Karl,
The other approach of course is to leave the connectors on the battery that are already there - after all, that’s what they are there for. Then make up a new rig to battery connectors lead using the matching connectors from Hobby King. Of course this means that you will need a connector that fits the back of the rig but then you will have one cable for using the rig in the shack and one for when out portable and if you lose / damage the lead, you are not stopped from operating when you return to the shack. As you operate more as a Chaser than an Activator, I would suggest it’s important that since you use the same rig for home and portable use, as soon as you get home, you need to be able to plug the rig in and work, without having to worry about finding the cables you used on the summit.
I am not personally a big fan of Anderson power poles as they are “best” attached with a special tool and given the current capability of that battery, you would probably need to use the higher current (50A+) versions that then, I think, don’t connect to the 20/30A versions that others (eg WICEN/RAENET) use. So inter-connectivity is no longer a reason to use these connectors. The only sure inter-connectivity solution is to use screw terminal connector blocks.
Now where can i get hold of getting hold female and male connectors to go into the contactors on the battery its self to match. As still want to put two banana females onto the box and then banana male the rig leads s like said connect to either PSU or the PPSU. As for the rig lead it stay with the rig no need to unplug it from the trio. See where you coming from ED. But end of day got to remember the coase of that battery is metal only covered in plastic and devise a way of getting the banana females into box so they CANT touch the battery itself needs little careful planning. as balance lead is not that long. First things first find a box and adapt it I reckon. Trouble with the banana female leads they are naked at back and exposed got some how insulate them from the battery body.
so lastly what are those connectors called and the fused bit as that’s no doubt part of its link
Anderson leads did spot that get bits cheap enough but tool is expense
Again thanks for all input
Karl
PS good news just found the jst-xh 4s extension lead on e bay which means i can move the body of the battery away from the banana females back ends in box. For that lead does seem a little short.
You could consider Deans connectors which are the standard fitting on my LiPo from GiantShark. They solder on and are polarized with the socket connectors recessed. I now put them on everything, home shack items as well as the portable. Older items still lack them but that is sloth rather than intent
Apparently these are used by the RC aero people and will carry high current because of the flat blade connector.
I would not replace the connectors on the battery but use an adaptor cable; you could put a fuzelink in it. Certainly do not try to replace the existing battery connectors with a Deans; the connections are VERY close together and you would be courting disaster.
73,
Rod
Edit:-
I use a lot of heatshrink sleeving. Perhaps you should use that to protect the back end of your sockets.
Hi Karl, the cables used on the 8400 mAh LiFePO4 batteries are too small to be used with the housings used on the 15/30/45A powerpole connectors. I made the mistake of cutting off the bullet connectors on my first battery in an attempt to fit the powerpole connectors to them - I ended up soldering a cable with a blade fuse holder on it using a cable small enough to allow powerpole connectors to be reliably fastened to it. For the other two batteries I bought, I also picked up some adapters (5.5mm bullet connectors to TRX) - the cable size on the adapter was small enough to have powerpole connectors reliably affixed to them. Looking at the Hobbyking site, the part number is 015000016 - hint, buy more than one as having a spare can be handy if you were to get a second battery at some point!
I am a total convertee to the powerpole connectors and have them on almost every single piece of radio gear I own (heaps). As per the comment from Andrew VK1DA, you need to be rather careful of not shorting out this type of battery due to the huge current they are able to provide - powerpoles are probably the best solution to this. Additionally, they prevent you from being able to connect your radio with reverse polarity - when you are in a hurry on a cold dark rainy summit, it is easy to be distracted and accidentally do this with other connectors like the post style. Once that magic smoke gets out, radios can become expensive paper weights! You could use the larger powerpole connectors, but then you lose the benefits of interoperability and they are significantly more expensive.
