Connector Conundrum
By Greg Gimlick
Electric flight involves using connectors, often a lot of them. The question from most newbies is “which connector is right?” Well the answer is easy…. “all of them”….or “none of them”. Okay so maybe it’s not so easy.
In reality most of the connectors that come with electric flight equipment is perfectly suited for what it’s attached to. The question then becomes how do you standardize so all of your gear works together? Do you make a ton of adapters? Do you cut off all your connectors and start from scratch? If you’re like me you end up doing a bit of both. My standard connector for most applications is the Anderson Powerpole and I like it because it’s efficient and I can crimp them on without soldering. The next choice for me is 6mm gold plated bullet plugs. I use them for my high power applications due to their efficiency and large surface contact area. Of course for the indoor flyers the connectors are usually the small BEC connector.
The bottom line is finding the one that meets your needs and easily available. Your modeling life will be easier in the long run if you can narrow your choices down to just a couple and stay with them. It’s a pain in the neck to reconfigure things, but when you get to the field or working in the shop, you’ll be glad you did.
Photos:
Lots of different connectors means lots of adapters
More adapter cords
The tools for doing Anderson Powerpoles
Neatly done parallel adapter with no soldering
My ultimate charge cord adapter to fit almost any connector out there
