Weird Deans problem

[Lessen]

So I've encountered a weird issue with a Deans connector. I was attempting to charge a pair of batteries today when I found out one pack was not being recognized by my charger. One thing that struck me right off the bat was that the connecter (on the battery - female) is VERY VERY tight and actually EXTREMELY difficult to plug the male into. Anyways, I was concerned that I had a bad pack (or bad cell). That made me very upset for because this is only the second time I've charged these packs. After some analysis and experimenting I had finall come to the conclusion that the pack is most likely ok. The problem seems to be the connector. For some reason when the Deans connectors are completely inserted into each other my charger doesn't even recognize that it's there. However, if the Deans connectors are taken apart and the tips of the connectors are simply touched to make the slightest contact, the pack is recognized and instantly goes into charging mode as it should. As soon as I attempt to push the connectors all the way together the charger shuts off. That doesn't make any sense to me at all. :shrug:

 

[hamz9561]

Sounds like it might be a bad female connector. The contact is intermittent because the the female's contacts have too wide a gap. It happens but not very often. You won the prize....

 

[slowngreen]

i never "studied" them but i have had 3 deans stop working all together. they were all female. replaced them and everything was good to go again.

 

[Lessen]

Yeah, the female is definitely bad. I've never heard of anybody having issues with Deans connectors before. Seemed very strange to me the way it works on slight contact but doesn't when fully plugged in.

 

[slowngreen]

its real strange especially since what all there "isnt" inside of one. All of mine that have quit working where all from my lhs. dont know if that has anything to do with it or not but they are all Deans brand so who knows.

 

[chip cross]

Is it a real Deans ? I have seen the cheap knockoffs have problems like you are talking about. Do you have a voltmeter ? check the voltage thru the plug. Is the plug solder on good ?

I have never had any problem with a true Deans. My SC8e runs on 6S and I use Deans on it with no problems at all.

 

[Lessen]

Yes, it's a Deans branded plug. I'm confident in my soldering as well. You would think that since it's sooo tight that it's surely making contact but that must not be the case. Maybe the molding is off and it's tight because the contacts are being pushed away from each other???