Thread: XT30 connectors
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Ralph Mowery Ralph Mowery is offline
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Default XT30 connectors

In article ,
says...
From looking at them on Youtube it looks to me that the wire end is just
open and if you want that to be insulated you have to use heat srink
tubing or some other method.

Is that correct ?


90% correct. The usual method is to insulate the exposed cable to
connector area with heat shrink tubing. However, you can buy XT60
connectors that have a plastic hood that will also work.
https://www.amazon.com/XT60-Connectors-Female-Male-Functional/dp/B07CWF8CRX
I'm not thrilled with the idea of hiding a crappy soldering job under
an opaque cover and prefer to use clear shrink tubing. If I forget to
install the shrink tubing, a blob of RTV (silicone caulk), between the
pins, and maybe some electrical tape will suffice if desperate.



Thanks. It looks like the XT may make a more secure connection, but I
do not like not having a good looking cover over the exposed connections
other than on the XT60 that you show. I know tape could be used, but
looks crappy and even the heat shrink not too good looking. I think I
would try a larges size of heat shrink and cover the plug and wires at
the same time. Maybe the shrink will not shrink enough. Then the RTV
has to be carefully selected as lots of it will eat up the wires and if
it does not, still looks crappy.

As a ham I switched to the Power Poles a few years ago. I used to use
some molex plugs for the mobile transceivers (VHF/UHF) however they have
gone up in power and exceed the current for the ones I was using. Also
needed to handle more current for the low band rigs in the shack so
switched everything over to match.

I guess they do have 2 advantages for me, Crimp and one size good to 45
amps. Just need seperate contact inserts for the different current
ranges, but all will fit. I know there are several other sizes of PPs
that will not fit the smaller more common size.