Connectors.

[ForgottenSalad]

I've noticed quite a few teams going with the removable boxes this year. We've been planning to do the same but I haven't found connectors suitable for the gauges and current that goes to the motors. So I'm just looking for some pointers of what connectors teams used and how well they worked out for you. I'd also like to find out where to order them so I can get them ASAP. Thanks in advance to all who help.

-Mike, Team 810

[Chriszuma]

Well we feel that a readily removable electronics board is kind of unnecessary, so we just screw fork connectors onto the victors for all of the motors. If need be, we can get the electrical board off in under a minute, as opposed to 15 seconds if we had spent a whole lot more time designing and building it. To answer your question though, I know Terminal Supply Co. sells some very nice multi-conductor connectors that you could use. We always use that company for components like that because there is a relatively local supplier and they sell high-quality parts. You can order parts from their website too though: http://terminalsupplyco.com/

[sanddrag]

We use Anderson SinglePole 45 amp connectors

[ForgottenSalad]

Chris - I'm not nesseceraly fond of the idea of having a removable box; the more breakpoints, the more places things can go wrong. The reason for doing it this year is the way the layout of the robot came out I have a 16x10x6 (LxWxH) area for the box, and almost NO overhead to work in. If something were to go wrong in competition between matches with almost no time between them, I'd be hard pressed to clear the others away from working on their parts of the robot and squeeze in and have to carefully work on the electronics.

Sanddrag, thanks for the tip... I didn't think to look at anderson products, forgot that they make the nice snap connectors for the battery. I'll take a look and see if they're about what I need.

[Richard Wallace]

Tyco now has parts that are interchangeable with the Anderson ones, both terminals and housings. And the terminals are available as reeled crimp-style as a cheaper alternative to the barrel style that Anderson has offered for many years. So this popular type of terminal is now easier to use and to afford.