From the newsletter of the Radio Control Club of Detroit, Clinton Township,
Michigan
Understanding Deans Connectors
by Phil Laperriere
As I continue to discover more and
more about the mysteries of electric flight, I’m
never surprised when something that I initially
think is a big problem turns out to have a simple
solution once I understand the nuts and bolts about
it. I’d like to share one of my latest learnings
that supports this truth.
I’ve always been very mechanical and understood
mechanical things. I also have always had a great
deal of confidence about using tools and getting the
feel for them very quickly in order to make them
work for me. That being said, I found myself getting
a little rattled just using a soldering gun as I was
putting together the “system” on my first
electric-power project. After purchasing the motor,
speed controller, and battery, I eagerly started to
string things together.
I started by soldering the bullet connectors to the
three wires coming off the motor. I spoke with Matt
at the Prop Shop and he instructed me to fill the
pocket of the bullet connector with molten solder,
then plunge the wire in, holding it until the solder
cooled. The first obstacle I had here was that I
simply didn’t have enough hands to hold the clamp
while trying to melt solder into the bullet
connector. I overcame this by wrapping a rubber band
around the handle of a pair of needle nose pliers. I
was then able to position the bullet connector with
no problem for assembly to the wire. I also quickly
realized I had to slide the shrink tubing as far up
the wire as possible before putting the bullet
connector on. There is enough heat transmitted an
inch or so up the wire to shrink the shrink tube.
Now it was time to solder the Deans-style connector
onto the battery leads and the speed controller. One
month ago I didn’t have the foggiest idea what a
Deans Connector was. Now, here I am buying them at
the Prop Shop and trying to tie them into my power
system.
I read the instructions on the back of the pouch
that the connector set came in, and the instructions
told me to tin (pre-apply solder) to the wires and
connectors then touch the two together, add a little
heat and you should have a good bond, ready for
shrink tubing right? Wrong! By the time I was able
to melt the solder on the connector, the tab had
melted the outside of the connector, allowing the
tab to move out of position. Also, it seemed like an
extended period of time before the solder would cool
enough for handling due to heat being retained in
the connector body. I also found that the bond
between the wire and the tab was not very strong and
was easily pulled free.
After a long frustrating struggle, I was successful
at getting one set of connectors soldered in place.
However, when I tried to plug the two connectors
together, the tabs were so far out of alignment due
to the melting of the outside shell, they simply
would not go together. After ruining three or four
pairs of connectors, I finally stumbled upon a
solution.
I found if I first plugged a set of connectors
together and afterward started the tinning/soldering
process. I had much better success at a well aligned
connector. I also noted that the solder joint seemed
to cool quickly along with the tab alignment
remaining intact and showing great bond to the wire.
Having the connector plugged together also gave me
enough material to hold in a vise for soldering. A
couple of other observations I want to point out
that seem to make sense to me after going through
the process of assembly are as follows:
• Lightly sand the tab where you intend to solder,
giving the material an opportunity for “tooth.”
• Always assemble the female portion of the
connector to the battery side. By doing this, you
won’t be as likely to inadvertently short out your
battery because the terminals are not exposed.
• Maintain a standard for your connectors for
positive versus negative. Doing this, you’ll finally
have flexibility for switching between batteries and
speed controllers. Typically, Deans Connectors
recommend the wide end be utilized as the positive
side.
• Have an extra set of connectors available that are
used only for the assembly process. This way you
won’t power up the speed controller when doing
assembly. Also, if you do utilize a set only for
assembly, be sure to put the shrink tube over the
exposed terminals to minimize the risk of a short.
• Use shrink tube over your solder joints. Shrink
tubes serve two purposes. First and foremost, it
acts as an insulator, minimizing the potential for a
short. Second, it adds strength to the wire just
behind the solder joint reducing the opportunity for
wire fatigue.
Good luck and don’t let the electrics scare you.
I’ve been finding that when I first started getting
involved with electrics, the amount of confusing
information was intimidating. Learning and
understanding a piece at a time starts to add up
quickly, making the process manageable. Hopefully
I’ve been successful giving you a tip that will help
you in your own building. Q |
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