Anderson Connectors - seem to be having issues?

[Martinjmpr]

Back a couple of months ago I tried to set my Indel-B fridge up with the small Anderson connectors rather than using the cig lighter connection or what I have currently which is a pair of ring connectors that go straight to the terminal posts on my battery pack. Could never get the Andersons to stay connected so I went back to the ring connectors. They take a few minutes to connect/disconnect but I never have to worry about whether the power is getting through or not.

Now I seem to be having a similar issue with my much larger Anderson connector between the DC-DC charger and the battery pack.

This is the connector I'm using to connect the DC-DC charger output to the 12v battery:


I noticed the problem this past weekend when we were camping at a site in the National Forest. My power box has a volt meter display and while it started full (12.9v) through the weekend of powering the fridge it steadily declined. This bothered me because we were taking frequent drives - and when the engine and ignition are on, the DC-DC charger is powered and SHOULD be pushing 20A of DC power straight into the battery. IOW, a 2 hour drive should be more than enough to offset a day's worth of fridge use (40AH into the 90AH battery.)

And yet...by the time the weekend was over, the battery pack was showing 12.1v.

So, when I got home, I got out the multi meter. First thing I wanted to check, of course, was whether I was getting power at the "output" side of the DC-DC charger. Checked it with the multi meter and yup, 13.5 - 14v going to the "output" side of the Hyclat connector.

But when I put the multimeter onto the battery it still showed the same 12.1v, so clearly the power was not getting to the battery.

And I don't get it - I installed the connectors according to the instructions but it seems like maybe the internal metal parts are not making contact or something. I had thought these Anderson connectors were easy to use but at this point I'm tempted to scrap them entirely and just put ring connectors on the end of the wires coming out of the DC-DC charger and connect them directly to the battery.

 

[Herbie]

If the failure is really at the connector, there's only a couple of things it can be: Either the crimp between a terminal and wire has failed, or the "wiper" portion of the terminal is out of position and not making contact with the opposing wiper on the other side. The APPs are symmetrical, so you've got four identical crimps and four wipers to check.

In my experience (which is primarily limited to the smaller housing connections), the issue is usually that the crimp was done with a "regular" crimping tool, which puts the barrel of the crimp in a weird place such that when you insert into the housing, the terminal wiper fails to click down into the right spot. There should be a definite click when the terminal seats. Some of the APP crimps require an Anderson-specific crimper to ensure proper shape to the barrel. Others are more "open", but still require a specific technique to make sure everything goes into the housing correctly.

 

[DaveInDenver]

In my experience (which is primarily limited to the smaller housing connections), the issue is usually that the crimp was done with a "regular" crimping tool, which puts the barrel of the crimp in a weird place such that when you insert into the housing, the terminal wiper fails to click down into the right spot. There should be a definite click when the terminal seats. Some of the APP crimps require an Anderson-specific crimper to ensure proper shape to the barrel. Others are more "open", but still require a specific technique to make sure everything goes into the housing correctly.

This is an interesting point. Anderson specifies and sells crimpers for their terminals because it's a mechanical process and changing the geometry has an affect on performance and alignment. It's hard to say without close inspection but if the crimp caused the ramps to bend relative to the center line of the wire it's entirely plausible that the mated surfaces are not making proper contact. Fact is it's almost always easier to just cut the terminal off and use the right tool to crimp on new than figure out if that's happening. I'm not sure what Anderson says but sometimes the manufacturer will even state that soldering will be preferred to using an unknown crimp.

 

[WOODY2]

If the failure is really at the connector, there's only a couple of things it can be: Either the crimp between a terminal and wire has failed, or the "wiper" portion of the terminal is out of position and not making contact with the opposing wiper on the other side. The APPs are symmetrical, so you've got four identical crimps and four wipers to check.

In my experience (which is primarily limited to the smaller housing connections), the issue is usually that the crimp was done with a "regular" crimping tool, which puts the barrel of the crimp in a weird place such that when you insert into the housing, the terminal wiper fails to click down into the right spot. There should be a definite click when the terminal seats. Some of the APP crimps require an Anderson-specific crimper to ensure proper shape to the barrel. Others are more "open", but still require a specific technique to make sure everything goes into the housing correctly.

I'm with Herbie on the importance of the crimp and snap into place info.

 

[67cj5]

I used the bigger 50A Andersons and I soldered the wires in there. I bought about 2 dozen of the things so I could hook up my MPPT and panels in multipul combinations and meters to see whats going in and out.

 

[john61ct]

Since the patent expired, there are hundreds of fake / knockoff makers out of Asia

never buy based on low price

trusted vendors of the genuine article only

which of course costs more than Amazon / eBay Ali etc.

And of course same goes for crimpers. If you're doing a lot, get the genuine pricey one, most good crimpers for high current connections cost hundreds

unless you get lucky and find secondhand in good nick.

For low volume DIYers the PowerWerx ones are fine

but definitely don't try to just use some generic crimper even a pricey one,

needs to be specific for the Andersons, and the specific size you're using

 

[john61ct]

They are def not designed to be soldered.

 

[john61ct]

I am not sure exactly the brand that I have.

Mouser is a stellar supplier, those are genuine Anderson

SB50 is the model

The PowerPole 45's are similar ampacity, but interoperable with the two smaller PowerPole sizes, great flexibility as a standard

 

[67cj5]

They are def not designed to be soldered.

That might be so but they won't fall off in a hurry, I also bought the 16"+ Crimping Tool. But seeing as I was using a thinner gauge wire Soldering was the best Option.

Normally I would of just used the Crimps but 6AWG does not fill half of the hole in the 50A Sockets and seeing as everything else had the 50A plugs on this was the way to complete my Multi use setup.

 

[slomatt]

I had a similar issue with Anderson connectors not seating properly and disconnecting due to vibration. This was because I initially tried to install them using a standard crimp tool, and then later by soldering the pins onto the wire. In both cases the body of the pin was not the proper shape to seat properly in the housing, which made it so there was no "detent" when the connectors were joined. I purchased the proper crimp tool and have never had an issue since then, and I have many of these connectors in my trucks.

 

[OllieChristopher]

After crimping I do a few pull tests. After my Andersons are assembled I stretch out smaller glue impeded heat shrink with with needle nose, slip it over the connectors and wire then melt it on. It acts as an extra protection against connections coming loose.

 

[Superduty]

@martinj did you figure out the issue? A properly crimped and then assembled Anderson will rarely have a problem in my experience. I did go back and look at your original post and note that you are not using true Anderson connectors, but rather a copy - I can't vouch for those. They do look like a direct copy.

 

[pugslyyy]

It's also possible to put the contact into the connector housing inverted. Over the years I've encountered several that were assembled incorrectly.

 

[David_h]

I had loose Anderson connector for my truck camper. For a long time I got by with a cobbled strap that held them together. When I had a chance for closer inspection it turns out one of the plastic housing had cracked. Replaced with new and all is good.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Update: Well, frustratingly but not surprisingly, I can't seem to reproduce the problem at home. When I plug the power pack into the DC-DC charger it now seems to be getting the full charge. My guess is that one of the little contacts inside the Anderson connector was bent down enough to break contact and that's why it wasn't getting power.

I guess I'll just have to monitor the system on future trips. Fortunately the volt meter on the top of the power pack gives me a good idea of whether it's charging based solely oh voltage (resting voltage is 12.5 or so, charging voltage should be 13.5 or better.)