Which Terminals?

[BrittanyV]

Hey!

I know that last year, we had to have specific terminals on the batteries, fuse block, and on/off switch (circuit breaker). They were the copper ones with the screws on them. Does anyone know if we still have to use these this year? (we haven't found anything in the manual, but we want to be sure. It was really hectic trying to find them at the competitions.) If you could post, it would be much appreciated.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Brittany,
The rules (per the robot manual) have been relaxed a little this year. You may use SLU 35 terminals ( a smaller version of last year's terminal) or you may use a suitable crimp terminal if you wish. As always, insulate all electrical connections on the robot, particularly the battery and main power distro and main circuit breaker.

<R54> The EX18-12 Battery, the Main 120 Amp Circuit Breaker, and the Circuit Breaker distribution panels
must be connected as shown in the 2006 ( or optionally) as in the 2005 diagrams shown below. The EX18-12
Battery must use the Anderson Connector. The connector must be attached with either the copper SLU-35
lugs provided in the Terminal Supply Bag or appropriate crimp-on lug connectors. The Battery terminals and
the connecting lugs must be insulated with shrink tubing and/or electrical tape

[chrisinmd]

Originally Posted by Al Skierkiewicz

Brittany,
The rules (per the robot manual) have been relaxed a little this year. You may use SLU 35 terminals ( a smaller version of last year's terminal) or you may use a suitable crimp terminal if you wish. As always, insulate all electrical connections on the robot, particularly the battery and main power distro and main circuit breaker.

Thanks for reassuring me, Al.
Last year they made us change all of our #6 crimp connectors to the copper lugs. Reading the rule book, I thought it said we could use crimps again this year, but I wasn't sure. Just to clarify, though, can we use crimps on the batteries as well?
Thanks,
-Chris

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by chrisinmd

Thanks for reassuring me, Al.
Last year they made us change all of our #6 crimp connectors to the copper lugs. Reading the rule book, I thought it said we could use crimps again this year, but I wasn't sure. Just to clarify, though, can we use crimps on the batteries as well?
Thanks,
-Chris

Yes, you may.

As a side note here...Since all robot current is passing through these connections (battery, main breaker, gound and breaker panel feeds) you need to be very sure of the connection. We crimp and then solder before insulating with heat shrink.

[ForgottenSalad]

We've run into a problem here.... Since we're using last year's distro panel, the SLU-35 lugs have too small of a hole to fit onto the bolt on the distro panel. Which would be the legal way to do this... Drill out the SLU-35's hole so it fits the bolt, or use last year's SLU-45 lugs?

EDIT: Was it SLU-75 last year? I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

Originally Posted by ForgottenSalad

We've run into a problem here.... Since we're using last year's distro panel, the SLU-35 lugs have too small of a hole to fit onto the bolt on the distro panel. Which would be the legal way to do this... Drill out the SLU-35's hole so it fits the bolt, or use last year's SLU-45 lugs?

EDIT: Was it SLU-75 last year? I can't remember off the top of my head.

SLU 70 (indicating it is twice as big and the 35)

[eugenebrooks]

The rules say to use the SLU-35s or appropriate crimp on connectors. The rules don't say that SLU-70s are legal. This is a nit, but they hung a lot of teams on the rules requiring SLU-70s last year. Legal terminals were a hot commodity in the pits last year. Posting a QandA on this one would be appropriate...

Eugene

[Tristan Lall]

The Q&A says that SLU-70s are legal, but not preferred.

[eugenebrooks]

Originally Posted by Tristan Lall

The Q&A says that SLU-70s are legal, but not preferred.

As Al has repeated many times, if you use the SLU-70s (for the 1/4 inch
attachments) or the SLU-35s (for the number 10 attachments): clean them, screw them, SOLDER THEM, and shrink them! We went so far as to tin plate ours last year, to make the soldering go easier. It takes a BIG soldering iron.


Eugene

[sciguy125]

Originally Posted by ForgottenSalad

We've run into a problem here.... Since we're using last year's distro panel, the SLU-35 lugs have too small of a hole to fit onto the bolt on the distro panel. Which would be the legal way to do this... Drill out the SLU-35's hole so it fits the bolt, or use last year's SLU-45 lugs?

We ended up drilling ours. It's a little tricky though. I found that the best technique is to sandwich it between two pieces of metal. Take two pieces of 1/4" plate and drill a hole into each of them that matches the current hole on the lug. Sandwich the lug between the two plates and run the bit back through to make sure they're all lined up. Clamp it down and drill through the entire assembly with the appropriate bit.

[ForgottenSalad]

We drilled a couple of the 35's in the second week or so, but now that I know the 70's are legal I'll be using those... I don't mind drilling them out, but I don't like how it thins out two of the walls, so I'll just use untouched 70's.