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Thread: Simple External Battery Connector Needed

  1. #11
    Dana's Avatar
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    I take a dim view of using 110 or 220 mains connectors for anything else, because sooner or later somebody is likely to connect the wrong thing to it (though using the odd 220 plug is better).

    There are lots of industrial or automotive connectors that would be a better choice.

  2. #12
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dana View Post
    I take a dim view of using 110 or 220 mains connectors for anything else, because sooner or later somebody is likely to connect the wrong thing to it (though using the odd 220 plug is better).
    When I was a kid, I had an electronics "erector set" with a bunch of parts that could be inserted into a multi-purpose breadboard using a template. I put a 120V jack on the battery to make it easier to connect and disconnect. Friend was fiddling with my latest project, picked up the plug and tried to insert it in the wall socket.

    So, yes, it can be an issue.....My only defense on my (purchased) Fly Baby is Lady GaGa's: It was born that way.

    Ron Wanttaja

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by rwanttaja View Post
    When I was a kid, I had an electronics "erector set" with a bunch of parts that could be inserted into a multi-purpose breadboard using a template.
    That wasn't the Heathkit set that used the Lego style blocks, was it? I loved that thing.

    My dad built a hot wire cutter for foam wings on R/C airplanes. He used a 110V line cord plug, with a matching socket on a 12V battery.

    You can guess what I did one day, and what the results were. So, I also have avoided using AC power plugs and sockets for anything but AC power.
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

    Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.

  4. #14
    Byron J. Covey
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saville View Post
    Hi all,

    I need a recommendation on an external battery connector:
    .....
    Can anyone suggest a connector I could use to do the job?

    Thanks.
    This is proven in service http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/batt...FY5ahgod36EKgA on a Pitts S-1S, and probably a thousand other homebuilts. Bring the connector to a convenient place for convenient access and tie it to some part of the structure. Put the cover on, and let it hang when not in use. No problem. You could hide it behind some upholstery.


    BJC

  5. #15

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    Hi,
    What I use on my Gardan Minicab is a surface mounted female 3 pin din micropohone connector wired direct to the battery. It is mounted on the cowling and is a simple job to wire or connect the male plug to the battery charger or a solar panel which works well. Just plug in when required. Nice and easy and inexpensive.
    padrecolin

  6. #16
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DaleB View Post
    That wasn't the Heathkit set that used the Lego style blocks, was it? I loved that thing.
    No, actually, and brief look online didn't find what I had. It used paper templates put over a pegboard. The templates had holes at component junctions, at which point you inserted a little spring-loaded terminal that would hold wires. The template had the parts themselves printed on it, to the junctions they went, so all you had to do was click the specified components between the indicated terminals. Once it worked, to REALLY impress your friends, you could build it again without the template.

    Quote Originally Posted by DaleB View Post
    My dad built a hot wire cutter for foam wings on R/C airplanes. He used a 110V line cord plug, with a matching socket on a 12V battery.

    You can guess what I did one day, and what the results were. So, I also have avoided using AC power plugs and sockets for anything but AC power.
    When I was about eight years old, I built a 6-volt DC PA set once, that wasn't very loud. Dammit, I wanted a REAL bullhorn! Decided what it needed was 120 volts from ye olde Garrison Dam. Wired it up, plugged it in. All good so far.

    Pressed the mike button, and the most gawdawful screeching/roaring/howling sound came from the speaker. I was halfway up the basement stairs, probably with a faint brown haze drifting behind me, before my conscious mind had a moment to think what had happened. I have never been so afraid in my life. I've been flying with myself for 45 years, so that says a lot.

    By the time brain cells regained control of leg muscles, all was quiet. I went to the garage, grabbed a rake (6 foot wooden handle) went back downstairs and jerked the plug from the wall socket.

    Since then, the gut has always been a bit fluttery where 120V wall power is concerned.

    To return back to the OP's questions, I wonder if a cigarette lighter jack would be the right thing. They come with snap-on hinged covers so you don't have that big open hole in the breeze. Not only can you probably find a charger that's compatible, you'd be able to keep your cell phone topped off at fly-ins.

    Ron "Sparky" Wanttaja

  7. #17
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    I expressed what I called "Ron's rule of connectors." If two connectors can be plugged in to one another, someone will. It should at least be benign if it doesn't actually work. I was lamenting that everybody was using RJ-11 connectors for things other than telephone lines. One of my employees made a short cord with a 110V plug on one side and a RJ-11 on the other as a joke. I still have it around here somewhere (it's not actually electrically connected inside the plug).

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Byron J. Covey View Post
    This is proven in service http://www.streetsideauto.com/p/batt...FY5ahgod36EKgA on a Pitts S-1S, and probably a thousand other homebuilts. Bring the connector to a convenient place for convenient access and tie it to some part of the structure. Put the cover on, and let it hang when not in use. No problem. You could hide it behind some upholstery.


    BJC
    Hi Byron,

    1. I saw those but I have an Odyssey battery charger and not a Battery Tender. So I need some way of making the connection from the alligator clips on the charger to the connector at the opposite end of the ring terminals. So I need something with the mating connector that I can then connect to the alligator clips. I suppose I could buy one of their extension cords - one end will be what I need. I could cut off the end I don't need, strip the wires and attach them to posts which would be external to the airplane and onto which I could clamp the Battery Charger alligators.

    2. Would you put a larger fuse in there?

    thanks!
    Last edited by Saville; 11-15-2016 at 04:23 AM.

  9. #19
    Byron J. Covey
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saville View Post
    Hi Byron,

    1. I saw those but I have an Odyssey battery charger and not a Battery Tender. So I need some way of making the connection from the alligator clips on the charger to the connector at the opposite end of the ring terminals. So I need something with the mating connector that I can then connect to the alligator clips. I suppose I could buy one of their extension cords - one end will be what I need. I could cut off the end I don't need, strip the wires and attach them to posts which would be external to the airplane and onto which I could clamp the Battery Charger alligators.

    2. Would you put a larger fuse in there?

    thanks!
    Sorry, I missed the fact that you want to use an Odyssey charger.

    I looked at the Odyssey web site, and it appears that their lowest amperage charger is a 6 amp. That is more than I would put through the Battery Tinder connection.

    Fuses are used to prevent damage to the conductor, so any fuse should be sized to protect the conductor.

    Since I don't like to charge a battery that is not in the open, i.e., out of the airplane or FWF with the cowling removed, I do not have a recommendation for connecting the (assumed 6 amp or more) Odyssey charger to a battery in the fuselage.


    BJC

  10. #20

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