How to crimp a 10 gauge wire to a Anderson PP30 connector

[Doctorbass]

Tips & tricks video no 1 Doctorbass edition!: How to crimp a 10 gauge wire to a Anderson PP30 connector :wink:

I got many request for posting my method to acheive that.

Now it's time to chare that once for all ! It work well for me for many years, it should work well for the E-S as well !

Enjoy !

[youtube]qlP-xWmlE44[/youtube]

Doc

 

[Ypedal]

The PP45 contacts are thicker/heavier than the PP30 .. i just use those for 10 awg ..

 

[Obiwan007]

Thanks Doc. That's just great!

 

[Alan B]

The 30 amp contacts are silver plated, the 45 amp contacts are tin plated. I have the proper crimper, but the 30 amp pins seem to be of better quality and heavier copper than the 45 amp pins. I obtained them a long time ago, before there were clones so I think they are the real thing.

I spoke to the West Coast Anderson District Manager at the Reno hamfest one year, and they (the manufacturer) are totally against soldering these connectors. It stiffens the wires causing two problems - one is the wire fails at the stress point where the solder ends, and the other is the leverage of the solid part tends to reduce the proper contact of the mating surfaces. A quality crimp is a better solution, and the ratings for the connectors are based on crimping, not soldering.

I've done both, but once I got a good crimper I quit soldering them.

 

[Doctorbass]

I spoke to the West Coast Anderson District Manager at the Reno hamfest one year, and they (the manufacturer) are totally against soldering these connectors. It stiffens the wires causing two problems - one is the wire fails at the stress point where the solder ends, and the other is the leverage of the solid part tends to reduce the proper contact of the mating surfaces. A quality crimp is a better solution, and the ratings for the connectors are based on crimping, not soldering.

I've done both, but once I got a good crimper I quit soldering them.

That is correct. Solder if made wrong can remove the soft lengh of the wire at the end of the crimp that help the blade to properly take position to match the other connector. if solder is made quickly enough the solder dont go too far insid ethe wire and dont create that problem.

the reason why i perffer solder a bit is that the wire strands dont break over the time with manipulation... the flexible/soldered transition begin inside the silicon skin witch keep the strands intact with movement.

Doc

 

[chvidgov.bc.ca]

Thanks for making this video. I'm going to try it.

 

[adriftatsea]

Doc, do you know the part number of the contacts you used? They vary in max ID.

The 30 amp contacts are silver plated, the 45 amp contacts are tin plated.

They come in both tin and silver platings. However there really isn't a '45 amp' contact - just '45 amp pre-mate ground' contacts. The main contacts are just marked '15-45' and give suggestions on strand count, awg, and mating force.

Looking at the catalog, the '200G3L-lpbk' (http://octopart.com/partsearch#!?q=200g3l-lpbk) is for silver plated, 10-14awg high strand (ie Turnigy) wire, in loose (non-reeled) form.

There is another contact for 10awg wire (261G3-lpbk), but it's inner diameter is smaller by .7mm.

screenshots of catalog:
http://i.imgur.com/q35xAMW.png
http://i.imgur.com/wce8XT2.png

A few months back I bought pretty much every size/combo of anderson pp15-45s and came away with the knowledge that buying 'reeled' connectors suck ... loose pieces are worth the 20% markup.

totally against soldering these connectors.

Word. Same goes for most every connector vendor.

 

[Alan B]

I have used PowerPoles in 12 volt Amateur Radio applications long before I became involved in e-bikes.

Most vendors sell just three pins for these connectors, and refer to them as 15, 30 and 45 amp:

http://www.powerwerx.com/anderson-powerpoles/housings-contacts/

I have the Anderson catalogs and data sheets, and the current ratings come from the data sheets and are related to the wire size. It is not absolute but depends on the temperature increase you are willing to suffer as well as the voltage drop, wire size, and number of connector bodies that are mated. They have graphs of this data. For 12 volt applications the voltage drop is more of an issue than for higher voltages. Buying the other pin types is much more expensive for some reason, so they are not in my kit.

 

[scfoster]

Thanks for posting this. I defer to your experience.... however in aviation situations, soldering is a real no-no. The vibrations (especially with rotorcraft-helicopters) may fatigue the solder/wire interface with potentially disastrous consequences. Only submariners are more afraid of fire than pilots.

So for ebike situations (MTB), has it been the experience that soldering does not cause issues?

I found crimping pliers on Amazon for $9 that came highly recommended. Will these do the trick or should I invest in the more expensive ratcheting crimping pliers?

 

[Ypedal]

I love this thing :

http://www.powerwerx.com/crimping-tools/tricrimp-crimping-powerpole-contacts.html

 

[adriftatsea]

should I invest in the more expensive ratcheting crimping pliers?

I couldn't imagine crimping andersons (or any other connector) without it.

The actual Anderson tool is a rebranded Tyco 'Pro Crimper III' with a special die. While the actual Tyco tool is absurdly expensive, there are plenty of knockoffs (like Y-pedal linked to). You can purchase the die by itself for ~$20 if you happen to find the tool with another die installed. The die size is a milspec, so there are tons of other dies that work with that style crimper.

 

[Alan B]

I tried the GB pliers, they don't work well on PowerPoles and make an unreliable crimp that may not fit in the connector body and is likely to fail later.

I have the West Mountain Radio ratcheting crimper for PowerPoles and it works fine. There are others available now that are also suitable. Good tools are important and worthwhile.

 

[dilkes]

Anyone looking for a source in Canada can get these crimpers at Durham Radio in Whitby.

http://www.durhamradio.com/pwrtool-rigrunner-crimping-tool-ontario-canada.html

Price is a little higher, but with the battering the $Cdn has taken, it works out about the same. Durham also carry all the Anderson connectors and accessories.

 

[Racer_X]

Thanks Doc, I could never crimp Anderson PP30 connector to 10 gauge wire before, Really looking forward to trying your technique.