Now that is a good idea. I was very tempted just to join the wires together without a connector - it's not like I'm constantly taking the power supply off the printer!
That is certainly the best way to do it. It is also a good idea to slide the heat shrink into the gap between the plastic outer and the solder connection before shrinking it. This prevents any bare wires being exposed which is what you can see at 2:20 in the video
@@atomic14 As you probably know the XT60 connectors are widely used by the drone building community so it may be worth looking at some of their videos for tips
FWIW, a 3rd, larger piece of heat shrink over top of the first two pieces (and surrounding both cables) helps with strain relief and looks even more professional :)
Leave your iron on the solder spot until all is molten well. Going in and out with the iron just prolongs the time heat is wicking into the plastics and meltng them. Plugs you always plug into the receptacle, so pins cant shift and bend.
Kinda related to your connector, in Australia it's illegal to have soldered connections with a screw type terminal. This is what happens when you want to pack the amps full ball!
I had to install one of these for a friend's solar panel cable. It was ok with a 60W soldering iron, but not my 25W workhorse. The best technique was to solder both ends first, then solder them together. If the strands of the wire melt using a lighter, they are aluminum.
I am always soldering connectors with the connector plugged into its counterpart. This always saved me from destroying connectors due toom much heat. The heat can go away faster.
Good timing. I just ordered my first XT60 connectors for an RC car project. Had no idea these were used inside Enders. That’s a lot of current for the plug. Thermal camera looks like a very handy safety tool. Might pick one up. Thank you I learned a lot. 🤗
Looks like I'll have to check mine. Edit just checked connecter and no signs of any problems. Looks like it has black molded ends, not like a standard xt60. But I'll keep an eye on it.
Put your finger on it when you're heating up the bed/hotend and see if it gets warm. I think it's only some of them that have the problem so I was probably just unlucky.
@@atomic14 just ran a small print and the connector was just as cold during the print as it was before i started and turned the printer on. i used the number 1 finger for this temperature test. So currently all seems good.
IIRC from many years ago on this same subject, I thought that the problem was that these connections were soldered and not crimped, and not the opposite as you're showing here. I thought that the rationale was that because of the different CoE (coefficient-of-expansion) of the solder and connector metal, that the repeated heat cycles caused the solder connections to fracture, leaving you with chunks of flaked-off solder that either caused shorts, or that simply heated-up because the degraded connection's resistance increased greatly. So, this goes exactly against what I thought was reported (when this or a different 3DP came out) many years ago. All that being said, the manufacturer of the (genuine) connectors would know best, so do whatever they say.
From reading up it sounds like they outsourced the wiring to a third party who either used knock off connectors, or crimped when they should have soldered and soldered when they should have crimped!
@@atomic14 After all of these years, you'd hope that this isn't a mistake that would have been made. Looks scarily like a known problem that came back in the same or similar form.
@@ericbwertz I've had my printer for years - I don't normally look around the back of it so never noticed the problem until the other day. It may have been fine and then something triggered it to fail. Or it may have been failing slowly all along.
@@atomic14 Exactly! It's a basic failure of engineering and producing a product. It's either bad engineering or bad production/QA processes. Either way, this was a known problem and should have been eliminated -- especially given the consequences. This is Electrical Wiring 101, like not mixing aluminum and copper wiring in your home without extreme caution.
For peace of mind I bought a smoke alarm which is mounted just above my printer. Less than £10 in Screwfix and should give an early warning if things ever go pear shaped.
A big problem is the soldering tip you used. Conical tips are the worst, useless imo. And this was a really small one aswell. A bigger chisel type tip transfers heat much faster and you end up not melting connectors and burning wires.
I have those xt60 for my solar panels. I did find totally cooked and melted ones while others are fine. They run 20A max and are soldered. No idea what causes the problem.
I think there might be a few knock offs floating around. I've seen some people fixing them by pushing a screwdriver into the end of the pins to spread them out more so they make better contact - which should not be necessary with the real ones.
I have got an Ender 2 Pro recently, do I have to change the connectors as well or is this an old topic that doesn’t occur to the recently delivered models anymore?
First came to light about 5 years ago and only seems to be some machines. Easiest way to check is to just feel the connector and see if it's getting warm when you turn the heaters on.
You are using the wrong tip for the job... You need something to transfer heat like more thicker soldering iron tip. Otherwise you are heating the plastic too. Try it with the right one and you will see it takes only few seconds to connect solidly. Those joints are little bit weak.
I am regularly using xt60 in my aeromodels with high ampere discharges. I never faced any problems so far. XT60 from any company, i am having good experience. Your's might be a case in million. I am using Ender 3 for my parts of Aeroplanes. Even continuously working for 10 hrs with the settings you mentioned, there is no heating issue. I didn't find any logic of your video. Again country to country, type and way of connections are different.
It was a problem with a batch of the printers. I’m sure you are using your XT60 connectors correctly and you are using genuine parts. So you should not expect to have any problems. If you do a quick search on google you can find the details about the ender3 issue.
I like to keep the XT60 connectors plugged in while soldering to make sure they don't warp!
Now that is a good idea. I was very tempted just to join the wires together without a connector - it's not like I'm constantly taking the power supply off the printer!
That is certainly the best way to do it. It is also a good idea to slide the heat shrink into the gap between the plastic outer and the solder connection before shrinking it. This prevents any bare wires being exposed which is what you can see at 2:20 in the video
Good spot - I was tempted to redo it - but I'm thinking of replacing the cables anyway so will have to redo it.