Extension cables for the balancing lead are on the hobbyking site, the 20cm long extensions are sold in 10 packs - the product ID is JSTMF-4S-20 and they are described as “JST-XH 4S Wire extension 20cm”. Not sure if you can get single quantity, but you may be able to offload some to other locals who use these batteries - in any event, they are not too expensive even buying the 10 pack. Just make sure that you buy the 4S cable and not the other types given your battery is a 4S battery.
Thanks matt yes it is a 4S battery had close up pictures to double double check. I don’t really want to chop off the connectors off the battery. And for cross the polarity needs looking into again to make the B plugs so they feel differently to each other.
update also had look at the deans connectors and how you sort them out solder etc I did wonder and found U tube video that explains all. Yes far better idea and can adapt a pair of 5.5 bullet leads on to fuse holder and extra wire till it reaches out of box and put on the female dean connector to the ring wire and males onto the PSU in shack and the portable PSU box .
Thanks again loads much better than banana plugs.
Up date of up date found on E bay some 5.5mm connectors with leads of 30cm good size cable and banana plugs on end they will come off tie in the Blade fuse holder and out side the box into the Dean connector Female ready for the male form the rig :-)) then me PPSU will be nigh on ready.
big thanks to all that have inputted on this one and learnt few more things
Hi Nate, In your blog, you keep referring to the battery as being Lithium Ion, which surprised me but in one photo, I can see the batery says Lithium Polymer on it. I think the original Yaesu rechargable pack was Lithium Ion.
It looks like a neat solution, hopefully that little board is actually a balanced charger as LiPO batteries have to have their cells (probably 3 in this case) charged separately and at the same speed otherwise the battery can be damaged.
The picture of Nate’s battery shows the words LITHIUMION POLYMER.
The original battery in 817 was a low capacity NiMH pack. Later models have a higher capacity NiMH. Here’s mine, a later model battery in an original 817.
Fitting an inboard LiPo with charger is an elegant solution. It saves having to put your LiPo in some kind of bag when traveling through airport security. As I wrote earlier, I’ve taken my 817 and a LiPo through security 7 times this year without issue. But having one installed in the set would add some extra comfort in case you meet a jobsworth on the scanner.
The plateau voltage for Lithium-Iron Phosphate cells is about 3.2 V so you’re probably not be using all the available capacity of your batteries. You can safely take them down to 2.8V per cell if you want to squeeze the maximum charge out of them. Below that, voltage will drop off very quickly.
73 de Paul G4MD
PS love the LCD voltage monitor, where did you get it?
My old SLAB recently slipped into being a high impedance paper weight, so I have followed the herd and bought a Zippy 4.2AH LifePo battery and charger.
Gathered lots of useful tips from this thread, and now have Powerpole connectors and in-line blade fuse fitted.
Just one thing - I wondered about getting a fireproof bag for it, but have read lots of posts on other forums cautioning against buying a dud.
I suppose the offerings from Hobby King should be OK, though one source (who allegedly works in fire protection equipment) suggested that the proper fabric costs around $20 per square foot. So a bag for £2 sounds a bit cheap.
Anyone on here with inside knowledge, or experience of a bag that survived fire?
I might just wrap it up to give mechanical protection, and keep it warm in winter…
LiFePO4 batteries are supposed to be much more stable than LiPos, and notwithstanding the horror stories on the interweb LiPos take a monumental amount of abuse (physical or electrical) to actually make them spontaneously combust (though Walt may disagree…) Biggest danger with either type would be a short circuit, they can provide awesome amounts of current!
I’ve never felt the need for a fireproof bag for my LiPos,of which I’ve had a dozen or more and used without incident over the last eight years. I use plastic food containers for mechanical protection, sitting them on top of my '817 keeps them nice and warm in winter! At the gentle discharge rates we use and with properly controlled balanced charging at sensible rates too they last for ages with minimal risk of problems.
73 de Paul G4MD
PS if you use Richard’s fire blanket scheme make sure you don’t get an old asbestos one, that would be considerably more dangerous than the battery
