[apalrd]

The weight of a plastic connector is a drop in the bucket compared to the brick of lead, which varies by pounds between batteries of different manufacturers.

The big advantage is in current carrying capacity, which FIRST already limits using the 120a breaker. Most of the benefits are thermal, and prevent the wires from becoming sticky or melting (we frequently run the robot hard enough for the #6 wire on the battery to become sticky in 1 match time, at the very least it's always warm to the touch).

IMHO, the goal is usually to reduce weight for performance. If we ever are trying to add weight, it's always for CG management (esp. the 2012 bridge balance, or 2013 hanging).


I really want to put an end to the near-failures of the main power system we see every year. Even if the connectors don't fail catastrophically like the one in this picture very often, the wires are always sticky, and showing signs that they are undersized. And even if the connector is adequate, we can't easily put a larger wire in the connector, even if there are no rules prohibiting us from using a larger wire (currently we can use #4 wire for the battery side cable, so any argument of weight or capacity of the wire is null).