[dez250]

One thing that I will comment on here that Billfred touched on is not using the stock connectors that come on the charger. Normally these chargers come with alligator clips which are ok to use with automotive or marine batteries that have large exposed terminals for a couple of times where damage that can occur will be minimal, but not for our use. Because we continually use the chargers with our batteries for competition, we do not have exposed terminals the charger connects to, but soft contacts within the Anderson power pole connectors. If you use alligator clips or other style "clamps" or "clips" to connect your charger to the battery, you will damage your battery. Every time an alligator clip is attached to the Anderson half connectors leads, it scratches them and mars the smooth contacts finish. When you then try to use this half connector with the connector on the robot, you will not get full seating between the two contacts and will increase your resistance between your robot and battery. Increased resistance leads to high drops in power transferred to the robot, increased heat at the connector points, and failure can occur. I have seen some major damage on robots where the Anderson half connectors fused because of the heat generated from the poor connection between metal contacts.
You can easily avoid this problem though by splicing in Anderson half connectors on your chargers in place of the stock clamps that may be on there. The Anderson's are designed to mate together firmly and always used with two half connectors. Save yourself the cost and hassle of replacing a damaged battery (or worse) later by using proper connectors now.