are deans plugs the way to go

[jwscab]

you can reuse the powerpoles.....you need something like an dull xacto blade. inside the connector body, under the contact, there is a spring finger. you need to slide the blade under (between the contact and sping) to release the edge of the contact from the spring, then pull the contact out of the body from the rear.

I've been using the deans ultras on the helis, and I gotta say, I like them. Cheap too.....the powerpoles are my favorite since they are reversible and not gender specific, but all my 15+ year old ones are all worn out and oxidized beyond usage, so I'll be switching to the deans ultras.

the powerpoles will have the best conductivity for the first few insertions, as the silver plating is the best conductor you can get, but it also fades quickly.

[RER40]

I "heard somewhere", that the Ultras have less resistance than Wire (just what I "heard"). I guess that would depend on the Wire, huh?

PS. If I use the PigTail ones by just Soldering the "Tail" to the Wires from an ESC or Motor, would the Resistance of the Solder Joint cancel out the Benifits of the Plug itself?

My guess would be that if you checked a Ultra, connecting end to end, compared to a same length piece of premium grade wire that it would be too close to argue the difference - and of course lesser grade wire would lose the comparison. But where ANY plug would lose the comparison is because of the soldered connection(s) - the soldering job offering more resistance to the plug equation compared to an equal length piece of wire.

I haven't seen anything in years, but back in the day there were a few write-ups regarding the whole "plug resistance" issue (and real-world testing) -- since it was an issue because we were running 1200/1700 mAh packs -- and back then the Deans plugs tested out as "comperable" (or more likely, "almost as good") as a similar length of wire.
A lot of the issue was ultimately because of runtimes relative to the loss of power because of the antiquated plugs, and the original Deans solved most of those concerns while modern high mAh capacity packs have all but done away with those concerns entirely. But it was because the "resistance" issue was primarily a racing one, where guys were trying to get every last drop of current just to make time in a 4 minute race.

The powerpoles came along and were regarded as a little more of a heavy-duty type plug, that had a larger connection footprint than the Deans 4-pin, but that comparison went away with the release of the Deans Ultras.

Every single soldered connection adds a certain amount of resistance - so by pigtailing them onto a ESC wire loom, yes, you are increasing the amount of resistance because you are doubling the amount of soldered joints. Minutely so, but probably not enough for you to notice.
To me the more important issue would be a clean wiring job and thus eliminating as many potential joint/connections as possible to decrease your possiblity of having a wire break (solderjoint break) in any more spots than absoltely neccessary.

I'm not going to suggest wasting plugs by just throwing them away, but at the same time plugs do age and the metal surfaces oxidize and wear over time because of use. And my own practice is to use them once and then toss them (unless they've only been used a short period) and not reuse them over and over. I do this because plugs are cheap and I would just as soon not have an issue that came back to being a used plug-related one.

I've seen a lot of electrical issues over the years, and most of them have been because someone was cutting corners, trying to go cheap, or just did a messy job. Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry (later) any time.

[scr8p]

I haven't seen anything in years, but back in the day there were a few write-ups regarding the whole "plug resistance" issue (and real-world testing) -- since it was an issue because we were running 1200/1700 mAh packs -- and back then the Deans plugs tested out as "comperable" (or more likely, "almost as good") as a similar length of wire.
A lot of the issue was ultimately because of runtimes relative to the loss of power because of the antiquated plugs, and the original Deans solved most of those concerns while modern high mAh capacity packs have all but done away with those concerns entirely. But it was because the "resistance" issue was primarily a racing one, where guys were trying to get every last drop of current just to make time in a 4 minute race.

ditto

i don't understand why anyone would even worry about this anymore. with the efficiency of todays electronics (esc's... brushless motors) and the capacity of todays batteries, it's not even an issue in my opinion. not to mention, 95% of the people in the hobby wouldn't even be able to tell the difference anyway.

tamiya plugs still and always have sucked. so anything is an improvement over them.

