T connectors vs TX60 connectors

[Jody Shaneyfelt]

Hey guy's,

For many years I have been a T connector user but lately I've noticed that a few of them aren't getting as good of a connection as they used to...
Lately I've seen more planes coming out with XT60's in place of the T's, especially Dynam planes which I am pretty partial to...
I'm seriously thinking of changing over to the XT60's but I'd like your input on which ones you use and if the XT60's are worth all the soldering work I'll have to do to change my fleet over and what the pro's and con's are to the XT60 since I have never used them...
Thanks guy's and I look forward to your comment's...
Jody

[OV10]

You have misnomered them.....they are XT60 and are better than the T's(Deans) just for the mechanical advantage of the cup that captures the end of the wire versus laying on a flat surface relying solely on the solder itself.
The draw back to the connector is that the pin is permanently encased in the plastic body which requires good solder skills to keep from deforming the plastic casing.
EC3/EC5 is another industry connector with cup style connectors where the connector male/female pins are soldered on the wire with the shell removed and then inserted into the mating male/female shell.

[boomer108]

I have used XT 60s for five years now and have never had a connection problem. I found that if you plug in the opposing connector male or female you stand less chance of deforming the one your soldering. I haven't deformed one yet.

[fhhuber]

Deans (and T connector clones of them) will wear out. But so will any other connector (eventually) with enough connect/disconnect cycles.

Bullet style tends to survive longer than flat blade.

the secondary "spring" leaf in Deans/T adds a risk of a worn spring blade (or just one that catches the edge of the slot) folding as you plug in and causing a short.

True Deans can survive 100 amps if in good condition and using silver solder to attach the 8 gauge wires. Generally T connectors shouldn't really be used for more than 35 amps.

The XT60 is essentially the same bullets as an EC3 in a different plastic shell. They handle 60 amps easily (with appropriate wire and normal 60-40 solder)

I used Deans for several years with no real problems.
I then went to the 4mm polarized "banana" bullets in red plastic shells because the batteries I was buying came with those and they are VERY convenient for putting batteries in series. (4X3S in series for 12S on a 5000 watt EDF)

EC3 and XT60 have excellent reputations.
You can plug an EC3 battery into an XT60 ESC. This works perfectly. (They really do use the same bullets in the different shells)
You can not plug the XT60 battery into the EC3 ESC. The XT60's plastic won't allow it.

I am now changing everything over to EC5 because I tend to do some high power stuff and I hate hunting for the correct adapter.

***************

Conclusion: Use any connector you want. Know what ways they might fail and watch for the failures. (some you can bend the metal a little and resume use for months or years)

For convenience, pick a connector and change everything to the same one.

[Jody Shaneyfelt]

You have misnomered them.....they are XT60 and are better than the T's(Deans) just for the mechanical advantage of the cup that captures the end of the wire versus laying on a flat surface relying solely on the solder itself.
The draw back to the connector is that the pin is permanently encased in the plastic body which requires good solder skills to keep from deforming the plastic casing.
EC3/EC5 is another industry connector with cup style connectors where the connector male/female pins are soldered on the wire with the shell removed and then inserted into the mating male/female shell.

I'm sorry I guess I was thinking of Texas or something.. lol
I edited in the story but I can't edit the title...
Yeah soldering T connectors ban be a pain if you don't have something to hold them.
Thanks for your reply

[fhhuber]

I like the EC3/EC5 better than XT60/XT90 simply because of potential for plastic deformation while soldering the XT. The EC connectors you slide the plastic well down the wire, then solder the bullet on, then snap the bullet into the plastic after its cool.

You can use tricks (or a device to hold the bullets in alignment even if the plastic softens) to get around the issue with the XT series, so its mostly a convenience issue.

Using something to prevent deformation of the Deans/T connector is almost mandatory.

[rifleman_btx]

I would use an xt60 or ec3 over any other connector out there. Although I have seen with eflite factory batteries the solder come loose and cause a loss of a plane. The plane was flying along well then suddenly nothing.. recovered the plane to find the solder on the negative side was completely out of the connector. No signs of arking could be seen. The tinning was still on the end of the wire. It just pulled free in flight. Let me just say that was the ONLY time I've ever seen this happen.

