Undervoltage/powerpole issue

Dan KG0AQ

I have had several undervoltage issues in the past few weeks. I changed out my power supply and the problem still existed. I changed out the cable with new power poles and the problem still exists. I "rigged" up several types of strain reliefs and the problem still exists. 

My power pole connection to the radio is anything but firm and tight. I can move the power pole up, down a great deal and slightly sideways. Up and down a lot CAN'T be good for current and voltage stability.

I finally caught it in an undervoltage situation before the radio dumped and put inward pressure on the power poles. The undervoltage problem went away immediately! I can't hold the power poles in forever. hi

I have read the power pole threads here. I saw the cutout pic of the "spring" in the power poles. Maybe my spring has apparently sprung. hi hi   

Is the problem with power poles always with the female connector? It appears the male power pole inside the flex is just a spade. How about the power pole housing itself? I have not abused the housing at all and it looks as new.

I'm in the commercial and industrial electronics business where everything is done with wire nuts, **** type terminal strips, copper clamps, soldered connections or molex type plugs. I have never seen a power pole in a house, building or large plant for a life safety circuit. Are they used solely for RF based applications? I really don't see the attraction other than convenience.

KC2QMA_John

K9DUR

Stan VA7NF

Dan KG0AQ

Stan,

Which pins do you bend? On the cable end? Inside the housing? TIA!

Dan KG0AQ

Thanks for the "hermaphroditic" term. Basically 2 spades mated with a spring leaf inside the cable end for the mechanical connection?  I agree with you on convenience but not convinced they are reliable as to my issues with them.  Thanks,

Dan KG0AQ

My main issue with them is the leaf spring as a solid mechanical connection. But I must admit Power Pole sells a lot these so somehow their engineering is proven.

K9DUR

Dan, your description of a spade & a leaf spring implies 2 metal pieces inside the housing.  There is only one.  The contact is a flat piece of metal ("spade" if you will) with a curved bump on one end,  Sort of the same shape as looking at the edge of a fork.

I have never had issues with an intermittent connection, but have had issues with a voltage drop across the contacts.  I bump my power supply voltage up a bit to compensate. -- 73, Ray, K9DUR

WX7Y

Tighten both sides(Radio and Cable), just take a small SHARP flat blade screwdriver in the VERY front of the connectors and get in underneath the front of the "SPADE" and bend it up a little bit.
There is a Small little metal peace that actually locks underneath the front of the "SPADE" to keep it from coming out the back of the connector, but this does NOT push the connector up at all. 

I replaced the ones on my cable with the MUCH thicker 35 Amp contacts and it really helps a bunch, there all universal and fit the radio perfectly. 
73

Bret
WX7Y

Dan KG0AQ

Great info Bret, thanks. I will bend them slightly as you suggested and see if the problem goes away. If not, I will purchase the 35 amp model connectors and replace the current ones.  73 TU

Al_NN4ZZ

Brian Denley KB1VBF

If you make your own powerpole cables, you quickly learn to make sure the metal contacts are pushed in far enough.  You should be able to look in the connector end and see the tab.  If not, they will not mate reliably.

Dave-N9CHM

Yep, I replaced all my power cables with 45A PP connectors (which are the largest ones that fit in the plastic housing), the larger surface area of the spade seems to really help.

KC2QMA_John

Did you just replace the contacts on the cable or did you also change the contacts/connector on the radio?

WX7Y

I built a new Cable with the 45 Amp connectors and kept the factory cable untouched. 
I have not seen the need to change the ones in the radio, just bend them out a tiny bit

W9WLX_Chuck

The physical limitation is the limited area of the connector.  One way to address would be a second set of PP connectors on the Flex in parallel.  Then we could easily run parallel #10 cables from the supply.  Icom makes it very easy to do this since they already run parallel conductors.  Just a simple modification of their connector allows parallel cables back to the supply.

KC2QMA_John

I think when the warranty runs out I may upgrade the power connector on the radio to a high quality high current connector. I do notice that during high duty cycle at full power (100W) the power pole connection on the radio gets very HOT in fact so hot you could burn you fingers.

Mark NS9N

KC2QMA_John

If you don't need a quick disconnect and want military grade these work great and are good for 250 amps.

Dan KG0AQ

Bill -VA3WTB

WX7Y

KC2QMA_John

For clarification this is a Terminal not a connector.
But if your warranty has run out and and like overkill like me and don't mind an easy DIY project these are great!

However the stock power pole connection is not bad just not that heavy duty or robust but does get the job done if you don't move the cable too much and get a few cable ties to securely hold the cable in place.

Aderson does make a better heavy duty higher amperage connector type it's just not used on on most ham radios.
https://powerwerx.com/anderson-sb-con... https://powerwerx.com/anderson-powerp...

Al_NN4ZZ

KC2QMA_John

Hi Al, I am still under warranty but when it runs out I will be adding these Because I never move my radio and want a super heavyduty high amperage connection.

I have a 6600m but the terminals aren't that big so they should fit a 65/6700 ok.

BTW I'm still on V2.49 and works good for me and don't have to worry about "autosave"!

John KB4DU

Actually, there are two pieces of metal in each connector. The spade is attached to the incoming wire and a spring in the housing holds the spade in place.

The Anderson brand connectors work pretty well, but like most stuff any more there are inexpensive imports that will work, just not very well.

I had the power supply connected to  distribution block, but the loss was excessive on transmit, due to the high current flow. I ended up attaching the flex directly to the power supply and a separate connection to the distribution block for all the low current items.Then, as above, I adjusted the output voltage of the power supply to maintain the desired voltage to the flex during transmit.  (13.8v +- 15%).

The Power Poles became the norm for much of ham radio to alleviate the multitude of adapters needed to connect various radios and components together during field/emergency operations involving several co-located radios. The convention is "Tongue top, red right"

Robert Guertin

I think most problems with the voltage and current draw of the radio depends wire size. I fixed my undervoltage problem at the powerpole connectors with a #8 wire size feed from power supply to the radio.

Dan-N7HQ

Kevin N9JKP

Al, this weekend I noticed  that during transmission by internal voltage was dropping below 12VDC.  I have an Astron 50 power supply.  I haven't done the internal adjustment nor have I shortened my cables as much as I could.  However, I did use some silver based conductive grease on the power pole connections and it improved the voltage drop during transmission by 0.5VDC.  I will still do some other work but this was quick and effective.

K5ROX

Al_NN4ZZ