[NSRCA-discussion] Arming Plug/Receptacle Problem

[Ed Alt]

Ron, I think that adding a capacitor will only make it worse.  During the 
time that the connection is being made, you have, in effect, a high 
frequency AC current and voltage.  With a capacitive load, current leads 
voltage, so you will actually increase the initial current surge.  Not that 
I am recommending it, because it may have other bad side effects, but adding 
a large inductor in series would control the initial rush of current since 
it causes the current to lag the voltage.


I think you should just look to beef up the connectors, since neither 
approach discussed here is good for your setup.

Ed

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Van Putte" <vanputte at cox.net>
To: "General pattern discussion" <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 11:08 AM
Subject: [NSRCA-discussion] Arming Plug/Receptacle Problem


>I have a problem which I am sure many other E-powered airplane owners  have 
>that I'd like to solve.  I use an arming plug to connect the two  5S Lipo 
>packs to the ESC.  On initial contact of the arming plug with  the 
>receptacle, there's a big spark thrown.  Eventually the contacts  on the 
>arming plug and receptacle get burned to the point where the  electrical 
>contact is very bad.  Yesterday I had to land my airplane  deadstick 
>because (I think) the ESC saw what it thought was low  voltage out of the 
>battery that was actually due to the burned arming  plug/receptacle 
>contacts.  BTW, I am using high-amp Anderson Power  Pole connectors, which 
>are probably more susceptible to having the  contacts burned than would 
>Deans Ultra connectors.
>
>  I have thought about putting a BIG capacitor in parallel with the  arming 
> plug, that would damp the initial current surge which causes  the spark. 
> The capacitor could be removed before flight.  However,  I'm wondering if 
> there's a more elegant solution.
>
> Ron Van Putte
>
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