ESC and Battery Connectors

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Yea i should have said i only run 4s mostly only 6s once a month or so when I'm doing something crazy like climbing sandhills.
 
Yea i should have said i only run 4s mostly only 6s once a month or so when I'm doing something crazy like climbing sandhills.
Can't really go wrong with the XT90 then. Can handle the current flow for either type and are larger, so they are easier to grab onto to unplug.
 
I'm about ready to push the button, on a new brushless ESC and motor...but I wanted to confirm the suitability of XT90 for 1/10 scale truck (Granite Mega 4x4). Will I have issues with space with XT90 versus say, XT60? Does XT60 save that much space relative to XT90?
 
Took a photo of what I had so you could compare, figured you had at least one of these.
XT90-XT60-TRX-Tamiya-Deans
2018-0604-Connectors-XT90-XT60-TRX-Tamiya-Deans.jpg


XT90's are bulky, but they are also easy to get grip of and pull apart. XT60's kind of force you to use the wire for most of the force to pull them apart. The traxxas ones I use are similar in size, a bit larger than xt60's. The ID plug traxxas uses has a larger housing, but my batteries all have the smaller connector that plugs into the larger ID connector.
 
Took a photo of what I had so you could compare, figured you had at least one of these.

That is immensely helpful! The connectors are expensive, but I guess you get a lot of bang for the buck.

On a perhaps related note, what size pack does sparking start to become evident? I've been thinking off just starting off with the spark arrest, but perhaps my situation avoids that all together (2-3S). Does Li-Po exhibit any form of off gassing that sparks are a problem for? Or is it just an unnerving occurrence when connecting?
 
You can buy them in bulk on ebay pretty cheap. They aren't free, but you can get 5 or 10 sets pretty cheaply.

I get sparking a bit when running 2S in series. I don't notice it on my single 2S trucks, but I do notice it a bit on my savage flux and brushless revo. I run 4S in both, two 2S packs in series. Lipo packs are sealed. That's why they puff up when damaged. They generate gas inside I think and puff. From what I understand, they are relatively waterproof as well because of this.

I could see sparking be more of an issue on a gas truck or nitro truck. Not sure why you'd have high voltage lipo packs your plugging/unplugging on one of those, charging I guess.
 
That is immensely helpful! The connectors are expensive, but I guess you get a lot of bang for the buck.

On a perhaps related note, what size pack does sparking start to become evident? I've been thinking off just starting off with the spark arrest, but perhaps my situation avoids that all together (2-3S). Does Li-Po exhibit any form of off gassing that sparks are a problem for? Or is it just an unnerving occurrence when connecting?
I sometimes get a small spark even plugging in my 2S Lipos on my 4S Rival MT, but it becomes even more evident the larger the battery voltage. Normally this is just an unnerving occurrence like you said, especially the first time it happens. However, very important, any sparking should not happen when hooking up your Lipos to a charger.

Here's some info I found that explains Lipo sparking quite well:

When a high enough current switching (transition to/from an on/off state) occurs in an electrical circuit, an electrical arc will form between the two switching contact surfaces, in order to oppose (resist to) this circuit change in current.

The more inductance and/or capacitance in the circuit, the bigger the electric spark will be. Capacitors can be viewed as current storage devices (with a full or empty status, like water reservoirs) : when connecting a battery on an empty capacitor (e.g. an ESC), the maximum amperage the battery can deliver will flow into the circuit in a very short time to fill the capacitors (until the capacitors are full), producing a spark in the meantime.

This phenomenon is thus more severe when there is more total capacitance in the circuit. This is an issue with multicopters that have lots of capacitors in their power circuit : minimum 4 ESCs (for quads) and up to 8 ESCs (for octocopters), each ESC having multiple big capacitors.

The phenomenon is also more severe when the battery has a higher voltage (4S-> 5S-> 6S), simply because a higher voltage makes it easier to ionize a thin layer of air between the two switching contacts, as required to produce a spark.

Why should we avoid sparks ? To avoid damage to UAV's battery connectors (gold plated contact areas are damaged by repeated sparks, the plastic of the connectors will be burned, etc). Some sensitive electrical circuits do not like short bursts of high currents. For example, from experience, an autopilot (voltage and current sensor) circuit has been damaged by repeated sparks using a 6S battery....
 
I went ahead and order a couple sets of the spark arrest ones. They look to be reusable if disassembled carefully, so probably a good investment. I'm looking into a 2S 5000 mAh 50C pack...I didn't really want to go into Li-Po, but it seems like brushless setups almost require it due to the current draw.

I'm an EE by education, but I focused on RF/microwave stuff, not electronics. Some of these topics are familiar, some aren't.
 
You can buy them in bulk on ebay pretty cheap. They aren't free, but you can get 5 or 10 sets pretty cheaply.

