XT60 Connector

[TJinGuy]

I did a search and found very little info on these connectors so I thought I would take a few photos and write up a short review.

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Like many I am fed up with Deans. They are annoying on so many levels and although I can't say I have ever had a performance problem with them, there are plenty of failure reports on the forums. Anyhow I am always keeping an eye out for other options. Some folks love the EC3 connectors and as nice as they are, they are very expensive, hard to reuse and very hard to connect/disconnect. Then I came across a new option, the XT60 connector. They looked small enough and I liked the design so I grabbed a 10 pack and am giving them a go in place of the Deans I use.

First impressions
Wow these things feel great! They fit together very nicely and feel very secure. They require less force than either a Deans or a EC3 but feel very secure. Size wise they are just a little bigger than Deans when connected. The best part is the design is similar to a EC3 where no metal is exposed past the housing, ever! There is even a recess for the heat shrink to fit into in order to ensure no metal is exposed on the back side.

Lets just say they make a very good first impression

Soldering
Because of the design they are very easy to solder, much easier than Deans. I have used both 12ga and 16ga so far and both fit will inside the solder cups. Over all it is a good design but not perfect.

My only problem. I was using a "3rd Hand" soldering helper and with the connector I was working on clipped in the alligator clip. When I finished soldering on some 12ga lead wire and removed the connector from the clip I found that the head of soldering had softened the housing enough that the alligator clip sunk its teeth into the connector. It did not ruin the connector but it did deform it a bit. Now I am a fairly good solderer and was using a very nice solder station. SO if this can happen with me soldering, it can REALLY happen with someone with less skills and/or equipment.

A few photos
Here they are in all their yellow glory


(left) Opps melted that one. (right) My solder helper for soldering the connectors on packs. The shrink tubing on the terminals to protect from shorts while soldering.


The XT60 compared to Deans knock-offs and EC3s.


Here is what I am using the connectors on the at this point.


Here is what each size of wire looks like soldered to an XT60.


Jan 25th, 2010 Update
I made my first flights using the XT60s and I am liking them very much. They are larger than the Deans but that is not an issue on my bird. They are SO much easier to line up when connecting them and with all the area to grip, unplugging them is super easy also. Plus I can easily disconnect them with one hand, something I could not always do with Deans. Right now I am seriously considering converting to the XT60s on my Protos also. I am running 3.5mm bullets and although they work fine, I am really liking the XT60s.

[fr4nk1yn]

Thanks for the post. There's not an abundance of posts about them yet.

I ordered one battery that came in Sat. I ordered a few more and was planning on changing all to the deans I'm used to but this connectors looks pretty good.
I just ordered some connectors so I can swap my ESCs over. Just need to make an adapter in the meantime.

Can't find the post right now but somebody tested ONE against other connector and while it wasn't as good as the true Dean's it was better than the knockoff dean's.

[wolfdown]

Great review, but what size are the bullets?

[TJinGuy]

They are 3.5mm effectively. A 3.5mm female slides over them very easily but a 3.5mm male fits in them nicely.

[helijack]

Chris..excellent review on the XT60's. I changed over last week on ALL my batteries and I couldn't be happier! Like you, I got tired of the DEans also. Too hard to really solder well, and hard to connect and disconnect. Even my 6s battery for my 500ESP took to the new connector like it was made for it. No sparking either, unlike the Deans. So much easier to connect and disconnect.
Do yourself a favour, guys. Lose the Deans and make the smart switch to XT60's. Just makes sense.

I even made a conversion connector in case I have to charge a buddy's pack at the field. Qhite easy to do, too.

[duddleydo]

How about a good source for XT60 Connector. Where have you been buying them?

[TJinGuy]

I even made a conversion connector in case I have to charge a buddy's pack at the field. Qhite easy to do, too.

Oh I have adapters for everything! I even made some gender changers for Deans in case I need to do something weird and it paid off. On time a guy needed to solder something but there was no AC at the field. Well one guy had DC-AC converter but it only had alligator clips on it. Another guy had an alligator clips to Deans cable but it was a female Deans of course. That is where I came in, I had a male-male Deans that could connect cable to a pack. So it was easy to run the soldering iron off the DC-AC converter running off a 3s pack. Nothing like a little southern engineering

How about a good source for XT60 Connector. Where have you been buying them?

