Your right, the OEM charge/servo connectorship, although great for their intended tasks were never designed to handle repeated cycling (constantly connecting/disconnecting). In fact no one to date has offered any sort of ratings for their connectors (Turst me - I asked).
The generally agreed to ratings in the industry relate to how many times a connector can be cycled before their internal resistance begins to increase. Increased resistance relates directly to a decrease in voltage as seen by the servos, therefore less work gets done. All but a handfull of pilots are blissfully unaware of the electrical losses associated with continuous plugging and unplugging of OEM connectors. Without going into too much detail, the wiping action I refered to within switches happens much more agressively, literally stripping the spring contact and pin of the materials required to meet the specification in the first place. One can safely push up to 2.5A through most OEM units, but that is about it. The limiting factor is not nessassarily the connector's current rating, but (again) the lead material's PVC jacket (the insulation). Not all PVC (Polyvinylchloride) jacketing material is created equal, the quality stuff's maximum temperature (for semi-rigid) is approxiamtely 80C. Some of you I'm sure have seen the OEM stuff melt at significantly lower temperatures :^) Depending on whether you are all thumbs (read ham-fisted if you like), or just want something better, I do have similar sized connectors to what comes with our systems that blow away the OEM stuff (higher current ratings, easier to manipulate, rate for 100's/1000's of cycles). The fly in the ointment is that they are more expensive and they really do require the proper equipment to install them correctly to realize the (electrical) benefits. Folks usually send me their equipment (servos, etc) and I put the connectors on for them and send them ack along with the PnP harness. Not really needed on sailplanes, but I have a 0.100" connector system that actually locks the two housings together. These work excellent on IMAC-style (any large scale) aircraft where vibration always does strange things. Speaking of which...the lightest and really secure way of ensuring two connectors remain as you left is to employ waxed dental floss. This harkens back to the poor folks down manholes who had to tie-off thousands of leads (although still a single strand as in solid core, they were/are still bundled - hence the term "lead" versus "wire") by using waxed cord. All you have to do is thread it between the leads on both sides of the connectors (after you have plugged them together) and tie a knot, the wax prevents the knot from ever slipping... Quoting Chuck Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > While we are discussing great ideas, why doesn't anybody build a > switch harness with a better charge plug. The servo plugs most of > them use for connecting the charger are totally inadequate for any > application where they are frequently connected and > disconnected. Ever have one short out and melt in your hand while > plugging in the charger? I have on more than one occasion. Like > Minnie Pearls brother inspecting hot horseshoes, I didn't hold on > very long. :-) Trouble was some of the melted plastic stuck to my > fingers. :-( > > The best switch harness I have ever used came with my last Evo. I > bought Karlton Spindel's last Evo and he threw in two extra switch > harnesses. About the only fault I have found is that it is so > big. The switch is about the same size as a Hitec 225 servo. One > lead has a standard plug for connecting to the receiver while the > other lead has a hefty plug that matches Multiplex batteries. There > is no charge lead. Instead, the charger plugs into the switch with > the same connector as used for the battery. Since I don't use > Multiplex batteries, I cut off the battery plug and install a > standard battery connector. I used the Multiplex battery plug to > make an adaptor for my Sirius Charge charger. > > Chuck Anderson > RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and > "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that > subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME > turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are > generally NOT in text format > Simon Van Leeuwen PnP Systems - The E-Harness of Choice Radius Systems Cogito Ergo Zoom RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please note that subscribe and unsubscribe messages must be sent in text only format with MIME turned off. Email sent from web based email such as Hotmail and AOL are generally NOT in text format
