On Wed, 9 Dec 2020 12:56:15 -0500, Ralph Mowery
<
rmower...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>In article <
um02tfldd7imun1rh...@4ax.com>,
>
je...@cruzio.com says...
>> From looking at them on Youtube it looks to me that the wire end is just
>> >open and if you want that to be insulated you have to use heat srink
>> >tubing or some other method.
>> >
>> >Is that correct ?
>>
>> 90% correct. The usual method is to insulate the exposed cable to
>> connector area with heat shrink tubing. However, you can buy XT60
>> connectors that have a plastic hood that will also work.
>> <
https://www.amazon.com/XT60-Connectors-Female-Male-Functional/dp/B07CWF8CRX>
>> I'm not thrilled with the idea of hiding a crappy soldering job under
>> an opaque cover and prefer to use clear shrink tubing. If I forget to
>> install the shrink tubing, a blob of RTV (silicone caulk), between the
>> pins, and maybe some electrical tape will suffice if desperate.
>It looks like the XT may make a more secure connection,
I have a few pairs of not quite matched XT60 connectors on a drone
that require considerable force to disconnect. Lube with Vaseline or
some kind of grease seems to help.
>but I
>do not like not having a good looking cover over the exposed connections
>other than on the XT60 that you show.
<
https://cdn.sparkfun.com//assets/parts/4/9/7/1/10474-01.jpg>
Notice the groove (moat?) around each gold pin. You slide the shrink
tube into the groove to avoid having any exposed conductors.
>I know tape could be used, but
>looks crappy and even the heat shrink not too good looking.
Shrink tube is good enough. However, if you want elegance, wrap a few
layers of masking tape around the connector base to product a mold
form. Fill the mold with whatever potting compound you prefer. I
tried or seen tried RTV, silicone caulk, epoxy, Bondo, Liquid Vinyl,
and Awesome Goo. They all worked. For the softer potting compounds,
use a knife for cleanup. For the hard stuff, a file or sandpaper.
>I think I
>would try a larges size of heat shrink and cover the plug and wires at
>the same time.
That will bend the wires and pins toward each other. Besides the
potential danger of a short, it also makes mating connectors difficult
to connect and disconnect. The amount of bending will vary with
connector manufacturing tolerances. If you do a decent job of
soldering, it might be ok to bend the wires together. However, if you
slop solder all over the outside of the gold pins, you might have a
problem.
>Maybe the shrink will not shrink enough.
2:1 is the width shrink ratio for commodity shrink tube. Much more
entertaining is the change in length of shrink tube (typically about
10%).
<
https://www.lapptannehill.com/resources/technical-information/what-is-longitudinal-change-in-heat-shrink-tubing>
>Then the RTV
>has to be carefully selected as lots of it will eat up the wires and if
>it does not, still looks crappy.
Just look for "no acetic acid" or "neutral cure" products. They're
common enough at the hardware store.
>As a ham I switched to the Power Poles a few years ago. I used to use
>some molex plugs for the mobile transceivers (VHF/UHF) however they have
>gone up in power and exceed the current for the ones I was using. Also
>needed to handle more current for the low band rigs in the shack so
>switched everything over to match.
>
>I guess they do have 2 advantages for me, Crimp and one size good to 45
>amps. Just need seperate contact inserts for the different current
>ranges, but all will fit. I know there are several other sizes of PPs
>that will not fit the smaller more common size.
I've had a few problems with Power Pole connectors. They're good, but
in my never humble opinion, there are better connectors. I need to
run away right now but can elaborate if you want.