EC3s or DEANs

[Hangar-7]

Is this really a personal preference or any technical reasons for choosing one over the other?

My Trex500 came with Dean connectors but I'm already using EC3s for 450s. I chose EC3 because they are easy to solder without melting any plastic.

Any suggestion?

Cheers

[Eckchaz]

I prefer EC3's.. tried Deans and dont like them..

They are just gold connectors, so own preference mate.. but EC3's being easier to solder and having tidyer connectors are the wires does it for me.. use them on everything.. even changed the deans connector on my Align super starter to EC3!

And you can buy a set of 5 from ebay for £3.60 posted!

[cupracing]

ec3 may or may not not handle the amps, I would go with 4mm bullets

I do love ec3s though they are so nice and tidy

[Eckchaz]

ec3 may or may not not handle the amps, I would go with 4mm bullets

I do love ec3s though they are so nice and tidy

I've had no problems on my 500? Surely if the 600E uses them from factory its ok?

If your worried about amps.. then look at the XT60's.. can handle the amps and are alot neater and better than the deans..

[sacko]

XT60s are only rated 65amps, which is fine stock (just), but no good if you ever wanted to upgrade motor and esc.

[NosingIn]

I've recently swapped the whole fleet over from deans to ec3, no regrets at all as its so much faster, cleaner and there's less scary sparks on the batts for the 500.

One problem I have had with the ec3's is that if you order the big lipos from hobbyking for your 500 (i.e. 3Ah+) they come with a high width wire (someone who knows better than me will tell you the awg) and they don't fit the ec3's without stripping the wire to install into the ec3 then using heatshrink to literally re-cover the wire. Its not an elegant solution and i dont trust it in flight so i think im going to go ec5 on them or get the 2.6Ah lipos.

Chris.

[DIJ]

Another vote for EC3's here, they can handle 60A continuous and are a little easier to pull apart than deans.

[Hangar-7]

XT60s are only rated 65amps, which is fine stock (just), but no good if you ever wanted to upgrade motor and esc.

I agree .... so what's your solution?

Cheers

[sacko]

Have a look here, some really good info there, unsure how accurate the data is though as I know Deans can pass a lot more than 60amps.

I would prob go for the 5mm bullets or Deans.

[Eckchaz]

XT60s are only rated 65amps, which is fine stock (just), but no good if you ever wanted to upgrade motor and esc.

Thanks Paul, I thought I'd read they were up to 85amp?

One problem I have had with the ec3's is that if you order the big lipos from hobbyking for your 500 (i.e. 3Ah+) they come with a high width wire (someone who knows better than me will tell you the awg) and they don't fit the ec3's without stripping the wire to install into the ec3 then using heatshrink to literally re-cover the wire. Its not an elegant solution and i dont trust it in flight so i think im going to go ec5 on them or get the 2.6Ah lipos.

Chris.

With the high width AWG wire, I strip the wire to a taper (about 1cm's worth) but not excessively and twist the wire before soldering in, then the heatshrink goes on first flush with the bullet, before going in the connector. I find this makes it fit and still keeps a neat, tidy and strong connection. And touch wood, i aint had any problems.

[sacko]

Nope

Click me

65amp constant.

[debrooker]

4mm bullets. I used to use ec3 and ec5, but now all bullets. love the ability to series my 3s packs with no y lead when i want to use my 450 batteries on my 500

[jimheli]

i use EC5 on all my helis , on my trex 500 , thair rated for 120 amp continuous load.
i like to keep all my connections the same for all .
EC3 are rated for 60 amp continuous load.
deans ultra are rated for 50 amp continues load .
others like graupner/schulze pp35 are rated for 60 amp continuous load.
i found EC5 to be excellent easy to solder and pull apart .





jim

[MSH]

I started with EC3's and now use both EC3's and 3.5 bullets. I always carry short converters with my batteries i.e. EC3 to bullet and Dean to bullet in order to extend my compatibilty with other flyers I meet up with.

One note of caution from an electrical engineering angle and that is we must be careful when suggesting the trimming of cable wires to fit connectors. This practice has potential safety problems when pulling high amps for any time other than quick bursts. New comers to the hobby would be well advised to use the right size connectors for each wire gauge, as they do exist.

[Tony Brazao]

I use xt60