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| JST-XH - This is the most popular balancer plug type and found on Li-Pos from the Far East, check out the article link below for pictures of the other three popular plug types.
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Last year we published an article in RCM&E called Balance of Power that tried to make sense of the confusion regarding Li-Po battery balance plug types - a link to the article is below.
We're still receive the odd letter and email pointing to the fact that some confusion still exists around the issue and that some flyers still experience problems. Here's the text of an email recently received.....
"......while there are indeed four main plug types in use, there are others to be found. At the time of your excellent article you mentioned that Brian Collins at BRC Hobbies had identified 17 types in circulation and since the article was published I have seen several Li-Pos come to market sporting yet another previously-unseen type. The situation is further confused because some suppliers use one of the 'Big Four' but refer to them by a brand-specific marketing name. This only makes life more difficult for the unwary.
There may indeed be a 'plentiful supply of conversion leads' but many are only available on the net, which is not practicable for everyone. I have never seen retailers offer conversion leads in their magazine adverts. As for over-the-counter purchase, I can only speak for the 3 model shops within an 80 mile radius of my home. None has any conversion leads on sale.
You touched on this in last year's article. Even where products have compatible plugs/sockets I have come across examples of different wiring protocols. As a result one could, for example, connect two JST-XH connectors only to discover your battery has reverse polarity!
While an industry standard will presumably eventually emerge (remember 8-track cassettes and Videodiscs?), as long as the confusion exists and suppliers fail to specify plug types in their adverts it really would be a help if you could try to supply the info John Cole asked for. Who knows, publication might help to force manufacturers and suppliers to standardise sooner rather than later!"
So how are things for you? Have you noticed more plug types appearing? Do you manage to source converter leads easily enough? Does incompatible wiring cause problems?
Pleased let us know what you think or have experienced using the forum thread below - we'd be very interested to know what you think.
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