External connectors for a LiFePO4 battery box (anderson, XT-60)?

trae

Adventurer
In PP15/45 there are 3 options for terminals, the left two are the 15A and 30A and referred to as closed barrel. IIRC, they can be crimped or soldered according to Anderson with the caveat I believe is either but not both crimped and soldered (good general rule anyway).

The one on the right is the 45A and is called an open barrel which can only be crimped.

View attachment 597030

I have crimper dies for all three of the PP15/45 terminals as well as PP75/SB50 so haven't soldered them in ages. To me the proper crimpers are a variation on an F-crimp, the difference being the length of the crimp.

So any tool that can make up Molex, Tyco, Deutsch or similar terminals can probably be used. Best would be a tool that only does one crimp at a time rather than a single press tool that crimps both the conductor and insulation at the same time.

View attachment 597039

View attachment 597040

If you're not in a position to get decent crimper for a couple, yeah, just have someone do it for you. Hint, I'm in Grand Junction, CO...

I’m in Vancouver, BC. Cross border shipping is a pain but do appreciate the offer. Plus I want to learn how to do it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

hour

Observer
I'll just throw in that I hated powerpoles until I bought a crimp tool. I only had one connection to make and wanted a good alternative to MC4 connectors with solar panels. Following a suggestion here I bought powerpoles and proceeded to screw up quite a few times using common stripper/crimp tools. Any questionable or loose feeling connection is going to be more challenging to insert and you run the risk of severely kinking the wire. I was pretty frustrated but sucked it up and bought the tool below. Everything has been wonderful since minus a few mess ups on the 45 amp ones which I use far less than the 30's. So I bought all of that for a single connection and have probably done up 20 pairs since.

I have those panel mount XT60s you linked. Cutting that perfect of a hole and still having enough material at the edge for the tiny screws to go through is challenging and uncool to try to rectify if you take too much material out of your battery enclosure. If I could go back in time I would have only bought XT60 female ends to mate to my hobby chargers and immediately made adapters to anderson.

61zcq6aA-7L._SL400_.jpg
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
assuming your doing portable solar andersons also give the advantage of having one coil of cable you can use for all sorts of things, and have it cut into smaller segments held together w/locking pins retained by a little thread so they dont get lost.. if you bring 100ft of cable but only need 20ft you can use just one string out of the 5 combined strings if its segmented, more power and less voltage drop.. they daisy chain perfectly fine and thats sweet... Wanna air up an air mattress for a tent do it in the tent using your solar cable and don't risk popping the mattress dragging it to the vehicle and past a thousand pokey things..

Once you start you wont stop cutting those dumb 12v Ciggy plugs off everything you own and installing anderson panel mounts everywhere with distribution blocks.. Ive wired up bear lockers to put my fridge in and put my little trailer in the sun w/battery and solar fixed for backpacking trips.. Life is nice w/Mr Anderson.
 

Rando

Explorer
For the application you are describing, a circular power connector is what would be used professionally and are likely the best solution. Most of the major connector manufacturers make a range of these. I have used Bulgin in the past, which are reasonably priced yet still consistent quality:
If you want cheap, there are now a bunch of no-name clones on Amazon:

This style of connector has a bunch of advantages - they have locking rings, so they won't pull out, they are weather resistant, come with dust caps and have real strain relief for the cable end. Definitely a better option than either Power poles or XT60s.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
For the application you are describing, a circular power connector is what would be used professionally and are likely the best solution. Most of the major connector manufacturers make a range of these. I have used Bulgin in the past, which are reasonably priced yet still consistent quality:
If you want cheap, there are now a bunch of no-name clones on Amazon:

This style of connector has a bunch of advantages - they have locking rings, so they won't pull out, they are weather resistant, come with dust caps and have real strain relief for the cable end. Definitely a better option than either Power poles or XT60s.
I really like circular connectors. I use them for several things, like my winch controller, the control line to my remote antenna tuners. As you say, robust, weathertight, etc. The ones I've standardized on personally are the Tyco CPC, circular plastic connectors. They aren't Amazon cheap but aren't punch to the gut expensive like 38999 or anything. All told a bulkhead and cap, a free hanging plug and back shell, a few pins like this would probably be I guess $30. Compared to two pair of PowerPoles that might be $3. But there's a world of difference in reliability.


