Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
G'day all, thanks for the many infromative replies to my question about Anderson Powerpoles. I have been using Anderson Powerpoles for some years now with great success. I use the Powerworx crimping tool and have never had a failure. The original question was raised by me in response to a comment made by a local VK ham who was having voltage drop problems through his powerpole connectors. It appears that he was not using the correct crimping tool and also that the connecting blades were dirty. Looking forward to my KPA-500 kit. -- 73 Dale - VK4DMC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
Ron wrote: "Improper mating is usually caused by one of the contacts not being fully inserted in the housing. The contact may be shoved in as far as it will go, but if it was crimped poorly or soldered with too much solder on the outside of the terminal, the bad crimp or solder jams against the side of the housing before the contact is fully in place." After experiencing poorly seated Power Pole contact issues a number of years ago, I now keep a small flat blade jeweler's screwdriver in my Power Pole contact parts drawer. After I push the contact/wire assembly all the way into the housing, I insert the flat blade of the screwdriver into the back housing opening. I align the blade on the edge of the round crimp portion of the metal connector and give it a firm push forward. I was amazed at how many times I got a nice crisp "click" from a connector that I was convinces had already been properly seated. Try it. Terry, W0FM __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
That sounds like a case of the connectors not mating properly or a badly crimped contact on a wire. Elecraft recommends soldering the contacts to the wire unless the individual has a high-quality crimper *and* experience using it properly. Just because one cannot pull the contact off of the wire does not mean it's properly crimped. The crimp must place enough surface area of the terminal tight against the wire to form a low-resistance connection. Normal DMMs can't measure the miniscule resistance allowed. The best way is as the VK fellow as done - check the voltage drop under full load. Improper mating is usually caused by one of the contacts not being fully inserted in the housing. The contact may be shoved in as far as it will go, but if it was crimped poorly or soldered with too much solder on the outside of the terminal, the bad crimp or solder jams against the side of the housing before the contact is fully in place. If the contacts are soldered, another source of trouble is solder having gotten onto the contact area of the terminal. The normally low contact resistance is achieved by a relatively large area of each terminal in solid contact with the mating terminal. Solder on the mating surfaces creates an uneven surface that prevents the large surface-to-surface contact area needed. There are illustrations in the Elecraft manuals and on the PowerPole web site showing what a properly installed APP contact looks like in the housing - it should come all the way forward to the lip about 1 mm from the end of the housing and latch into place with a click. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- A fellow ham here in VK recently complained of a significant voltage drop (2V) through Anderson Powerpole connectors. Has anyone else experienced this on the powerpole connectors fitted to the K3 or elsewhere for that matter? -- 73 Dale - VK4DMC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
Further info: This is the second time I have mentioned / bitched / whinged about this issue in this list and I have finally found the problem, read on. After a year of looking (and bitching) about my voltage drop issues, in sheer desperation I took a look at the K3's connectors and finally solved the riddle of my missing volts! (And it was volts at one stage, on a 20A load current I would see a 1.5 to 2 volt drop @ 13.8V - 20Amp current draw indicated by the radio!) The original voltage drops mentioned above were seen with the factory built power lead and radio right from when I got the K3 in May / June 2010. At that time they were just dismissed as "being an anomaly in the rigs own measurement capabilities" or a "problem with the power supply" but on checking the power supply and finding it to be in good health, measuring the actual voltage drop and then speaking with other K3 owners I realised that there was an issue somewhere. The original lead was ditched not long after I was made aware the voltage drops were too high and the current (pun intended) power lead for the radio is a newly self made 6mm dual core cable fitted with soldered 30A Anderson Powerpoles at one end with soldered 4mm lugs at the other end to suit my power supply. The new power cable is approximately 36" (1 Metre) long. (I don't believe in or use crimped connections as a rule) This improved things to the point where I was seeing a voltage drop of generally around 1.2Volts at 13.8V - 20A current draw. (A useful improvement over the 2 volt drop I had seen before) :-) I put up with this loss for some time but I finally got around to looking harder at the issue last night. Upon further investigation I found that the problem