On Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:46:05 -0500, Don wrote:

Our club uses 4 pin jones plugs for battery plugs, 2 pins positive and 2
pins negative for redundancy. But even this is not fool proof after
passage of time: sometimes they need to be "wiggled" to connect and
they are getting hard to find now too. What kinds of plugs are other
clubs or commercial ops using? I'm not a big fan of the nylon molex
connectors. Someone recommended using PowerPole connectors. Any
experience with these?


XLR connectors have never been designed for power supply. They are
professional audio connectors.
Anderson PowerPoles are perfect and versatile. Never had problems
with them, whether crimped or soldered.
Spring loaded silver plated contact conductance is excellent.
Much cheaper than good quality XLRs (Cannon, Neutrik, Amphenol…)
Much lighter. Less cumbersome.
I've seen battery short circuits caused by metal XLRs falling on them.
I've seen Libelle ailerons freezed by XLRs wedged up between the rods.
I know there is an (unofficial) standard way to do the pinning of XLRs
(at least in Europe), but there are 5 alternate possibilities to do it
wrong. I don't count the radios I've had to fix after faulty
polarizations (and lack of decent fuses).
Compared to the high grade quality of the mechanics, I don't
understand how they can sell 250K$ aircraft with non-professional
electronics.

Willy VINKEN D-KBAL - ON5WV