IMG_0226_mid.jpg IMG_0227_mid.jpg

But both the plastic and metal shells CPC use the same contacts, the tin especially aren't intended for lots of mating cycles. I've never had a problem with a CPC so I'm sure TE is conservative in their rating comparatively. But probably not and order of magnitude conservative.

Screen Shot 2020-07-09 at 5.41.01 AM.png


I'm not familiar with the Bulgin specification, perhaps they have better characteristics in this case.
 
Last edited:

john61ct

Adventurer
If I need true waterproof, TE Deutsch DT/DTM/DTP series

widely used in marine / oil industries, pretty much military spec
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
If I need true waterproof, TE Deutsch DT/DTM/DTP series

widely used in marine / oil industries, pretty much military spec
They are a good connector, too, but they meet a similar design goal as various locking circular types in that they are not expected to see that many mate cycles. They'll do more in all likelihood but I'd start to wonder about the locking tab as well as the terminals on these.

But real question is just how many cycles are required. It's something done everyday and expected to last 10 years then sure 10,000 mates might be required. But something you plug in a few times over the summer recreation season then 100 might be more than adequate.

Screen Shot 2020-07-09 at 7.10.10 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-07-09 at 7.16.34 AM.png

Screen Shot 2020-07-09 at 7.17.39 AM.png
 
Last edited:

john61ct

Adventurer
Those are crazy conservative numbers taking extreme environmental conditions into account

IMO put there for legalistic purposes

more than what forum members would actually experience IRL

To get even more robust hardware is overkill, and for reasonable cost would I think require being savvy in navigating the world of military surplus.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
They are not crazy conservative. To guarantee they meet environmental, mechanical and electrical parameters there's a limit to the number of times any connector can mate. The limit might be 200, 500 or it might be 101. Tyco designed and tested to meet 100 with typical manufacturing tolerance and that's all you can say for sure.

Based on what I've seen the mate cycles are because the plating gets worn and eventually the resistance increases or the contact loses flexibility and begins to make intermittent contact.

The intention is to mate and de-mate a DT connector maybe once on the factory floor and perhaps a few times in testing and later in the maintenance depot so 100 gives you a lot of margin in that application.

In aerospace, both MIL and NASA, you must log each connection because you're allowed a specific number before the connector is replaced. We put connector savers on during manufacturing so that ideally you've only used one cycle by the time it leaves your dock. This of course isn't relevant to a consumer casual use but connectors don't last forever and their performance degrades with use.
 
Last edited:

Rando

Explorer
Fwiw, I recently used that same HangTon connector on my trailer brakelights.
Its really nice connector for what it is.
Very nice moulded glass fill nylon with seals. The only downside, its not really intended for alot of plug cycling. Electrically, I think it would work fine for many hundreds of cycles, but dont think its fine threaded collar would.

That is good to hear. Then I think you have a winner with these connectors, or with the TE CPC connectors.

The Deutsch connectors are not really the right connector for this either - they are designed for harnessing, not cabling.
 

Rando

Explorer
Another affordable option that doesn't seem to get much mention, but would be a great option are XLR connectors (low current) or speakON connectors (high current) from Neutrik and others:
Neutrik_Speakon.jpg

These are true cable connectors designed for power in audio applications, have most of the advantages of the circular connectors (locking, enclosed strain relief, caps etc) are rated for 40A, inexpensive, and pre-made cable assemblies are also available for cheap. They are less weather resistant than circular connectors with screw locks but are also easier/faster to connect/disconnect and are designed for the type of application you describe.

For $30 you can get all the pre made cables you need:
 
Last edited:

trae

Adventurer

trae

Adventurer
So I just received the panel mount Anderson:


How do you take the plastic pieces out? I want one to be input and one output. I want to index them differently so there’s no ambiguity. I tried pushing/pulling but I can’t get them to budge. Help?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,543
Messages
2,875,693
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top