Are all EC3 connectors difficult to unplug?

[mba83]

Or are there some EC3 brands that are easy to disconnect? Where can I buy them?

Thanks!

[Enraged]

They seem to be airtight, so when unplugging them the air wants to keep them together, maybe make a hole somewhere to let air out?

[blom]

You could try some fader lube on the connections, it seems to help for me. I use it on a lot of electrical connections.

[CrashNburn420]

All the ones I have tried are tight. Using snap ring pliers helps to separate them.

[dyin2fly]

omg, I'm a little 130 lb old man. just pull.lol

[jhamel]

Smaller size hands may work better than larger size hands for this application. Pilots with larger hands (or fat fingers) have more or a challenge getting a good grip on those small EC3 connector blue cases. I've used the snap ring pliers, but they are bit cumbersome to carry with you to flight deck; if you put them on your pockets, they can poke through the fabric. My prefer method is to clean the connectors with DeoxIT Gold. I spray the DeoxIt onto a Q-tip and clean the soot off the connectors. The DeoxIT leaves a lubricant film that makes it much easier to remove the connectors. I also apply DeoxIT to the balance connectors.

http://www.amazon.com/DeoxITGOLD-Spr...ds=deoxit+gold

[mba83]

Well to answer my own question: They aren't all the same. The cheaper ones I bought on eBay are difficult to unplug. But I have just got a chance to solder on a couple of female connectors of this type:

http://www.amazon.com/Wmicro-Female-.../dp/B00MA6K6C4


And they are for sure easier to unplug than the EC3 connectors on my other packs.

[EBrom]

My XT-150 high amperage Monsters are much easier to unplug than those tiny little EC3's. Lol

[Relisys190]

As said above. Snap ring pliers save the day!

I hated tipping my 630 on it's side to unplug my Rx pack. Now a simple tool and it's disconnected.

-Markus

[EBrom]

I find heat shrinking the grip of the connector and about another 3/4" down the wires helps out too, for gripping the connectors.

[HEXAHYDRATE]

Originally Posted by mba83

Well to answer my own question: They aren't all the same. The cheaper ones I bought on eBay are difficult to unplug. But I have just got a chance to solder on a couple of female connectors of this type:

http://www.amazon.com/Wmicro-Female-.../dp/B00MA6K6C4


And they are for sure easier to unplug than the EC3 connectors on my other packs.

Exactly.

I only buy the E Flight ones now. Cheaper ones are hard to unplug. And if you mix and match cheap ones they end up very tight.

[mba83]

I ran a couple "experiments" with cheap and good quality EC3s. Took bullets from each set, and found that cheap male to female is most difficult to connect/disconnect. The "good" male to female are easy to disconnect but still firm enough to hold the connection. Mixing and matching cheap and good bullets still required more force to disconnect that is reasonable.

Lesson learned: buy cheap, buy twice.