Cartridge style battery connectors

[TypeThree]

Hi there, this is a first post from me. I'm from Sydney Aus.

Have been soaking up the info here and would like to find out more or start a discussion on what type of cartridge style battery connectors might be out there and where to find them.

If you don't have an idea what I mean it's basically a power connector designed into most consumer electronics from laptops to mobile phones. They are either proprietary - custom designs or what I'm hoping is that there might be components I could find to put in my own battery box design. Some ebike kits have drop-in, snap-in, push-in or slide-in connectors that are incorporated into the battery and the housing they fit into but I'm just wanting to source the plug and socket part.

What I've been able to ascertain is that most of these specialty type connectors seem to be buried within parts catalogs so it's very hard to weed them out from the thousands of parts listing if you don't exactly know what you're looking for.
Here is something I found that fits what I'm talking about. Hoping to find more styles and different manufacturers to choose from.
http://www.molex.com/molex/products...oducts&chanName=family&pageTitle=Introduction

 

[bowlofsalad]

Hello TypeThree,

Welcome to the forum. A lot of questions get asked on this forum, many of them are repeated seemingly endlessly. Chances are a lot of the answers one may seek on this forum can be found with 5 or 10 minutes of searching on this forum just prior to starting a thread using keywords straight from ones own post.

In the upper right hand corner there is a search box, just beneath this search box is a check box labeled 'Using Google search?'. The check box re-directs your search to google.com (a search engine) with a site filter for this forum, I recommend doing searches both with and without the check box ticked.

https://www.google.com/search?sitesearch=endless-sphere.com&q=connectors&gws_rd=ssl This one is on the house. Most everything and anything I could and would write on the subject of connectors can shortly be found in grand abundance through that link.

 

[TypeThree]

Well at least you didn't say something like "Google is your friend".

I guess the knowledge I seek might fall more within the realms of industrial design knowledge base since I'm trying to find components for a chassis integrated solution, not a plug you hold in your hand to connect.

I'll keep searching.

 

[Wheazel]

I have had success using anderson powerpoles for this purpose.
The "briefcase" batterybox is made of 0,7mm plate and houses 180 18650 cells.
In this case (no pun intended) it is a sliding motion with close to no slack at all, so there is no risk that the connector "misses".
The powerpoles are also stackable to the shape/size you need.

The downside with powerpoles is the bulkiness. A 70A powerpole is fairly large, I have the 45A ones on the trike I think.

 

[TypeThree]

Yes that's what I was trying to convey. You've done a pretty neat job of it. The Anderson catalogue had a surround housing for those type plugs with an angled lead-in that they call a "blind" connector that allowed up to 3mm misalign when connecting the plug into its receptacle. I was considering that.
As you mentioned it definitely sacrifices compactness for modularity.
I'm hoping to find the blades and spring type sockets in component form to possibly 3d print a more compact housing which mates it together to work very much like what you have done there. If it all gets too difficult I will probably go down the Anderson plug route as you've done but at this stage I was trying to explore the landscape.

 

[amberwolf]

If you don't mind *larger* contacts and housings, the Anderson SB50 version of these has two contacts in one housing that is designed for each genderless half to bolt to the two objects to be connected. They are commonly used in UPS systems for extra battery modules to rack into place, and for powerchairs for battery modules to drop right in.

I suppose you could 3d-print your own housing for the contacts and move the springs from the original to yours, but since the housings are made to be bolted in place (though don't have to be) you don't really need to do that to make them easy to mount.


They come in a bunch of sizes from the ~1.5" wide 60-amp rated ones (whcih use the same contacts as the PP-75 75a powerpoles) to several hundred amp ones larger than my hand.

They also come in keyed housings (and color-coded) so you can have several things that use them but can't be accidentally connected.

https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=67956&p=1024700&hilit=sb50#p1024700

 

[TypeThree]

Amberwolf thanks for the pics but they are getting quite large for my needs. I am trying to find a 30A or less rated contact set.
Have used that large Anderson type of connector for many years around electric forklifts. They must be a PITA to pull apart when they're new. The forklifts use a lever to assist you spreading the plugs.
Anyhow I guess I haven't really found the right specifiers manual yet or something. Trying to find the contacts that manufacturers would over-mold into their plastic cordless drill battery housings. Surely they don't make the whole thing from scratch with each new model.