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tundragumski

Tamiya Connectors

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If Tamiya connectors are so rubbish why are they still supplied on most new batteries, ESCs and chargers?

I'm having trouble with one on a battery that is not making a good connections and keeps failing completely, until I wiggle it!

I don't really want to change all my connectors as I don't have a soldering iron or any spare cash right now.

Any ideas how i can fix my dodgy tamiya battery connector in the short term? (I'll consider changing them all when I'm no longer unemployed - which would be best; traxxas or deans?)

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IMO go Traxxas. Way easier to solder and easier to connect/disconnect. From what I've read the resictance is quite the same.

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Powerpoles are the highest performance connector used on RC.

To answer your immediate question; try inserting a very small screwdriver tip down bsid3e the contact & closing up the "tube" very slightly to improve the connection.

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Powerpoles are the highest performance connector used on RC.

Castle bullet connectors out perform Powerpoles. 6.5mm has a 200Amp rating, 5.5mm is 150 Amp. Castle were not happy with the performance of anything else on the market so they designed their own connector.

I use ribbed Deans. Easy to get apart and can't be plugged in backwards. Good for 100 Amps continuous. They do need soldering however.

Ribbed_T-Plug.jpg

The Tamiya connectors are 15 Amp when new. After a few times being plugged and unplugged they bend and make poor contact. Typical problem with a molex style connector and computers have the same problem. Computer hard drives have moved away from the molex style connector and nearly all have SATA connectors now (similar to the Traxxas design).

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I like Powerpoles too, they don't need soldering :wub:

If you have an RS trade counter locally, check 'em out

Conductor part number is 534-963

Red housing 534-985

Black housing 534-979

You can make 10 connectors for about £8 + VAT - not sure how that compares to others?

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You can make 10 connectors for about £8 + VAT - not sure how that compares to others?

Pretty much the same price I pay for the ribbed Deans. $20AU for 10 sets delivered to my door.

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I've never got on with Deans, for some reason I keep forgetting the end I didn't just solder is pretty much as hot as the end I did :lol:

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I use banana plugs/bullets, they come in a variety of sizes and current ratings and are secure and reliable and cheap too. They're designed for easy soldering too and are great with large gauge wires -> round wire goes into round connector. Just make sure the heat shrink tubing covers any exposed parts of the connector.

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The problem is you've been using it - Tamiya connectors are fine if you leave your car bog stock, only drive it once, carefully, in near sterile conditions, then leave it on the shelf.

First time around for me (1980's) there wasn't this choice of connectors, I went with Lucas 6.3mm blades & they worked fine - I just couldn't swap equipment with anyone else. A bit like now, with the various rabid Traxxas vs Corrally vs Deans vs Powerpoles vs Bananas camps :lol:

For the record, I'm anti-Deans - they're not a bad idea, but have tried them & found the soldering extremely awkward, so unless someone comes up with a set in peices that can be put together after soldering, and/or have a much better solder tag, forget it.

I'm pro-Powerpoles - although having had one pull off in use (I think it was one of my many flat-out-monster-kerb-octcuple-flip-into-the-barrier moments at Snet) I think it's worth soldering after crimping.

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Corrally IMO are the best ones I have found.

You can buy a pack of 10f/10m with heatshrink on ebay for £5. Solder iron for £7 and a length of lead solder for £1.

So easy to solder just fill the well up with solder and poke the wire into it then cover the connector with heatshrink.

As alot of Lipos come with these connectors as standard aswell as most high quality chargers you shouldnt have any compatability worries :]

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I always used Corally connectors on my cars, very easy to connect/disconnect.

You do have to be very careful though with polarity and also making sure the loose ends don't move around while you're fitting the cells and short them out. For that reason the Deans connectors seem superior since neither of these problems can easily happen.

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Tamiya style connectors definitely will wear out fast and have connection issues consistently. They are still used in Tamiya models today because most Tamiya produced models do not come with brushless systems, which would need better connectors to carry higher amperage, if that were the case. The only way they get by with using those connectors still is because of the very basic electronic motors and electronics that come from the factory with Tamiya models. When brushless systems become fully main stream, then you will see the Tamiya style connector being phased out by battery and ESC manufactures. Tamiya will have to change eventually if they ever get into the brushless scene, no doubt about it :lol:

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OK, so although I can really only afford to fix my tamiya connector, if I was going to replace them in the future:

Seems like everyone has their favourites, but powerpoles or traxxis look good to me - which one of those 2 is best, cheapest and easiest?

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Cut the plug open (one pin at a time) and snip the wire right behind the crimp

Do it one pin at a time so that they don't/can't short out

Also, don't cut thru both wires at the same time (voice of experience/hindsight :lol:)

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A piece of 4mm brass tube (like that which comes in some Tamiya kits) inserted into the front of the housing will release the barbs & let you remove the pin cleanly.

Being a fully paid up member of the Powerpole brigade, I made a tool for doing this. :lol:

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I must show my support for the PowerPole brigade! They are slightly on the large size but in 1:10 and over that has never been an issue...

I always solder mine, no criping, they are fairly easy to reuse also (you need to get lift a metal lip in the front of the connector), they have never come out otherwise for me, neither has the pulg itself come apart while driving or crashing, another benefit is that you can connect several battteries in series on the fly if you want (not to many uses for that though)...

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another connector question:

Does it really matter whether you put the male or female connector on the ESC/Charger and/or the batteries? what's the norm? I think tamiya connectors have the male on the battery and female on the ESC/charger.

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another connector question:

Does it really matter whether you put the male or female connector on the ESC/Charger and/or the batteries? what's the norm? I think tamiya connectors have the male on the battery and female on the ESC/charger.

Always the female on the battery. If you put the male on the battery it can very easily short and may cause an explosion (Ni-MH) or a fire (Li-Po).

When you fit the male to the charger be careful it does not short the contacts as most chargers do not have short protection on the output. I have a female positioned on my charge box to plug the lead into when it's not connected to a battery to prevent it ever shorting on a metal object. The 'blanked' female on the charge box has had the tabs cut off and the backside insulated.

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