Standard/Proper way to wire Deans
08-17-2014, 09:39 PM
#16
First of all Anderson Power Poles are the very best connectors I've ever used, so I'd champion them above all else. XT60 at also better and the Traxxas are pretty good too.
As for soldering, I've been soldering things since I was 6 years old with my dad and have been soldering fine electronics forever so I am what you might consider a master solderer of sorts. At the tracks I frequent people come to me for soldering help. Deans plugs just suck. Of the 80 or so sets I've soldered for myself and others, at least 30 (likely more) have been finicky with the connection. They will be completely plugged in and properly soldered and no dice. Slide them apart slightly and they work just fine. This is with a tight fit and complete contact being made throughout the contacts and sometimes bowing out the tensioners a tad works and sometimes it won't. Even when doing so works it's sometimes intermittent and sometimes works perfectly fine until the car turns or brakes and then goes dead.
I've long quit using Deans and have never encountered these issues again.
As for soldering, I've been soldering things since I was 6 years old with my dad and have been soldering fine electronics forever so I am what you might consider a master solderer of sorts. At the tracks I frequent people come to me for soldering help. Deans plugs just suck. Of the 80 or so sets I've soldered for myself and others, at least 30 (likely more) have been finicky with the connection. They will be completely plugged in and properly soldered and no dice. Slide them apart slightly and they work just fine. This is with a tight fit and complete contact being made throughout the contacts and sometimes bowing out the tensioners a tad works and sometimes it won't. Even when doing so works it's sometimes intermittent and sometimes works perfectly fine until the car turns or brakes and then goes dead.
I've long quit using Deans and have never encountered these issues again.
08-18-2014, 05:24 AM
#17
I think something else might be the problem, other than the connectors. Of the many many different deans (and other connectors) I have soldered I have never come across a deans plug that didn't work.
Just because you have been doing something for a long time... Doesn't mean it is better, or the correct way. Just something to think about.
I don't want to get into a whole long argument about connectors. Or soldering techniques. I'm sure we both know enough to see that that is just pointless, and will end in a few quite disheveled and angry people. While I may not agree with everything you say, and you may not agree with me all the time, where would we be if everyone always agreed?! But I digress. As log as something works for you, keep on using it. Happy rc ing
Just because you have been doing something for a long time... Doesn't mean it is better, or the correct way. Just something to think about.
I don't want to get into a whole long argument about connectors. Or soldering techniques. I'm sure we both know enough to see that that is just pointless, and will end in a few quite disheveled and angry people. While I may not agree with everything you say, and you may not agree with me all the time, where would we be if everyone always agreed?! But I digress. As log as something works for you, keep on using it. Happy rc ing
08-18-2014, 07:34 AM
#18
While I no longer use Deans (I use 4mm bullets on everything) I used them for about 7 years, as well as selling thousands of sets to customers at the hobby shop I worked at. Never once did I experience a bad plug. I won't comment on Powerpoles other than there's a reason why they were obsolete even in the NIMH days.
Assuming you're using genuine Deans plugs (not the cheap knockoffs that come on most things nowadays), the only thing you can really do to screw them up is to overheat the plug and melt the housing. This is remedied by plugging a male and female together before starting your soldering work - this keeps the metal connectors in place and disperses the heat from your iron over a larger area, allowing everything to heat more evenly.
Assuming you're using genuine Deans plugs (not the cheap knockoffs that come on most things nowadays), the only thing you can really do to screw them up is to overheat the plug and melt the housing. This is remedied by plugging a male and female together before starting your soldering work - this keeps the metal connectors in place and disperses the heat from your iron over a larger area, allowing everything to heat more evenly.
08-18-2014, 07:43 AM
#19
To you both, been there, done that, still hit or miss and YES, absolutely GENUINE Deans Plugs. NEVER overheat my plugs or solder points and ALWAYS pre-tinned everything flawlessly with top quality solder and irons and my tips are always clean and I replace them as often as needed. I just soldered up my new stock motor this weekend and some Bullets connectors my new Reventon Pro and all is superb.
As for the Lite Speed Connectors, There is NO REASON for them to have not caught on, outside perhaps their size. But their performance and 100% bullet proof and their connectivity is unparalleled by ANYTHING I've come across in RC. And contrary to popular belief, you did not need the overpriced crimping tool to connect your wires. Just pop out the poles, slide in your leads and solder properly. Slide the poles back in until they CLICK and they're good forever. Literally. I still have them on my old RC10 and they work exactly the way they did 25 years ago. Not even the slightest hint of corrosion and the car has lived in my garage for the last 15 years.
As for the Lite Speed Connectors, There is NO REASON for them to have not caught on, outside perhaps their size. But their performance and 100% bullet proof and their connectivity is unparalleled by ANYTHING I've come across in RC. And contrary to popular belief, you did not need the overpriced crimping tool to connect your wires. Just pop out the poles, slide in your leads and solder properly. Slide the poles back in until they CLICK and they're good forever. Literally. I still have them on my old RC10 and they work exactly the way they did 25 years ago. Not even the slightest hint of corrosion and the car has lived in my garage for the last 15 years.
08-18-2014, 08:29 AM
#21
I used Sermos / Anderson Powerpoles for many years. I kept the positive and negatives separate for shorter wires runs as the side-by-side round cell packs had connections from each end. Really liked the completely protected contacts, and the gender-neutral feature which at times was very useful.
But as the big air hard pack tracks become common I couldn't rely on them staying together. Tried adding more slack, didn't seem to help. Had to tape them together for a while until I ended up switching to the new at the time direct bullet lipos.