[vintagerc10]

i ordered the deans "knock-offs" from ebay. From everything i read, the big dif is the body of the knock-offs are made of a lower quality material, but is ribbed and easier to unplug. We'll see how they work. Either way, the old style plugs are history.

[catch 10]

the old plugs sucked for sure, but it is still worth the effort to go to the better plugs, i mean if the best technology is reachable by the common rc'er you should go for it i run the deans on my 10.8v 3200mah a123 packs so i can get every little bit of run time possible out of them to me they are worth it yes costly but still worth it

[wyldbill]

ah, the old which connector is better debate. i personaly have been using powerpoles for years back in the 90's and when i got back into r/c 7 years ago despite what the critics say. with a little trick all of my contacts still look brand new and shiny. i use a drop of Deoxit on all my connectors each nite of racing and it works amazing.

http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f

Deoxit can be found at radioshack but i get it from work cheap, it's the best contact cleaner i've ever used working in the electronics industry.
when oval racing everybody just hardwires all of their connections. when i walk around the pits and see most of the solder connections that are in these cars i think i will stick with powerpoles. most if not all of the local racers can't solder, even the ones that have been doing this for years. all the voltage in the world cant do crap if it's flowing through bad solder connections. nobody takes the time to bother with cleaning off the old solder every time and use fresh along with flux, they just use the old heat and stick method and cross fingers. good solder joints should bee smooth,shiny,and silver not lumpy,globy,and grey. half the weight of some cars i've seen is mostly lead from improper solder joints, talk about internal resistance. i even went as far as offering to teach a soldering class for the local guys at the track since i have a soldering certification but only a few guys wanted to do it.

[RER40]

when oval racing everybody just hardwires all of their connections. when i walk around the pits and see most of the solder connections that are in these cars i think i will stick with powerpoles. most if not all of the local racers can't solder, even the ones that have been doing this for years. all the voltage in the world cant do crap if it's flowing through bad solder connections. nobody takes the time to bother with cleaning off the old solder every time and use fresh along with flux, they just use the old heat and stick method and cross fingers. good solder joints should bee smooth,shiny,and silver not lumpy,globy,and grey. half the weight of some cars i've seen is mostly lead from improper solder joints, talk about internal resistance. i even went as far as offering to teach a soldering class for the local guys at the track since i have a soldering certification but only a few guys wanted to do it.

Gotta agree with you.
I got taught to solder "correctly" by an old-school when I first got into the hobby - fresh solder & flux each time - and the vast majority of folks claiming to doing direct wiring haven't a clue just how much they're increasing the resistance in their electroncs because of their own lack of soldering skills.

[Jason Pelletier]

In the age of lipo who direct solders anymore. I used to direct solder but now i use lipo's and deans. Mainly cause bullet connectors can cause funny things over time and it's all to easy to smoke a speedo connecting the bullets into the battery backwards.

Deans are probably the best and most common plug. Ebay china ones suck and the metal pulls out of the plastic.

[Group B]

A friend gave me some of the deans ultra knock-offs, and the plastic melts very easily when you're trying to solder wires to the tabs.

[KvilleKrawler]

Yup, I have had the same issue with the china knock offs as well. Better to spend a little more. I also like the new traxxas connectors too.

[vintagerc10]

i got the "cheap deans" and have soldered one set (battery and charger) with no problems. They do seam to get super freaking hot, but didnt seem to melt. Figure they are better than the crapy tamiya plugs. I still have 3 more sets to solder, we'll see if i can do it without metlting them.

[MOmo]

I like my Sermos/Powerpole connectors. I call'em idiot plugs. Color coded, can't really mess that up.


MOmo

[Dnewish2]

Well, its good to know that the cheap 'deans' on the bay are knockoffs. I've used ultra's on both motors and batterys for years with no regrets.
I do think the 'Traxxas' connectors are the future of, at least, sport RC. Lastly, i've heard that removing/changing the connectors on LRP ESC's voids the warranty.