Should I be disconnecting the Anderson or the bullets?

[EwanG]

Now that the bike is running, I have a question on how "best" I should be disconnecting the battery to take it in to charge at each end of my commute. Battery has an Anderson connection that connects to a cable with same on one end, and the cable has two "bullets" to connect to red and black on the other. The Anderson end is a very (!) tight fit, and I'm a little concerned about how much it might wear on the battery connectors. The bullets seem to be easy on and off, but I'm worried that doing that a lot might make them loose.

Any recommendations?

 

[cal3thousand]

Now that the bike is running, I have a question on how "best" I should be disconnecting the battery to take it in to charge at each end of my commute. Battery has an Anderson connection that connects to a cable with same on one end, and the cable has two "bullets" to connect to red and black on the other. The Anderson end is a very (!) tight fit, and I'm a little concerned about how much it might wear on the battery connectors. The bullets seem to be easy on and off, but I'm worried that doing that a lot might make them loose.

Any recommendations?

Andersons were designed for a large number of reconnects and disconnects. The bullets will corrode on the contact surface as opposed to the andersons that will corrode on the ends, but leave the contact surface in the middle cleaner.

 

[Ykick]

APP's (Anderson Power Poles) are intended for repeated electrical couplings. While bullets can and do handle repeated use in most instances they're not going to handle it like APP's.

However, you describe your APP's as if they're not working properly? They should hold together but not be "tight fit" requiring significant muscle to separate/join.

APP's an aquired taste - gotta be crimped. aligned and assembled properly or they'll bring great to sadness connecting power in/out of a battery.

The formula shared by many of us in the 20-40A camp is to use APP's for battery-controller and Bullets for motor Phase wire connections.

Connectors and wiring. Up there with spokes, tires, brakes of needed skills if you ride any significant distance(s).

 

[EwanG]

APP's (Anderson Power Poles) are intended for repeated electrical couplings. While bullets can and do handle repeated use in most instances they're not going to handle it like APP's.

However, you describe your APP's as if they're not working properly? They should hold together but not be "tight fit" requiring significant muscle to separate/join.

So definitely the APPs then. If it is a tight fit, what is the usual suggestion for addressing? It doesn't look like anything is bent, and I'm not sure what you could (if anything) spray on the contacts to make it a smoother fit?

 

[wesnewell]

I connect/disconnect my 4mm bullets at least twice a day and have been doing so for about 3 years without any problems at all. I've also never had a problem with corrosion on them. Never used PP, so can't say anything about them except you need to consider the amp rating on the ones you use. My 4mm bullets are rated for 90A and my 8mm bullets are rated a lot higher.

 

[dogman dan]

Proper andersons should be ok to disconnect. but the tight fit makes me wonder if the housing melted? This can happen when crimped to the wire improperly. With andersons, both wires must have the contact crimped at the same angle, or one of the wires will twist the contact in the housing. This can result in poor contact, melting the housing.

This issue, is why some really hate andersons. Look to see if anything looks crooked on those Anderson plugs.

 

[MadRhino]

Yep, big Andersons are best and safe to disconnect often, but they need to be assembled properly. For high power, best is to crimp AND solder them strong and straight. Small Anderons (rated lower than 75 A) are sh*t.

 

[EwanG]

Picture of the Anderson end of the cable (as it came in the kit - I haven't modified):

Picture of the Anderson connectors on the battery (same - as it came from the kit):

If you see something that needs correction, I'm open to suggestions.

 

[EwanG]

Anyone?

 

[izeman]

Anyone?

looking good for me. 'strong' fit means something different for different ppl. anderson should have a strong fit imho. you feel a little snap when they are fully connected.
the (no longer used) cheap 3.5 and 4mm bullets got looser and looser with every dis/connection.

 

[veloman]

50a Andersons normally take a lot more effort to disconnect than the much smaller 30a ones. Yours is fine, nothing to worry about. Definitely disconnect the Anderson and not the bullets.

 

[Wheels_78]

If your bullets are getting loose stick a small screwdriver down the center of the male end and give it a little wiggle (don't go crazy, they'll break or be too hard to plug in again) and they'll be tight again for MANY connections. Having said that I'd stick with disconnecting at the Anderson's, I just don't like connectors that have independent positive and negative wires... Too easy to short.

I've got 6 rc lipo 7s packs in my battery bank, every one of them came with 5.5mm bullets and only beat shrink to isolate them... Just handling them I had one arc before it'd ever seen a cycle. One quick flash and half of each connector was vaporized. They all have 6mm bullets now with housings similar to the popular red 4mm bullets that come on a lot of hobby king batts... Impossible to short.

 

[DAND214]

That looks like some BIG Andersons.
What kinda power does that kit have? Voltage and AH.

Dan

 

[EwanG]

That looks like some BIG Andersons.
What kinda power does that kit have? Voltage and AH.

48V and still trying to track down the AH...

 

[veloman]

That looks like some BIG Andersons.
What kinda power does that kit have? Voltage and AH.

Dan

I was impressed to see they used 50a andersons on the battery. Good quality. Though some of the other connections are lacking. It's a standard 10or 15ah ebike battery. prob 10 or 12 since it's 48v. The kit has good power, I would estimate it peaks at 1200w or maybe even 1500w.