Restricted to the Anderson Connectors in the Kit?

[jzampier]

Electrical is often hard for many teams. I've seen robots show up at a regional
with the pump wired straight to the pressure switch.
FIRST is trying to eliminate confusion here as well as standardize some
robot characteristics.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

As Aidan pointed out above, the Anderson connector was required for 2004. Although I have seen teams burn and melt this connector, they were few and far between. They do require proper care and feeding. Do not use alligator clips to connect the battery charger to them. Buy another connector and add it to the leads on your chargers. (watch for polarity, the connectors are marked.) Keep them clean, dirt and other abrasives can damage as much as gator clips. Check for proper insertion and mating. Bent contacts will not give the low resistance needed for high current applications. And here is the biggy...design your robot for efficient electrical usage. It is not necessary to draw 200 amps to move a robot through a two minute match. Rule of thumb is you robot should be able to compete for three matches without a battery change.

[sanddrag]

May we use the same exact model housing/contact but a different color and our own high quality 6 guage wire?

[SpaceOsc]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

May we use the same exact model housing/contact but a different color and our own high quality 6 guage wire?

they talk about 6wg but id like to use SUPER 4 gauge wire, is that possible? and jsut replace the leads and use the same housing

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Here is the way I interpret this rule...
<R48> The ES-18-12 Battery, the Main 120 Amp Circuit Breaker, and the IFI CB/Distribution panel must be connected as shown in the diagram. The ES-18-12 Battery must use the Anderson Connector and the copper SLU-70 lugs provided in the Terminal Supply Bag. The Battery terminals and the SLU-70 lugs must be insulated with shrink tubing and/or electrical tape. You may use additional lengths of #6 red and #6 black wire to reach the panel as needed to make the above connections. The circuit breaker must be readily accessible for inspection and testing at each competition event.

The #6 and the red Anderson connector provided must be used. Elsewhere in the rules, wire minimum sizes are specified, but no additional reference is made to #6. Simple answer is use what is provided. The tradeoff for lower resistance/higher weight is not significant to warrant the change. (The wire length should be too short to matter.)
I would like to know what "high quality" #6 wire is?

[BrianBSL]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Here is the way I interpret this rule...
<R48> The ES-18-12 Battery, the Main 120 Amp Circuit Breaker, and the IFI CB/Distribution panel must be connected as shown in the diagram. The ES-18-12 Battery must use the Anderson Connector and the copper SLU-70 lugs provided in the Terminal Supply Bag. The Battery terminals and the SLU-70 lugs must be insulated with shrink tubing and/or electrical tape. You may use additional lengths of #6 red and #6 black wire to reach the panel as needed to make the above connections. The circuit breaker must be readily accessible for inspection and testing at each competition event.

The #6 and the red Anderson connector provided must be used. Elsewhere in the rules, wire minimum sizes are specified, but no additional reference is made to #6. Simple answer is use what is provided. The tradeoff for lower resistance/higher weight is not significant to warrant the change. (The wire length should be too short to matter.)
I would like to know what "high quality" #6 wire is?

I originally interpreted the rule the same way you did, but for the heck of it asked on the Q&A, and their answer sort of surprised me:
ID: 1167 Section: 5.3.5 Status: Answered Date Answered: 1/17/2005
Q: In reference to rule R48, can we use wire larger than #6 (such as #4) diameter between the battery and the Anderson connector and between the Anderson and the breaker panel?
A: Yes

Specifically that I said on the battery side also. On the other hand, the Anderson's are only designed for 6 gauge, not for 4. Tomorrow I'm going to try using some 4 gauge with some extra contacts I have.

Edit: Fixed spelling, stupid 8 AM classes.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Interesting answer. Go figure!

[SpaceOsc]

highly suprising, tell us soon wut u find so i can go out and buy the cables tonight and use it

hmmms tho just to be clear does it mean we can replace alll 6 awg wires with our own stuff? just the leads to the batteries? or can it be used at the PDB and 120 Breaker and robot battery leads?