[boomer108]

I would use an xt60 or ec3 over any other connector out there. Although I have seen with eflite factory batteries the solder come loose and cause a loss of a plane. The plane was flying along well then suddenly nothing.. recovered the plane to find the solder on the negative side was completely out of the connector. No signs of arking could be seen. The tinning was still on the end of the wire. It just pulled free in flight. Let me just say that was the ONLY time I've ever seen this happen.

Tack that one up to Murphy's Law.

[fhhuber]

First E-Flite battery with a bad solder joint I have heard of....

Not the first bad factory solder joint on a battery connector though.

[rifleman_btx]

Indeed for such a high profile company in the industry, I was really surprised to see it. The other odd thing was it was in a 3s 2200 pack. I guess someone in qc had an off day the day that battery left the line.

[Jody Shaneyfelt]

Thanks everyone for your comment's... I ordered 20 packs of the XT60's so I'll be busy doing a lot of soldering in the next week or so... LOL
I never cared for the blue E-flite connectors after I had a couple of mine on different planes heat up and become hard to pull apart. That's when I switched to Deans...
I'm thinking I'll like the XT60... :)

[Moriority]

I ordered and just received my 20 pairs of the XT60 and will also have a lot of soldering to do in the next little bit. I got my first experience with he XT60 when I bought a 2 pack of 3s 2200 from my local hobby shop and really liked them for their plug and unplugging feel and also the clean look of the plug in general with the grey end cap to hide the solder. I'm glad I read the other posts to find out the tip of putting the male/female connector together to help disapate some heat to stop the deformation of the plastic body.

[crankestein]

the secondary "spring" leaf in Deans/T adds a risk of a worn spring blade (or just one that catches the edge of the slot) folding as you plug in and causing a short.

The above has happened to me with a 5S, very scary stuff...

IMO Deans are not very good for those who need eye glasses, I see myself searching, lining the connector correctly. Many times I have to go by feel, than looking depending the location of the ESC w relation to the battery plug.

I am contemplating migrating all Deans for TX60. Its a bright color, easier to see, and the plug itself has a guide/channel to slide in and solid seal, so its 100% error proof, no if and maybes that it may short like Deans. TX60 has the female male plastic overlap, so I think they are better waterproof compared to deans which is face to surface plug.

On a side note, I have used deans on 6S 60C on a ARRMA Talion 1/8 heavy truggy that uses a 185amp ESC with the wire and plug staying cool to the touch, only the battery barely warm as usual. And not babying it around, bashing it hard on 50mph passes.

[Spike]

This might be too late for Jody but others may benifit. XT60 to Deans adaptor: https://www.amazon.com/Venom-XT60-De...2Badapter&th=1

[crankestein]

On electrical high demand applications, you want the cleanest most direct voltage run.

Thats a band-aid, and to make it happen if someone has a battery to borrow etc....

The reason why some have the ESC and motor soldered.

[rifleman_btx]

Had to do that with my powerboat.

[fhhuber]

I am in process of changing every LiPo and ESC I have to EC5 connectors.

Clip or desolder the old connector (one lead at a time on the batteries) and solder on the replacements with3% silver solder. (stronger and better conduction than lead-Tin or the new lead-free solders)

I've played the games with adapters. Its just adding extra potential failure points. The added resistance is insignificant if the adapters are well made though.

Deans is only rated about 35 amps. But its pretty common to see them in 100 to 150 amp applications. To have them survive the high amps the solder job has to be perfect. You can't have overheated the connector, deforming the plastic and creating a less than full surface contact of the blades. A cold joint would overheat and melt.

[rifleman_btx]

Exactly, so far my 2 favored connections are EC5 and XT60. They hold up the best, and neither have problems in a stressful environment. Atleast in my experience with them. Ec3 have also done well however I have seen a factory soldered eflite pack pop loose and crash a plane. That said that was only one out of 100s I've seen in use. The path of least resistance is the path of least heat.

[andrew_flyguy]

XT60s and XT90s here. I hate to admit it, but I have a very hard time getting EC3/5s to go into the blue plastic without deforming the housing in the process. Also don't like slimming down the wire for EC3s to get thick gauge wire into the cups. XT60s and 90s are easy to solder and just as easy to reuse - something I can't say for EC3/5s.

[rifleman_btx]

Good points there. I would go to the 90s, but everything I have already uses ec5s. So I just assume stick with them for now.