Battery Connection

[awol]

I've ordered a 36v10ah bottle battery and the description states 'have to solder own controller wires to discharge port'.
So to be ready I best dig out my soldering iron and make some wires up too.
What size wire is generally used to the battery and what size bullet shaped sockets are the ones to fit controller power connection pins.I guess I will be needing a crimping kit too.

 

[patpatbut]

I use Anderson connector 30amp that suits 16AWG wire.

Yes ideally you should use crimping tool

 

[Zebb]

I have been using these for years on my RC Helicopters, many on here use them too, just be careful how
you solder them and keep the positive and neg the same way for everything you do. Dont forget heat shrink and the female to the battery to prevent shorting it out, other wise it could be a large problem.!!

DEANS Type T Plug Connectors With Heatshrink - 5 PAIRS - GOLD Plated Contacts | eBay

 

[patpatbut]

I have been using these for years on my RC Helicopters, many on here use them too, just be careful how
you solder them and keep the positive and neg the same way for everything you do. Dont forget heat shrink and the female to the battery to prevent shorting it out, other wise it could be a large problem.!!

DEANS Type T Plug Connectors With Heatshrink - 5 PAIRS - GOLD Plated Contacts | eBay

I love Dean connectors but I have problem with soldering the wire on it.

The solder wont stay on even with flux.

Any suggestion how to solder it on this connector?

Pat

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I love Dean connectors but I have problem with soldering the wire on it.

The solder wont stay on even with flux.

Any suggestion how to solder it on this connector?

Pat

You're not using enough heat. Melt a bit of solder onto the connector. Keep your soldering iron on it and wipe it a bit until you can see that it's wetted onto the surface. You need to hold the Deans securely in a vice or whatever to do that. You can't chase it around a table-top. Tin your wire, making sure that you leave plenty of time for the heat to make the solder go wet. Try and leave a reasonable blob on the wire - just a bit more than it takes to saturate the strands. Bring the wire onto the connector and re-melt the solder until it's fully fused with the solder on the connector. Stand back and admire your work.

Now you realise that you forgot to put on the heatshrink first, so unsolder it all, slide on the heatshrink and solder it again. Unfortunately, the heatshrink was to close and the heat got to it, which made it shrink, preventing you from sliding it into position. Unsolder again, cut off the heatshrink, slide on another piece further this time, and resolder. Third time lucky. now you can shrink the heatshrink with the shaft of your soldering iron, and stand back to admire with satisfaction.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I've ordered a 36v10ah bottle battery and the description states 'have to solder own controller wires to discharge port'.
So to be ready I best dig out my soldering iron and make some wires up too.
What size wire is generally used to the battery and what size bullet shaped sockets are the ones to fit controller power connection pins.I guess I will be needing a crimping kit too.

They normally have a 4-pin connector, and they've doubled up inside, so 2 pins are positive and two negative. You can either use a sigle 30 amp wire to each pair of pins (bridged) or two single 15 amp wires to each pair making 4 wires total. A piece of heatshrink over the top tidies it up. Your controller will only be drawing 16 amps, so it would be OK to use normal 13 amp mains wire doubled up. Pull the brown and blue wires out of the outer insulation.

 

[awol]

4 pin connector being a plug for me to solder/crimp my wires into or 4x solder points on an electronic board?
My limited knowledge on wire is 1.5mm or 4mm.
Is 16awg 30amps patpatbut mentions the 1.5mm wire I know of, and the 15 amp wire thinner from inside electrical flex ?

 

[patpatbut]

4 pin connector being a plug for me to solder/crimp my wires into or 4x solder points on an electronic board?
My limited knowledge on wire is 1.5mm or 4mm.
Is 16awg 30amps patpatbut mentions the 1.5mm wire I know of, and the 15 amp wire thinner from inside electrical flex ?

30amp is the rate of the connector, you can put 15amp wire and crimp it the 30amp connector. It is compatible.

Ideally if this connection is exposed outside the case, you should get rubber wrap to make it waterproof. Type "anderson connector rubber 30amp" on ebay you should be able to see what does it look like.

Pat

 

[Deleted member 4366]

You shouldn't crimp battery connectors. If you do, solder them as well.

 

[awol]

What size in mm am I looking at for the 15amp rated wire and the 30a rated wire ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I use 14g for short runs of 30amp (a few inches), otherwise 12g, but 14g should be enough for your situation.
14 AWG Black Red Silicone Wire 2M Lipo Battery Cable | eBay

 

[jackhandy]

Now you realise that you forgot to put on the heatshrink first, so unsolder it all, slide on the heatshrink and solder it again. Unfortunately, the heatshrink was to close and the heat got to it, which made it shrink, preventing you from sliding it into position. Unsolder again, cut off the heatshrink, slide on another piece further this time, and resolder. Third time lucky. now you can shrink the heatshrink with the shaft of your soldering iron, and stand back to admire with satisfaction.

Some beggar's been using my webcam to watch me soldering Deans

Everything's extremely hot by this point, so let it all cool a tad before getting hold of it.

 

[Zebb]

These are handy for small soldering jobs, not to expensive either.

Helping Hand Adj Magnifying Glass and Crocodile Clips | eBay

 

[awol]

Thanks all, I'm a lot clearer what I'm looking for now.
By the way d8veh what did you mean by bridge the connectors earlier? Did you mean part the heavier wire at the end into 2 halves and solder each half to a pin or did you mean construct a seperate divider type wire ?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

It's probably easier to split the wire strands into two bundles, but be careful that the the different polarities cant touch. If you can solder the whole wire to one pin, that's best, and then make a solder blob to its partner. There's less chance of touching like that.

 

[awol]

OK, crimp+connectors, anderson connectors(just in case), heatshrink bits and battery have all arrived on same day. Great, however the battery connector has 5 pins, 2nd pin from end pin marked '-' and 4the pin marked '+' so thats ok. I can't solder them tonight so will create good tight crimp connections just for now to get it going. What would the other 3 unmarked pins be there for?
Before I go damaging the battery from new is there any special precautions regarding charging etc before first use?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Remember what I said: Don't go by the markings. always check with a meter.

Could you post a photo of what you've got because I've not heard of a 5-pin connector before unless you have the smaller type of bottle battery.

 

[awol]

Yep ok thanks d8veh, when taking the pic though I noticed there are only those 2 points in the battery that have terminals in them so checked polarity and got 41.3v The others were blanks and must be guides. Anyway, shes alive Ive had it spinning on the stand, pedelec and throttle. Fantastic.
Lucky I got the 'right off' battery as it's a neat fit in the frame.
Review to follow when I finish proper soldered connections,got the battery mounted and been for some spins maybe next weekend.
Thanks all.
The battery has a button ontop which when I press it I have led's light up around it, any ideas what they're about?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The battery LEDs can show the amount o charge in it. As the charge goes down,the LEDs go out in a clockwise direction. Useful for determining whether your battery is charged or flat, but not much else.

Glad you got it going, and I look forward to the review.

 

[awol]

According to the charger it's now fully charged but on the button I got 4 greens and 1 red. Should they all show green, or are they generally not that accurate ?
Thanks d8veh