[Al Skierkiewicz]

My recommendation is removing the clips and substituting whatever connector you use for the battery. It is what we have done for many years. If nothing else, it prevents the clips from touching while the charger is on. It gives you a good, solid, low resistance contact that will not be bumped off accidentally and it is able to be used without removing the battery from the robot. I have seen many teams using the clips (alligator clips, gators, spring clips, crocks, whatever you call them.) and even though they work, they tear up the surface of the connector. Eventually this scratching increases the series resistance of the contact causing heating and failure.