Still use them on my vintage rides though, since they don't get tossed around as much they still work great. I always soldered them too.
My son uses the current Deans on his 1/8 scale without issue. In my opinion they are certainly better than the old style 4 pin Deans.
But as the big air hard pack tracks become common I couldn't rely on them staying together. Tried adding more slack, didn't seem to help. Had to tape them together for a while until I ended up switching to the new at the time direct bullet lipos.
Still use them on my vintage rides though, since they don't get tossed around as much they still work great. I always soldered them too.
My son uses the current Deans on his 1/8 scale without issue. In my opinion they are certainly better than the old style 4 pin Deans.
08-18-2014, 08:47 AM
#22
One other thing of note with the Power Poles, you can slide them apart and rotate each side to your preferred orientation and slide them back together. just such an ingenious design and thought I'd mention that little tidbit, as it's a neat little feature that flies under the radar.
Also, to help people out in a pinch, you could have them cut their leads to slide into your connectors and let them borrow your batteries.
And as I write that, locally we all started using an orange connector for motors for the same reason, and I want to say that it was also a deans brand plug, but it was Orange and it would click when fully seated and NEVER presented the connectivity issues. It was the same time that the Duratrax Flip Snap connectors were released if anyone here remembers them. LOL
Geez, when did I become the geezer??!?!?
Also, to help people out in a pinch, you could have them cut their leads to slide into your connectors and let them borrow your batteries.
And as I write that, locally we all started using an orange connector for motors for the same reason, and I want to say that it was also a deans brand plug, but it was Orange and it would click when fully seated and NEVER presented the connectivity issues. It was the same time that the Duratrax Flip Snap connectors were released if anyone here remembers them. LOL
Geez, when did I become the geezer??!?!?
08-18-2014, 08:52 AM
#23
I used Sermos / Anderson Powerpoles for many years. I kept the positive and negatives separate for shorter wires runs as the side-by-side round cell packs had connections from each end. Really liked the completely protected contacts, and the gender-neutral feature which at times was very useful.
But as the big air hard pack tracks become common I couldn't rely on them staying together. Tried adding more slack, didn't seem to help. Had to tape them together for a while until I ended up switching to the new at the time direct bullet lipos.
Still use them on my vintage rides though, since they don't get tossed around as much they still work great. I always soldered them too.
My son uses the current Deans on his 1/8 scale without issue. In my opinion they are certainly better than the old style 4 pin Deans.
But as the big air hard pack tracks become common I couldn't rely on them staying together. Tried adding more slack, didn't seem to help. Had to tape them together for a while until I ended up switching to the new at the time direct bullet lipos.
Still use them on my vintage rides though, since they don't get tossed around as much they still work great. I always soldered them too.
My son uses the current Deans on his 1/8 scale without issue. In my opinion they are certainly better than the old style 4 pin Deans.
08-18-2014, 08:11 PM
#26
Later on the Power Poles connectors had a half circle recess cut into them that would create a complete opening between the two halves and a pin would slide in there preventing them from ever sliding apart. On my old ones the fit is so tight you will literally get blisters on your fingertips trying to pry them apart and snapping them back together again, but I did have a couple that were a little easier to slide apart.
Define geezer
. The ones I have are from late '80s best as I can remember. I tried a few then bought a Coneheads sized mass quantity of them. Still have a few left I think.
08-19-2014, 08:33 PM
#29
First of all Anderson Power Poles are the very best connectors I've ever used, so I'd champion them above all else. XT60 at also better and the Traxxas are pretty good too.
As for soldering, I've been soldering things since I was 6 years old with my dad and have been soldering fine electronics forever so I am what you might consider a master solderer of sorts. At the tracks I frequent people come to me for soldering help. Deans plugs just suck. Of the 80 or so sets I've soldered for myself and others, at least 30 (likely more) have been finicky with the connection. They will be completely plugged in and properly soldered and no dice. Slide them apart slightly and they work just fine. This is with a tight fit and complete contact being made throughout the contacts and sometimes bowing out the tensioners a tad works and sometimes it won't. Even when doing so works it's sometimes intermittent and sometimes works perfectly fine until the car turns or brakes and then goes dead.
I've long quit using Deans and have never encountered these issues again.
As for soldering, I've been soldering things since I was 6 years old with my dad and have been soldering fine electronics forever so I am what you might consider a master solderer of sorts. At the tracks I frequent people come to me for soldering help. Deans plugs just suck. Of the 80 or so sets I've soldered for myself and others, at least 30 (likely more) have been finicky with the connection. They will be completely plugged in and properly soldered and no dice. Slide them apart slightly and they work just fine. This is with a tight fit and complete contact being made throughout the contacts and sometimes bowing out the tensioners a tad works and sometimes it won't. Even when doing so works it's sometimes intermittent and sometimes works perfectly fine until the car turns or brakes and then goes dead.
I've long quit using Deans and have never encountered these issues again.
I ran into this for the first time(that I noticed) last week. I wanted to use a 'genuine' plug on my new esc.
Using flux+good solder will wick all the way through the plug and FUBAR the tab.
The fake/aftermarket deans are better in every way than the brand name ones.
08-19-2014, 10:11 PM
#30
Proper way to solder deans:
1. Take all deans plugs and throw them in the dumpster.
2. Solder on an ec5 connector
1. Take all deans plugs and throw them in the dumpster.
2. Solder on an ec5 connector