Charger MELT plugs!

[Trex3940]

Hi everyone,

i I have a eFuel 1200 watt 60 amp power supply unit with a Powerlab 6 1000watt charger unit. I have been using the same setup for almost a year now, continuously charging my lipos with no problems. However recently, my plugs that attach into the power supply are ,eating and reaching ridiculous temperatures affecting the leads and plastic round the inlet ports. Attached are some pictures showing the setup and damage.

i have no idea as to why this is happening, and I haven't altered anything or changed the rate of charging beyond operational limits for both units and lipos. Any help will be much appreciated as to why this is happening?

thanks

[Mark_T]

They are probably making poor contact and with resistance comes heat ...

[electricsceadu]

i'm with mark
a poor contact is the cause

[Mark_T]

Hard to tell given the state of the melting, but if those plugs used a screw contact onto the wire then I've seen this happen when the screw got a bit loose...

[coolice]

Hey Buddy.

4mm bullets are only really good up to 50 amps max and that's assuming they are in good condition. Looking at the negative bullet, the springy part that makes contact within the binding post is very flat, so I would guess the connector was a loose fit and as Mark & Electricsceadu have said above resistance will have increased and thus heat generated. It's the same problem that has effected the guys who've had EC5's de-solder.

The eFuel has the binding posts that can accept ring terminals, so I would say loose the 4mm bullets and solder in some ring terminals to pull your main charger power from the PSU. This will be a much better connection and avoid you having a similar problem later on as any newly fitted 4mm bullets start to wear.
.

[Trex3940]

Is there anywhere where I can replace the plug?

[coolice]

Is there anywhere where I can replace the plug?

Hey buddy.

Yes there is. I'm not on my PC at present but sure I have seen these available.
Another idea is to gI've Opti-PowerUK a call and see if they can supply you with a couple of spare male connectors.

Ian