I have bought all mine off eBay. That seems to be the best deal around if you can find a auction.

[Larry227]

Originally Posted by duddleydo

How about a good source for XT60 Connector. Where have you been buying them?

I got mine from Hobby King. You have to catch them when they are in stock though. I did the email alert thing and snapped up a couple packs the last time they got some in. You can also search there for XT60 if you want already made adapters. I prefer to make my own.

[SpikeB]

Originally Posted by duddleydo

How about a good source for XT60 Connector. Where have you been buying them?

AMainHobbies has Pro-tek branded versions on the XT-60 connector (blue plastic instead of yellow like the ones from HobbyKing) for five dollars for a package of four connectors, not as cheap as HK but more likely to be in stock.

[Pard]

http://www.progressiverc.com/index.p...emart&Itemid=1

here as well

[SteelPE]

Originally Posted by SpikeB

AMainHobbies has Pro-tek branded versions on the XT-60 connector (blue plastic instead of yellow like the ones from HobbyKing) for five dollars for a package of four connectors, not as cheap as HK but more likely to be in stock.

I assume that the connectors from AMainHobbies will fit the batteries from HK that already have the XT60 female connector on them? After all they are the same type of connector (just a different color).

[SpikeB]

Originally Posted by SteelPE

I assume that the connectors from AMainHobbies will fit the batteries from HK that already have the XT60 female connector on them? After all they are the same type of connector (just a different color).

Yes they work like a charm,nice snug fit and a solid connection. All my packs are from HK and came with yellow xt-60s and all of my planes and helis have the blue ones.

[SteelPE]

Thanks. This is one of the next steps in my Align 500ESP build. Well, this and wiring the thing.

[alexf1852]

I just switched over to these XT60 connectors from EC5 type connectors. I found the EC5 to be a pain to solder and rather stiff to connect and remove. These XT60 are much easier to solder and connect/disconnect. I wish they would also come in a slightly larger size using 4mm bullet type connectors. XT90? I'm assuming the 60 in XT60 stands for 60 Amps continuous.

alex

[alexf1852]

I found this to work well for thicker wires.

First strip enough plastic sleeve from the wire that will allow you to insert wire all the way in even though you can't actually get it all the way in because it's gauge it too large. Then tin the wire good but not to the point that it becomes a blob. Then take a file and file enough around the surface (all the way around, not just in one spot) that it will let you fit in all the way. Then put it in and solder it making sure that you fill in the space with solder but not long enough to melt the plastic case of the XT60.

alex

[Slavek]

XT 60 connectors
$ 5.95 for 5 pairs !
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/adv...ction=products

[nlrich]

Has anyone found a way to remove the bullets from the xt60 connectors and just put them in an EC3 connector? Would that work? The bullets seem to be the same size. I bought a bunch of the zippy lipos with XT60 connectors. I'd love avoiding soldering if possible.

Thanks

[TJinGuy]

Originally Posted by nlrich

Has anyone found a way to remove the bullets from the xt60 connectors and just put them in an EC3 connector? Would that work? The bullets seem to be the same size. I bought a bunch of the zippy lipos with XT60 connectors. I'd love avoiding soldering if possible.

Thanks

I can not see this happening. The bullets are not quite the right size and the EC3 housing requires a certain design to be held in the housing properly.

[Rªzª]

dremel them out and see if they click into the ec3's. the bullets seem compatible enough. the male ec3 bullets certainly fit the female xt60 connectors very snug so the size is the same. i know this because ive used male ec3 bullets to plug into flightmax packs that use the xt60's

[jdacal]

I'm curious to know if those of you who have been using these with 6S batteries for a while have had any problems with them being difficult to connect, due to the initial spark deforming the tips after a while?

I'm thinking of switching to these, but that's the only possible problem I can think of that might crop up down the road.

Thanks!