Never used the SRX’s before and since they have molded in power wires how do you suggest connecting them to motors?
Do you solder wire to wire or do you have a preferred connector?
I was looking at 4mm bullet(banana) connectors, 45A powerpoles(pricey), EC5’s and others.
What have you done successfully in the past ?
Thanks
we used some RC car connectors last year. Not a single problem. Cheap, easy to install and allows to swap motors without soldering
The most common method that I’ve seen is Anderson Power Pole Products. I didn’t they were that pricey but it’s all relative, I guess (around $1.26 a set.) I think we save a bit of money by buying the connectors on a reel from a electronics supplier. The West Mountain Radio crimper is well priced. Also, buy appropriately sized contacts for the wire that you’re using.
APP may not have the least resistance but they sure are easy to use and pretty common in the FRC community.
Edit: Actually the PowerWerx pricing is pretty darn good in qty. Their crimper is so-so quality, IIRC.
We have used power pole connectors with great success. Where are you looking to purchase them?
AM is where I initially looked.
Was cheaper than McMaster.
would you use the 45A size or bigger?
Actually, I’d use 30A on the motors, since that’s the recommended size for the 14 AWG wire CIM leads are. But use 45A on the controller leads. (15, 30 and 45 amp PowerPoles all use the same housings and can be interconnected.)
Hello!
We have just recently started to use Anderson PowerPole connectors as a our main power connection.
There are a few reasons for this:
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Quick connections, if any replacements needed to be made, it would only be a matter of replacing components, no need for soldering or any odd work.
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Tight solid crimp, in order to achieve a good connection with these connectors, please consider purchasing the special crimp tool. The connection for the tongue (which is the actual contact) is extremely tight, you can solder if you really want to.
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Vibration and shock resistant, these connectors will not simply pop off, they require a good bit of force. Our main electrical mentor recommend that I connect these PowerPoles and then apply heat shrink over them for extra caution!
We are currently using the 45A connectors, which seem to be working great. You can use 30A, but 45A is ideal. Personally, I remember I used to absolutely hate these connectors because they were so difficult to crimp, but eventually I got the hang of it.
Remember to use the special crimp tool for these connectors, and twist the wire into the contact, and then insert the contact into the 45A slot so that the contact makes a “U” shape (in other words you want the contact to crimp inwards…)
We are planning on using these PowerPole connectors with the new Talon SRX motor controllers this year!
Good luck!
If you don’t mind a bit of easy soldering, our team has used XT60 connectors for the past few years, and they work very well. We have not had any problems with them whatsoever, and they are suitable for all type of motor connections.
I, as many other posters, really like Anderson Powerpoles. I used the 45A ones on a prototype chassis we built up this week with Talon SRX’s and CIMs. One of the things I really liked is how you can snap them together to make it so you can connect and disconnect all the motors at once, and I found it makes for a super easy and clean wiring design. They are a little on the expensive side, but I think the price is worth it.
Another vote for the powerpoles here. We had always used the fork terminal style until we switched to the SRXs this year. I was tasked with choosing the correct connectors, and while I did experience some sticker shock from the powerpoles at first, but they are really worth it. We got ours from powerwerx, and got our crimper from Amazon. Having a good crimper really is key, as is knowing how to insert the contacts into the housing.
Powerpoles all the way. Except for the mandated battery connector and using the recommended connectors for terminals on COTS devices, all of our connections that will carry more than a few amps are APPs. Also check out ham radio vendors for ideas and products which use power poles.