Re: Battery charging carts?
 

Be aware that the Anderson power housings can take two different connectors inside. High detent and low detent. The ones FIRST and AndyMark ship are low detent and are much easier to plug and unplug constantly like we FIRST teams are likely to do. Powerwerx just sells the high detent version which can be a real pain.

We've been getting ours from Allied Electronics www.alliedelec.com. We get the 803-0410 housing with the 803-0048 connectors. That way you are sure you're getting the right thing. The catalog page is at http://www.alliedelec.com/catalog/pf...df&pageNum=225

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

The connectors are the same. Different colors have different keying, but that's it. Any red SB50 connector can plug into any other red SB50 connector.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

So if I bought two "battery cables" from AM, I could put one on the battery and one on the charger?

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

That's correct, the connectors are genderless.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

We get ours at McMaster-Carr. Part number 7043K21. You probably want the 12-10 AWG crimps for chargers and the 6 AWG crimps for batteries.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

That link is not the correct one. This is what you want.
What is your proposed method to affix an AM battery cable to a charger? It is such large and stiff wire, I wouldn't recommend it. A little expensive too. You're better off getting the proper 10 gauge contacts, and crimping them on.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

We've had success with two methods in the past - soldering (you have to have a nice, high powered gun to get the big wire hot enough, or you'll end up with a cold solder joint), and ring terminals with small bolts to hold them together.

Getting the right contacts will lead to a cleaner, more secure connection than anything else (assuming you crimp it properly). However, at the prototyping stage, it can be useful to have one of those connectors sitting around with ring terminals attacked to it - you can quickly hook it up to any motor you want for a quick test.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

The wire on the First supplied charger is small, a #16 or #18 as I remember. You can buy extra contacts for the Anderson connectors anywhere Anderson's are sold. Powerwerx and Terminal Supply are two that jump to mind.

Please perform the following one wire at a time so that you won't interchange the polarity of the wiring...
Cut the positive clamp off the end of the wire coming from the charger. It is a simple matter to strip about 2 inches from the charger wire and then fold the wire back over itself twice and tin the wire. This will give you a 1/2 inch long #12 equivalent wire. Insert the wire into a empty contact and solder the wire into the contact. Let cool! Insert the contact into the positive side of the SB50 body until the contact clicks and can't be pulled out. Repeat the procedure for the negative (black clamp) output of charger.

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

So i am designing a battery charging station for our team and was wondering what are the most ideal aspects for it? we have one that charges 6 batteries but it is heavy, somewhat awkward, and is unstable because its too tall for its width. any suggestions for the redesign?

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

I finally got some pictures of our cart, so i figured I'd resurrect this thread if anyone was interested.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35785
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35786
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/35787

The cart works great for everything we need at competition - charging, storage of parts, transportation, a great work surface, an integrated, stable vise, an extension cord, a power strip...

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

Please note the fans for air circulation. Looks great Jon!

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

We figure we've gotten so many of them in the kit of parts over the years... it's about time we used a few!

Re: Battery charging carts?
 

Hmm, I forgot those came in the KoP!

And in case a team doesn't have enough (or any), you can pick these puppies up at any PC part store (Fry's, MicroCenter, Canada Computers, etc) for next-to-nothing. Plus, they come in all kind of sizes, and some even light-up!