Anderson PowerPole question

[Eric G]

Hi all,
After a few weeks wait I finally received a bag of 40 30amp Anderson Powerpoles Over the next while I'll be replacing all the old connectors (bullet & trialer type) to the new ones.
I was thinking of of just soldering the wire into the actual connector by piling the solder in,is this okay or should I crimp them before soldering

Any thoughts would be appreciated

Eric

 

[erdurbin]

Where is the best place to buy some of these connectors? Some places sell the housings and connectors separate. I have never used these and do not want to buy the wrong thing. I need about 10 black and 10 red 30 amp connectors.

 

[xyster]

An excellent article regarding practical powerpole usage:
http://www.flyrc.com/articles/using_powerpole_1.shtml

CRIMPING BENEFITS

Most RC connectors must be soldered together. Powerpoles may be soldered or crimped. Crimping takes only a fraction of the time and, if done well, provides an electrical connection that is superior to what can be achieved by the vast majority of modelers using solder. ...
Crimping forms a “compression weldâ€￾ with superior conductivity.

I'm also of the semi-informed opinion that a quality crimp is good enough. I didn't bother to solder mine.

 

[xyster]

Where is the best place to buy some of these connectors? Some places sell the housings and connectors separate. I have never used these and do not want to buy the wrong thing. I need about 10 black and 10 red 30 amp connectors.

I got most of mine here, the cheapest source in the US I found for complete sets:
http://www.powerwerx.com/Default.asp
The order arrived promptly and as advertised.

 

[deecanio]

got mine there too xy and likewise only have crimped connections, no soldering needed as the crimp is a good contact.

Cheers

D

 

[CGameProgrammer]

A couple of times I've ordered items from PowerWerx and they arrived at my door the next day. So I recommend them. And I recommend crimping over soldering because Anderson recommends it themselves. However, you'll need a specialized crimping tool for the small contacts (15/30/45 amp) because otherwise they'll become too deformed to fit in the housing. PowerWerx sells one for $13 that I bought and it works well with 30-amp and 50/75-amp connectors, though not the 45-amp ones which aren't round.

 

[numberonekiwi]

I ordered mine thru ebay

only $8.50 for a set of 10 and I have soldered all of mine without any problem

 

[xyster]

However, you'll need a specialized crimping tool for the small contacts (15/30/45 amp) because otherwise they'll become too deformed to fit in the housing. PowerWerx sells one for $13 that I bought and it works well with 30-amp and 50/75-amp connectors, though not the 45-amp ones which aren't round.

I crimped my 30s and 45s with a standard radioshack crimper. Just took about 30 seconds to crimp each connector into a tight square that fit the housing. If I had hundreds to do, then that other crimper would be worthwhile to me, else not.

 

[Ypedal]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=359&start=0

 

[xyster]

http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=359&start=0

Oh yeah??? Well just you take this. New connectors AND new boxes! Hah!
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1367&highlight=powerpoles

 

[Dalecv]

A proper solder job will provide a better electrical connection and limit corrosion at the wire connector interface.

 

[Nimbuzz]

After soldering 100s of connectors over the years I've now converted to crimped powerpoles. However I do not believe one gets a connection nearly as good as solder unless you use the $50 crimper from Powerwerx or West Mountain RC. This is the crimper that has dies and leverage that can fuse the wires into an areospace joint. The other less expensive crimpers let in air and moisture over time. I am very happy to be able to pop on an Anderson in a minute and not get out my soldering station. $50 seems worth it to me.

I use 45a Andersons for everything except charging. The 15, 30 and 45a Andersons are identical except for the wire receiving socket. Most of my wires are 10 or 12 Ga so the 45a fits these the best.

Andersons are a bit open to the elements compared to some so I use dielectric grease (some say use Vaseline) on exposed Andersons and clean them all once or several times a year with a quick spray of 'Deox-It' (some say use WD-40)

C-lyte 5304

 

[Eric G]

Thanks for all the opinions...Welp,I soldered 4 of the powerpoles to my new Watt' up meter and all went well,except for 1,it didn't want to slip into the housing as easily as the others did.I used a nail and a little push to get it in.... Hmmm,I know that's wrong from reading Ypedal's tutorial,I'll replace that one later on.