I get sparking a bit when running 2S in series. I don't notice it on my single 2S trucks, but I do notice it a bit on my savage flux and brushless revo. I run 4S in both, two 2S packs in series. Lipo packs are sealed. That's why they puff up when damaged. They generate gas inside I think and puff. From what I understand, they are relatively waterproof as well because of this.

I could see sparking be more of an issue on a gas truck or nitro truck. Not sure why you'd have high voltage lipo packs your plugging/unplugging on one of those, charging I guess.

Be careful with those eBay connectors, I bought a 20 pack of them(10 esc 10 battery) and I only have the esc connectors anymore as the battery connectors would only fit into the esc connectors that came in the bag. They were too tight in the stock Arrma esc connectors on my Outcast and the Amass connectors on my charger. The battery connectors were so tight I almost broke my hand trying to pull them out of the esc plugs on my Outcast. Needless to say I tossed all those battery connectors in the trash. But the esc plugs work just fine with the Arrma and Amass connectors. :bored:

And on a side note has anyone else noticed this smiley? :finger:
 
Be careful with those eBay connectors

I stopped buying from eBay about 10 years ago...even then it was getting too sketchy for my blood. It has turned into a cheap knockoff marketplace. Sure the stuff is cheap, but who knows what any of it is actually made of.
 
I stopped buying from eBay about 10 years ago...even then it was getting too sketchy for my blood. It has turned into a cheap knockoff marketplace. Sure the stuff is cheap, but who knows what any of it is actually made of.
I still shop on eBay, I just make sure to buy official Amass connectors.
 
Y
I didn't realize there were two types of xt90's. The anti-spark and normal. The the AS ones have a diode or resistor/capacitor in them or something to absorb surge?... off to google!
Yes, that's correct, the XT90 anti-spark connectors do have a resistor built into the plug. It is on the positive end and only on the female (battery) side of the plug. I believe it is a 5.6ohm resistor and this prevents the sparking. Once the XT90 is fully plugged in and full contact is made, it then bypasses this resistor.

Having large sparks occur when you plug in your packs can puts a lot of strain on the connectors and often shortens their life. In fact, many "e-bike" users are now using the XT90 Anti-spark connectors, to avoid these large sparks when plugging in their batteries.

A good reason to use the "original" Nylon XT90 connectors (manufactured by AMASS) is they can handle over 90A current for extended periods without exceeding 80DegC thanks to their better contact surface area. The plug is also less likely to deform or melt in comparison to "copied" non-Nylon XT90 plugs. The genuine XT90 connectors are also easier to unplug, as slick2500 said.

Here's a link to the XT90 anti-spark connectors. They will have a green notation on the female side:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/xt90-s-anti-spark-connector-2pairs-bag.html?___store=en_us

Keep in mind, some batteries (Power Hobbies, etc) already come with the XT90 anti-spark connectors. This is especially useful for anyone who does not want to solder, since the anti-spark is only on the female (battery side) of the plug.

slick2500, thumb's up for the smiley in the middle!
 
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I went from Traxxas connectors, to XT90 connectors and now I have XT150 connectors. I personally didn't notice, or maybe I just don't remember any sparking when I was running 2-3s on the Traxxas connectors. I also didn't notice any spark when connecting 4s on the XT90s but I did notice a small spark on 6s on the XT90s but I never noticed any damage to anything from it. I will tell you that when you hook up 8s and larger......you notice when the circuit is complete. I have burns on the metal plugs as well as localized melting on the nylon caps. BUT this is on 8s and larger, which not many people use.

I remember looking at the AS150 connectors (anti spark version of the XT150) and not wanting to get them due to the added cost. Now I am wishing that I would have spent the extra money because I will probably need new connectors on everything within a couple of years.

I guess long story short, for 2s-3s, I would run whatever connector best fits your needs, as long as it's not like a Tamiya connector or something like that. For 4s-6s I would MAYBE consider getting anti spark and for 8s+ I would recommend getting anti spark connectors.
 
I notice a little sparking on 4S with traxxas connectors. I don't notice it on my 2S vehicles. Got a photo of an XT150 next to an XT90? Guessing those are pretty big!
4s may spark on mine as well. I guess I'm not 100% on that. Either I have gotten used to it or maybe I don't notice it happening inside of the nylon cover.

I don't have a picture that I took myself but here is a picture of an adapter with XT90 on one end and AS150 positive and XT150 negative on the other end. I don't think that they are too bulky myself but my Typhon is also my smallest vehicle that I run that has them in it.
81peOJl9uqL._SL1500_.jpg
 
I stopped buying from eBay about 10 years ago...even then it was getting too sketchy for my blood. It has turned into a cheap knockoff marketplace. Sure the stuff is cheap, but who knows what any of it is actually made of.
same here
 
I prefer XT90 have them on all my rigs.. just got a v2 infraction...can I cut the stock plugs off like any other esc?..I'm asking bc of the 3rd little wire in the middle
Yes, but doing so voids the warranty on the esc.
 
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