@@atomic14 As you probably know the XT60 connectors are widely used by the drone building community so it may be worth looking at some of their videos for tips
Even though it's an old problem, it's still really interesting to see the difference with using the Infrared camera!
Yeah, I'm really pleased with that purchase. I've always wanted one so thought I would treat myself. Didn't realise I'd be using it so soon.
FWIW, a 3rd, larger piece of heat shrink over top of the first two pieces (and surrounding both cables) helps with strain relief and looks even more professional :)
That's a great idea! That would be very nice. I'll do that when I replace the cables.
Leave your iron on the solder spot until all is molten well. Going in and out with the iron just prolongs the time heat is wicking into the plastics and meltng them. Plugs you always plug into the receptacle, so pins cant shift and bend.
Good advice - particularly about having it plugged together!
Kinda related to your connector, in Australia it's illegal to have soldered connections with a screw type terminal. This is what happens when you want to pack the amps full ball!
Is that due to the screw type terminal more likely to oxidize and create heat which could reflow the soldered connection? Interesting none the less.
I had to install one of these for a friend's solar panel cable.
It was ok with a 60W soldering iron, but not my 25W workhorse.
The best technique was to solder both ends first, then solder them together.
If the strands of the wire melt using a lighter, they are aluminum.
Yeah, I need to check this wire - it's definitely not copper...
I am always soldering connectors with the connector plugged into its counterpart. This always saved me from destroying connectors due toom much heat. The heat can go away faster.
Yep - that's what I should have done.
Good timing. I just ordered my first XT60 connectors for an RC car project. Had no idea these were used inside Enders. That’s a lot of current for the plug. Thermal camera looks like a very handy safety tool. Might pick one up. Thank you I learned a lot. 🤗
The camera is great. I've been wanting one for a long time and finally bit the bullet - if it's good enough for BigClive, it's good enough for me!
@@atomic14 oof was a bit more expensive than i was expecting. That’s a financially tough decision. In your case definitely worth it though.
Looks like I'll have to check mine.
Edit just checked connecter and no signs of any problems. Looks like it has black molded ends, not like a standard xt60. But I'll keep an eye on it.
Put your finger on it when you're heating up the bed/hotend and see if it gets warm. I think it's only some of them that have the problem so I was probably just unlucky.
@@atomic14 just ran a small print and the connector was just as cold during the print as it was before i started and turned the printer on. i used the number 1 finger for this temperature test. So currently all seems good.
IIRC from many years ago on this same subject, I thought that the problem was that these connections were soldered and not crimped, and not the opposite as you're showing here. I thought that the rationale was that because of the different CoE (coefficient-of-expansion) of the solder and connector metal, that the repeated heat cycles caused the solder connections to fracture, leaving you with chunks of flaked-off solder that either caused shorts, or that simply heated-up because the degraded connection's resistance increased greatly. So, this goes exactly against what I thought was reported (when this or a different 3DP came out) many years ago.
All that being said, the manufacturer of the (genuine) connectors would know best, so do whatever they say.
From reading up it sounds like they outsourced the wiring to a third party who either used knock off connectors, or crimped when they should have soldered and soldered when they should have crimped!
@@atomic14 After all of these years, you'd hope that this isn't a mistake that would have been made. Looks scarily like a known problem that came back in the same or similar form.
@@ericbwertz I've had my printer for years - I don't normally look around the back of it so never noticed the problem until the other day. It may have been fine and then something triggered it to fail. Or it may have been failing slowly all along.
@@atomic14 Exactly! It's a basic failure of engineering and producing a product. It's either bad engineering or bad production/QA processes. Either way, this was a known problem and should have been eliminated -- especially given the consequences. This is Electrical Wiring 101, like not mixing aluminum and copper wiring in your home without extreme caution.
For peace of mind I bought a smoke alarm which is mounted just above my printer. Less than £10 in Screwfix and should give an early warning if things ever go pear shaped.
That's a very good idea. I think it's very easy to get a bit blasé about these things when they just seem to work all the time...
A big problem is the soldering tip you used. Conical tips are the worst, useless imo. And this was a really small one aswell.
A bigger chisel type tip transfers heat much faster and you end up not melting connectors and burning wires.
I have those xt60 for my solar panels. I did find totally cooked and melted ones while others are fine. They run 20A max and are soldered. No idea what causes the problem.
I think there might be a few knock offs floating around. I've seen some people fixing them by pushing a screwdriver into the end of the pins to spread them out more so they make better contact - which should not be necessary with the real ones.
I have got an Ender 2 Pro recently, do I have to change the connectors as well or is this an old topic that doesn’t occur to the recently delivered models anymore?
First came to light about 5 years ago and only seems to be some machines. Easiest way to check is to just feel the connector and see if it's getting warm when you turn the heaters on.
I like your style! Thanks.
You are using the wrong tip for the job... You need something to transfer heat like more thicker soldering iron tip. Otherwise you are heating the plastic too. Try it with the right one and you will see it takes only few seconds to connect solidly. Those joints are little bit weak.
Need to pick up some more tips for the TS80P - but they are crazy expensive!
@@atomic14 sadly i know that... 🤕
I am regularly using xt60 in my aeromodels with high ampere discharges. I never faced any problems so far. XT60 from any company, i am having good experience. Your's might be a case in million. I am using Ender 3 for my parts of Aeroplanes. Even continuously working for 10 hrs with the settings you mentioned, there is no heating issue. I didn't find any logic of your video. Again country to country, type and way of connections are different.
It was a problem with a batch of the printers. I’m sure you are using your XT60 connectors correctly and you are using genuine parts. So you should not expect to have any problems. If you do a quick search on google you can find the details about the ender3 issue.