Battery connector

[FastMann40]

Good evening, I hope everyone is recovering from Thanksgiving. Today I was ripping my Senton 3s and everything was running smoothly, up until it wasn't. It stalled out and I had no power or anything. Restarting the Senton didn't fix anything. I brought it back to my workbench and the Dean's battery connector was melted. My charger/maintainer sees that there is a connection issue, and this is a relatively new battery. I don't have any readouts as the older posts show, but I want to know what would cause this. I just replaced the ECS fan as that junk was seized a few weeks ago and the part just came in today. I also wanted to know if I am able to cut the connector off and install a new one without discharging the battery in its current state.

 

[Tex Koder]

Good evening, I hope everyone is recovering from Thanksgiving. Today I was ripping my Senton 3s and everything was running smoothly, up until it wasn't. It stalled out and I had no power or anything. Restarting the Senton didn't fix anything. I brought it back to my workbench and the Dean's battery connector was melted. My charger/maintainer sees that there is a connection issue, and this is a relatively new battery. I don't have any readouts as the older posts show, but I want to know what would cause this. I just replaced the ECS fan as that junk was seized a few weeks ago and the part just came in today. I also wanted to know if I am able to cut the connector off and install a new one without discharging the battery in its current state.

View attachment 334394View attachment 334395

Yes.
BUT be Careful when cutting the old Dean's connector off the cables..
Don't short out your Lipo accidentally with the cutter.

I would suggest you replace with EC5 connectors.

 

[FastMann40]

Yes.
BUT be Careful when cutting the old Dean's connector off the cables..
Don't short out your Lipo accidentally with the cutter.

I would suggest you replace with EC5 connectors.

I want to, but I have about 10 batteries with the deans, all pretty brand new. Zee was having a sale, now I know why. every new battery has those IC5 connectors.

 

[slick2500]

The thing is those are T plugs not Deans. T Plugs are Deans compatible but are some of the worst quality connectors on the planet as you found out they have a tendency to melt, they can loose connection inside the connector and they tend to come unplugged rather easily. As @Tex Koder said your best bet is to swap to a better connector like EC5 or XT90s.

 

[jkflow]

Yes, you need to change the connectors,, not hard to do. As said before, on the batteries cut 1 wire at a time or you have an early new years eve with fireworks.

 

[FastMann40]

Yes, you need to change the connectors,, not hard to do. As said before, on the batteries cut 1 wire at a time or you have an early new years eve with fireworks.

EC5 or IC5? I have the t plug adapter to IC5 from the Senton.

 

[SrC]

The thing is those are T plugs not Deans. T Plugs are Deans compatible but are some of the worst quality connectors on the planet as you found out they have a tendency to melt, they can loose connection inside the connector and they tend to come unplugged rather easily. As @Tex Koder said your best bet is to swap to a better connector like EC5 or XT90s.

+!!
The Patented Deans "Ultra plugs" were a Thing 30+ years ago with brushed/ Nimpack RC's.
The Deans patent expired and so called "T-plugs" were copied cheap enough to make at a low pricepoint with cheap materials, for many RTR models. They are truly a liability these days with BLX and lipo setups. They come apart or short out etc. Melt and all. Just NG.
Toss all your T-plugs and like @slick2500 stated above, go withh EC5 or XT90's. Those T-plugs and the fact that your Fan was not working probaby contributed to your failure there. Never run your ESC without an operating fan. That's just abuse. RC Heresy

In theory and in practice, never do solder work on any Full charged lipo. Discharge it first to 3.8v storage voltage. Lipos are quite volitile when close to or at full charge.
And only cut one lead and solder on the new connector one at a time. Cover the other lead with some electrical tape as not to dead short your lipo. I do this all the time. I buy the best deals on lipos irrespective of the type of Connector it has. I buy my XT90's in bulk. The best way in the long term. Whatever connector you go with. I find the XT90's easier to solder and work with. Just me. Learn to solder. A necessity with serious RC'ing.
XT90's can be bought in bulk for a modest price. Spend the time to convert all of them over from those problematic T-Plugs.
It's worth it, whichever "Good" connectors you choose.

 

[jkflow]

IC5 or EC5,they are the same from a connector standpoint i.e. bullet size. IC5 is more expensiove and that little grey cap will break, EC5 is cheaper but a little of a pain to install.
Adapters I'd only use for charging or as a fancy necklace but never to run a car. Ok to downgrade i.e. use adapters for smaller RC cars.
I'd rather have all teh same connectors on all my rigs and not deal with adapters. Rather a little overkill than ruined days with melted connectors.