I do have a crimper but didn't use it because it's not as wide as the barrel of the connector.I thought if I used it,it may have bent the connector out of shape,which has happened more than once when crimping the old bullet connectors.With the price of the powerpoles,I paid $45.oo CDN for 40 of them compared to $9.oo for 50 bullet connectors,I wanted to keep screwups to a minimum. :wink:

Eric

 

[BiGH]

after reading all of this last night about the andersons - i tried doing ONE of my connectors - i think i'm going to need a BLOW TORCH to soldier them. Crimping is a bitch too - need a massive crimp tool i think.


BTW they're the 75a ones

starting to regret that purchase well at least i'll have peice of mind that the wire will support my next project upgrade
100+ volts 60+ amps

 

[xyster]

after reading all of this last night about the andersons - i tried doing ONE of my connectors - i think i'm going to need a BLOW TORCH to soldier them. Crimping is a bitch too - need a massive crimp tool i think.


BTW they're the 75a ones

starting to regret that purchase well at least i'll have peice of mind that the wire will support my next project upgrade
100+ volts 60+ amps

Must be much harder to crimp than the 30s and 45s. I found crimping those with a regular crimper as easy as pie.

 

[BiGH]

they sure are!

connectors are very solid.

they don't pop through the other side either

 

[BiGH]

i just re-attempted to crimp it. using the point of pliers insted of the crimping tool - the tool just isn't big enough to get the leaverage required for the 75a connector

I need a bigger tool lol

 

[xyster]

I need a bigger tool lol

Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall crimp the 75 amp powerpole connector. -Archimedes

 

[CGameProgrammer]

I used a vise to crimp 50-amp (similar to 75-amp) connectors. Place the connector in the jaws of the crimper, then place the crimper so the handles are at either end of the vise. Then use the vise to compress it.

 

[Beagle123]

I think you can do both, crimping and soldering. I"ve never done this, I think if you put flux in the wire, you can solder it so that the solder fills in all the gaps.

Maybe you could do it using a plumbiing torch to make it go faster. It would take about 3 seconds to heat the connector, then just touch the solder to it. Anyone sweated pipes before?

 

[TylerDurden]

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94185

I have a similar unit that includes a peizo starter. I solder heavy connections with it. I sweat copper pipe with mapp.

 

[Eric G]

Turned out I had the wrong type of crimper that was meant for connectors with jackets allready on.I went and bought the right crimper yesterday....it works fine. I'll do both solder & crimp.I've got this old Weller soldering gun 100/140 watt (circa 1974) that gets real hot and will solder just about anything although it's probably not good for fine electronics.

Eric

 

[magudaman]

I personally like to crimp and solder becuase there is a lot of vibrations on the ebike and I am really afraid of having that connection loosen up. I'm sure doing both helps create an even lower resistance connection.

 

[erdurbin]

Thanks guys, I ordered 10 sets from http://www.powerwerx.com/
$16.84 for 30 amp ones.

 

[Beagle123]

I just crimped about 15 of the 45 amp ones. I really like them. In fact, I think these powerpoles are well designed. The 45 amp ones are very different than the 30 amp ones. The 30 amp ones have a tubular hole for you to insert the wires, whereas the 45 amp ones have two fins that need to be crimped around the wire. See picture below:

<img src="http://www.flyrc.com/articles/images/powerpole06.jpg">


However, I don't see much difference in their size, and I wonder why one can handle 15 more amps than the other. I beleive they are equal.

It appeared to be difficult to crimp these at first because there isn't a nice way to smash it together. But I learned how to make the crimps tight and almost perfectly round with a normal crimping tool.

They sell a crimping tool for the 45 amp ones, and I think they want you to buy it.

Here are my tips for using them:

1) strip off just enough insulation to fit in the tip.
2) take an ordinary set of pliers and bend the tabs vertical. (they start out pointing slightly outwards)
3) insert into crimping tool so that tabs stick up directly into curved blade of tool. (see pic) Apply gentle pressure so the tabs bow into a roundish shape. There will still be a gap between the tabs. You'll need to do several gentle crimps down the length of the piece to get it all bowed round.
4) do several gentle crimps diagonally from the sides to work the tabs closer together, maintaining the round shape. Note: keeping it round is important so it will fit into the housing.
5) Make sure the wire and the end form a perfectly straight line, or it won't fit into the housing.
6) Push into housing. The 10ga wire fits so tightly that you might not be able to do it with your hand. I grab the wire with pliers and push down until it "clicks" into place..

The nice thing about these connections is that the insulation on the wire makes a tight friction fitting with the housing of the connector so there is no play in it.

Good Luck