viable option? Or does anyone have a good tip on how to solder perfect connections? I run a MMP and nue/castle 2650 usually with a 3s lipo. But I would like to be able to run 4 to 6s on it afraid to melt the stock connector with my shody soldering.
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Old 01-27-2011, 06:59 AM
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you could try bullet connectors but they are like the others and you have to pay attention that you don't cross them or mix them up when you plug 'em in. Or you could always hard wire the two together and not even mess with the connector itself. It just takes a bit of practice to solder them right;some people have the gift to do it first time and others have to practice. I think Traxxas or Youtube have a video how to solder them correctly.
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Old 01-27-2011, 08:02 AM
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Soldering is one of those "practice makes perfect" activities.

Make sure you have a good clean tip and iron in working condition. Dont forget to tin the tip, it helps a ton with heat transfer.

I like to use one of those soldering buddies or whatever that have the alligator clips to act as a "third hand"

First I tin the wires i am going to be soldering, making sure there is no junk mixed in, the tin job should be completely silver when done. Dont forget the flux! Ive found the metal tabs on connectors dont really need the flux as much as the wires do. Also dont use too much solder when tinning wires as they will just continue to suck up more solder.

I usually place my tinned wire in one of those clips to hold it for me, then i take my connector (holding with needle-nose) and just touch the edge to heat it to apply my solder, I put on enough for a bead big enough to hold what i need. Make sure your iron is tinned for this or it can become a PITA! I found this out the long hard way...

While the solder is still heated/melted i move the connector to the wire, set it in for a sec just to get the solder mixed with the tin job on the wire. Release the heat and give it 10 sec or so to cool.

Not sure if any of that helps but i tried. Some things are easier said than done, and too easy to overthink...

Im sure there are some how-to videos floating around that use this technique as well.
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Old 01-27-2011, 08:12 AM
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Another tip, is to plug the male end of the deans into the female end while you do your soldering, helps with heat transfer and not melting the red plastic.
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Old 01-27-2011, 08:39 AM
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Originally Posted by tq_racing
Another tip, is to plug the male end of the deans into the female end while you do your soldering, helps with heat transfer and not melting the red plastic.
Yes a good tip there, those deans can get ugly quick, esp if you are using a higher watt iron.

I went from a 25w to a 60w and destroyed the first connector i touched with it in just a few seconds...
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Old 01-27-2011, 08:52 AM
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I got two words for you:

Liquid Solder Flux

Like the Team EPIC TRI5004



To Elaborate:
1 drop on the wire end, then heat and tin the wire end
1 drop on the deans connector end - then heat and tin
1 drop again on the deans connector end again - then put tinned wire on - heat and the tinned ends will flow together
Done

Last edited by AntiGooch; 01-27-2011 at 08:55 AM. Reason: Edited to Elaborate
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Old 01-27-2011, 09:02 AM
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Originally Posted by AntiGooch
I got two words for you:

Liquid Solder Flux

Like the Team EPIC TRI5004



To Elaborate:
1 drop on the wire end, then heat and tin the wire end
1 drop on the deans connector end - then heat and tin
1 drop again on the deans connector end again - then put tinned wire on - heat and the tinned ends will flow together
Done
I'm no mathtician... But the looks like a bit more than 2 words...
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Old 01-27-2011, 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by gabe_k
I'm no mathtician... But the looks like a bit more than 2 words...
I asked a scientician to confirm before i posted of course
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Old 01-27-2011, 09:06 AM
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Originally Posted by AntiGooch
I asked a scientician to confirm before i posted of course
Ahh, all good then!!
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Old 01-27-2011, 10:16 PM
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traxxas and deans are basically the same connector. in fact, the leads are practically identical. i like traxxas better because the plugs are a little bit more substantial and provide excellent hand grip for unplugging, etc. deans are slick, and if you have just a little bit of elbow grease going, they get messy real quick
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Old 01-28-2011, 04:42 AM
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Originally Posted by Crazycajun322
traxxas and deans are basically the same connector. in fact, the leads are practically identical. i like traxxas better because the plugs are a little bit more substantial and provide excellent hand grip for unplugging, etc. deans are slick, and if you have just a little bit of elbow grease going, they get messy real quick
Actually this isn't completely true. Traxxas plugs are rated quite a bit higher then Deans plugs.


If you are looking for a good alternative to Traxxas plugs and Deans Plugs. I would take a look at EC3's. They solder up like bullet connectors and are the easiest plugs to solder. They are rated higher then Deans but not quite as high as Traxxas plugs.

Tips for soldering Deans is to connect the male and female together when soldering. This makes it so the plugs don't melt as easy. Also, when heating up the Tab that you solder the wire on. Make sure you put a little bit of solder on the tip of the solder iron. This makes it so the heat transfers faster onto the tab with heat soaking the plug and making it melt.
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Old 01-28-2011, 06:21 AM
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honestly, soldering traxxas plugs only takes a few tries to get down perfect. the key is to pre-solder the wire and the connector. once you have a substantial amount of solder on each, then hold the soldering iron on the tip of the wire and press it down onto the connector. it should hook right up, and you wont get a cold solder joint.
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Old 01-28-2011, 06:24 AM
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Use a good soldering station like a Hakko, and I like to use either the helping hands or a pair of vice grips loosely on the connected pair of Deans. It helps as a way to draw off any excess heat from the connector.....
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Old 01-28-2011, 07:47 AM
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I used to exclusively use Traxxas but would highly suggest you switch to XT60.

Mating a flat connector to a round wire really is not practical. I tin the wire and pool a bit of solider in the round XT60 plug, connect and heat. It was taking too many tries for me to get a Traxxas connector to work.

Also get a good soldiering iron.

Do a search on "XT60 connector" and you will find out all about them. Apparently it is a *horrible* thing to post links when you are not an avid poster here so I am unable to do so.
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Old 01-28-2011, 11:34 AM
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Originally Posted by garand
I used to exclusively use Traxxas but would highly suggest you switch to XT60.

Mating a flat connector to a round wire really is not practical. I tin the wire and pool a bit of solider in the round XT60 plug, connect and heat. It was taking too many tries for me to get a Traxxas connector to work.

Also get a good soldiering iron.

Do a search on "XT60 connector" and you will find out all about them. Apparently it is a *horrible* thing to post links when you are not an avid poster here so I am unable to do so.
sounds like an excuse to not know how to solder. mating a braided wire to a flat surface is easy if you know how do it. My first few tries, i was messing up like crazy on the traxxas connectors, but i have figured it out, and now i can wire up a connector in 5 minutes. they have a small dent across the back of the connector which shows the limit you can solder to without impeding your ability to fit the connector into the plug body. if you pre-solder correctly, that dent will actually stop the flow of solder to the rest of the connector. if you happen to accidently add too much solder, use a simple hobby knife to trim down the joint until it clicks in to the traxxas body. i like to shrink wrap the body too so that its harder to pull the wires out of the body if a plug is stuck.
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