[time-nuts] How to love your Power Poles.

Chris Albertson albertson.chris at gmail.com
Thu Jun 22 14:09:51 EDT 2017


No, there are more problems.   Being non-gendered that apply
connections mistakes like connecting to power sources together.
Could you imagine how bad it would be if all power connectors were
not-gendered?   then you could connect two wall AC mains outlet
together.  Kind of a problem if there were out of phase (US 120VAC
wiring is like that)   Bad enough that it allows tow DC power supplies
to be connected.

What is is good for is it you are in a hurry.  non-genet connections
were invented for firemen so after laying dow 300 feet of hose that
NEVER find the have it backwards and have to flip a 300 foot hose end
for end.   Ive done this a few times with outdoor AC extension cords.

There is an advantage to gendered connectors.  Typically the source
are female and you can't plug two outhouse together by mistake.   If
you need N-way connections yo make and test the power harness before
hand.

That said I do have some power pole cables.  They work good for 12VDC
lead acid battery type stuff.  But NEVER use then for exotic battery
chemistries.   Fires are not good.  and it WILL happen if you use PP
on Lithium type batteries, an accident waiting to happen.




On Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 7:11 AM, James Robbins <jsrobbins at earthlink.net> wrote:
> I’ve used Power Poles for some years.  I have a proper crimper intended for PP.  Color coding is very useful.
>
> I think the complaints about them are due to two things:  (1) improper crimping of the contacts and (2) heavy gauge wire.
>
> The PP15/30/45 use the same plastic housing while changing the size of the contact.  A wire gauge suitable for 30 to 45 amps is quite large physically and puts a great deal of mechanical strain on the plastic connectors.  So, when such a gauge of wire moves (or doesn’t move), it tends to disconnect the plastic housings.  If the connections are from one set of wires to another, a two prong plastic jumper plug can successfully hold the four connectors together through the mating holes in the pair during movement.
>
> The problem is that when one set of connectors is mounted in a chassis, it is often not really possible to use a two prong plug (or Ty-Wrap) to physically hold them together.  Move the chassis and if the wire doesn’t want to follow, you get disconnected.
>
> Two solder lugs mounted to the chassis and a few small Ty-Wraps will fix most of this “heavy wire” issue.
>
> Jim Robbins
> N1JR
>
> PS:  Make up a pair of PP with an LED to test your future PP builds.
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-- 

Chris Albertson
Redondo Beach, California


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