was with the connectors that are fitted to the K3's motherboard, which is what had me flummoxed, the rig is just on a year old and I didn't even think to consider that the onboard connectors could be dodgy for one minute. (Just goes to show you, never discount anything unless you test it!) Once the contacts were cleaned (First by cleaning with a cotton bud dipped in thinners and then when that didn't work by scraping the contacts in the radios connector with a small screwdriver then burnishing with a small file) the voltage drop has been within 0.2 - 0.3V @ 4A current draw and *0.5 - 0.6V at 20A draw. (That is a 28MHz 100W FM carrier into a 1.0:1 VSWR dummy load). * (All voltage drops shown here are measured at 13.8V supply voltage and are as shown by the rig itself, the measurements shown are in fact a little higher than they actually are due to internal voltage drops etc in the K3.) Now I realise that according to Anderson the connectors are supposed to be self cleaning, but my experience so far with them has demonstrated otherwise. In that case it may be wise to check the connectors fitted to your rig / cable occasionally, I 'sure as sh1t' will be from now on. (Until I ditch them all) Of course, none of all the above raises my opinion of Anderson PowerPoles one iota, I don't believe that they are a particularly good idea, especially for a radio that is designed to be in used more in a portable situation far more than any other radio and given the hassles I have had with the damned things, if I could I would gladly ditch then from the back of my K3 in an instant. What would I use in their place? A pair of 6mm wires, permanently soldered to the motherboard and fitted with a strain relief, voltage drop problems solved! 73 de Jeff Cochrane - VK4BOF Innisfail, QLD, Australia Elecraft K3 #4257 + KPA500 + PR6 + K144XV = Multiband greatness! - Original Message - From: David Ferrington, M0XDF To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 6:44 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss I have never found dirty APPs - the whole idea is that they wipe each other as joined and unjoined. This suggests a badly fitting contact in the housing. 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #10873 de M0XDF On 18 May 2011, at 09:29, Gary Gregory wrote: > The gentleman also discovered the contacts were "dirty", after cleaning they > showed normal and expected voltage...:-) __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
I have never found dirty APPs - the whole idea is that they wipe each other as joined and unjoined. This suggests a badly fitting contact in the housing. 73 de M0XDF, K3 #174, P3 #10873 de M0XDF On 18 May 2011, at 09:29, Gary Gregory wrote: > The gentleman also discovered the contacts were "dirty", after cleaning they > showed normal and expected voltage...:-) __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
The gentleman also discovered the contacts were "dirty", after cleaning they showed normal and expected voltage...:-) aaah..housekeeping chores are a necessity of lifebut why are we so prodded by our XYL's...? (Grin) Gary On 18 May 2011 14:23, Greg wrote: > Dale, > > Also make sure the pins are fully inserted into the plastic housing so that > you hear it snap in. > > 73 > Greg > > > On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 6:00 PM, Dale wrote: > > > A fellow ham here in VK recently complained of a significant voltage > > drop (2V) through Anderson Powerpole connectors. Has anyone else > > experienced this on the powerpole connectors fitted to the K3 or > > elsewhere for that matter? > > > > -- > > 73 > > > > Dale - VK4DMC > > __ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > -- VK4FD - Motorhome Mobile Elecraft Equipment K3 #679, KPA-500 #018 Living the dream!!! __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
Dale, Also make sure the pins are fully inserted into the plastic housing so that you hear it snap in. 73 Greg On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 6:00 PM, Dale wrote: > A fellow ham here in VK recently complained of a significant voltage > drop (2V) through Anderson Powerpole connectors. Has anyone else > experienced this on the powerpole connectors fitted to the K3 or > elsewhere for that matter? > > -- > 73 > > Dale - VK4DMC > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
Hi Dale, When these connectors are properly assembled, crimped and/or soldered, they should drop a very small fraction of a volt even with a 20-amp load. The data sheet can be found on-line; check the resistance specification. 73, Wayne N6KR On May 17, 2011, at 6:00 PM, Dale wrote: > A fellow ham here in VK recently complained of a significant voltage > drop (2V) through Anderson Powerpole connectors. Has anyone else > experienced this on the powerpole connectors fitted to the K3 or > elsewhere for that matter? > > -- > 73 > > Dale - VK4DMC > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Elecraft] Anderson Powerpole voltage loss
A fellow ham here in VK recently complained of a significant voltage drop (2V) through Anderson Powerpole connectors. Has anyone else experienced this on the powerpole connectors fitted to the K3 or elsewhere for that matter? -- 73 Dale - VK4DMC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