 

[FastMann40]

+!!
The Patented Deans "Ultra plugs" were a Thing 30+ years ago with brushed/ Nimpack RC's.
The Deans patent expired and so called "T-plugs" were copied cheap enough to make at a low pricepoint with cheap materials, for many RTR models. They are truly a liability these days with BLX and lipo setups. They come apart or short out etc. Melt and all. Just NG.
Toss all your T-plugs and like @slick2500 stated above, go withh EC5 or XT90's. Those T-plugs and the fact that your Fan was not working probaby contributed to your failure there. Never run your ESC without an operating fan. That's just abuse. RC Heresy

In theory and in practice, never do solder work on any Full charged lipo. Discharge it first to 3.8v storage voltage. Lipos are quite volitile when close to or at full charge.
And only cut one lead and solder on the new connector one at a time. Cover the other lead with some electrical tape as not to dead short your lipo. I do this all the time. I buy the best deals on lipos irrespective of the type of Connector it has. I buy my XT90's in bulk. The best way in the long term. Whatever connector you go with. I find the XT90's easier to solder and work with. Just me. Learn to solder. A necessity with serious RC'ing.
XT90's can be bought in bulk for a modest price. Spend the time to convert all of them over from those problematic T-Plugs.
It's worth it, whichever "Good" connectors you choose.

Thanks, that is all good info to have!

 

[SrC]

I raced with legit Deans plugs back when in the '90's. All the track guys did. There was nothing better at the time. They are a thing No more with hard impact bashing and High amp BLX setups.
Good luck.
Enjoy.

 

[FastMann40]

I raced with legit Deans plugs back when in the '90's. All the track guys did. There was nothing better at the time. They are a thing No more with hard impact bashing and High amp BLX setups.
Good luck.
Enjoy.

Not to call the guys I race with old, but they are much older than I am by like 20ish years, and the "t plugs" are what they run on their rigs. I figured that if I ran out of batteries, we would all have the same connectors and we could all share till we were all out of battery life, till the next day when we were racing again fully charged. The Typhon 6s came with the T plug, so I decided to stick with that. Once I got the Senton 3s BLX I felt I was melting connectors left and right. I have only had the Senton for 3 months (used) and already have melted two t plug connectors on the batteries. Now that I have the option and the understanding of how to and what kind of connectors are recommended, this will give me a more enjoyable time when bashing.

Thanks, that is all good info to have! I do have fans on both ECS as well as engine with heatsinks on both to help keep things cool.

 

[SrC]

I prefer a Double motor fan mount with double fans blowing directly at the motor's can for best cooling solution. (2) 40mm x 20mm 5v fans. 7.4v BEC running them. The motor itself is already a Heatsink by design. My Temp gun doesn't lie. Runs cooler than a using an OE Motor Heatsink with fan on top.
I have 2 O.S. nitro's here as well. Vintage TA's. I don't miss running them. Messy and all. Trust me. You know this already. But I still start them up maybe once per year. I have a gallon of fuel here going stale. Cost me like $70. a gallon for 20% Nitro race fuel, to have it shipped. They don't ship Nitro fuel any more last I heard. LHS's charge so much for small quantites... And O.S. Glow Plugs are stupid expensive now. Nitro days are long gone for me.

 

[FastMann40]

I prefer a Double motor fan mount with double fans blowing directly at the motor's can for best cooling solution. (2) 40mm x 20mm 5v fans. 7.4v BEC running them. The motor itself is already a Heatsink by design. My Temp gun doesn't lie. Runs cooler than a using an OE Motor Heatsink with fan on top.
I have 2 O.S. nitro's here as well. Vintage TA's. I don't miss running them. Messy and all. Trust me. You know this already. But I still start them up maybe once per year. I have a gallon of fuel here going stale. Cost me like $70. a gallon for 20% Nitro race fuel, to have it shipped. They don't ship Nitro fuel any more last I heard. LHS's charge so much for small quantites... And O.S. Glow Plugs are stupid expensive now. Nitro days are long gone for me.

I had the Tmax nitro 2.5 back in the day, It was very expensive every time it broke. Do you have a link for the double fans you use?

 

[SrC]

https://www.amazon.com/Wathai-40mm-...3WYM&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_dv_rp_0_1_ec_spd&th=1

I specifically use these 5v version Fans so they run fine with the ESC's BEC circuit. Been lucky with these. They take a beating. The Price is right . Before these, I was eating fans left and right. I also use basic finger guard grilles with them. Least restrictive airflow with these. 20mm taller fans are more durable IMHO. Better CFM's as well at lower RPM's. Most 40mm fans are only 10mm tall. The smaller blades being more fragile and tend to break easily. And most 20 mm tall fans only come as 12v, and need a separate battery source for power. I did have to change out the connectors with this fan. As these are PC Server fans.
I just noticed these Fans are on a huge sale now. I may even buy some spares for my other rigs.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/buyagain/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_bia?ie=UTF8&ats=eyJjdXN0b21lcklkIjoiQTNTV1g5UDQzQVpQOU4iLCJleHBsaWNpdENhbmRpZGF0ZXMiOiJCMDdR MkszV1lNIn0=

https://www.amazon.com/Powerhobby-Aluminum-30-40MM-Twister-47-49MM/dp/B09FKMPNB7/ref=sr_1_5?crid=18FT75JT16WN5&keywords=rc+car+motor+fan+mount&qid=1701154083&sprefix=motor++fan+mount,aps,129&sr=8-5&th=1