Power Poles

KE7FD · January 4

There's a thread going on Faceplant about melting PowerPoles on the back of Flex radios. I don't want to seed a rant here so I'll just say it appears there are things that can be done and by extension, steps that should be applied to PP's across the board. Nuf said; here's my question (also posted on FB, but added here to due diligence):

With regards to melting PP connectors, elsewhere someone mentioned the use of some kind of silver conductive grease to abate the problem. The price shown in the post has doubled so I'm wondering if anyone has used another brand of SILVER CONDUCTIVE GREASE and can make recommendations?

KD0RC · January 4

I am not particularly a fan of power poles, but since they have become a de-facto standard, I use them everywhere. Makes it easy to just plug stuff in (beware, Anan has them backwards…).

That being said, I have yet to have a failure. I don't plug and unplug my DC cable form my Flex 6400 much at all. I do keep a watch on the voltage, especially when I transmit. I have had this same setup since February of 2020 and no power problems.

I probably should exercise the connector more frequently (monthly maybe?), but I don't think that I will mess with conductive grease.

KE7FD · January 4

Yeah, same here, but if you take a gander at the Flex Facebook threads, there are a few photos of melted PP's on Flex main boards. There are some comments on why resistance is building up at the power in, which is why my inquiry appears here. Mike hasn't chimed in and I ASSUME/SUPPOSE there is an expectation that we Amateurs should put on our big boy hats (pants?) and look at this as if we were professionals, and I must confess this is something within our capacity to do. If this is occurring at the back of Flex radios, it can happen anywhere, at any installation of a PowerPole. It behooves us to look at this without pointing fingers at Flex engineering, because and let's face it, Power Poles have become so ubiquitous in the hobby as a result of customer demands. And so along those lines I'm trying to put into action on my home installation here, an easy maintenance regimen, to periodically reseat the connections and as part of that I was inquiring about this silver conductive grease.

Neil D Friedman N3DF · January 5

Seven years of almost daily 6600M use, no issues with the PowerPolrs.

Gord-VA7GP · January 5

I think it's all about the "conductive cross-sectional area". At every step in the chain. And I love ring-terminals with bolts that I can really snug.

With "conductive cross-sectional area" in-mind, I like to:

crimp PowerPole terminals with a proper crimper. West Mountain Radio crimpers do it for me.
solder my PowerPoles. Lightly, but well-flowed just in the barrel of the PowerPole connector.
lightly brush the mating surface with a fiberglass pen
rinse down the mating surfaces with De-Oxit or MG Chemical Contact cleaner
assemble the PP, trying to ensure neutral flatness of the contact. No canting!
Use a toothpick to apply a nearly-transparent film of MG Chemicals' conductive paste to the rising / leading surface of each contact
assemble, wiggle, disassemble, reassemble and wiggle each connection

Not only have I done this with my PowerPoles, but I've also dug into my (3) Astron power supplies, disassembling, cleaning and treating every ring terminal from transformer to diodes to capacitors to lug-terminals. I was obsessed, chasing millivolts, and this process satisfied my compunction.

When it comes to electrical connections, I like to visualize a jagged mountain-range. And another, upside-down. The mating connection conducts only where peaks touch the other half of the connection. If you can tighten things, you can "smoosh" the mountains down a bit and increase the conductive cross-sectional area. If you apply grease - any type of grease - you'll do very well at keeping moisture and corrosion out… the grease does not hinder the basic connection where the "mountain peaks" displace the grease and you have metal-to-metal. But nor does standard grease help improve conductivity. That's where I've found MG Chemicals' conductive greases and pastes to be helpful: the "valleys" without direct metal-to-metal can now begin to play a role in increasing the conductive cross-sectional area. I've even used nickel-loaded anti-seize compound (intended to prevent stainless-steel fastener galling) with good success, in the range of 600A.

I hope my process, and my "mountain visualization" helps understand the micro-scale effects of conductivity. All that said, I like the convenience of PowerPoles, and their ubiquitiy in ham-radio, but I don't love the performance potential.

Oh, and all these conductive greases (graphite-loaded, copper-loaded, nickel-loaded) are SUPER MESSY!

Geoff AB6BT · January 6

My 2 cents worth on crimping…

A crimped connection made with the proper tool for the contact and the correct wire gauge is a gas-tight connection. I do not know if that is the case for Power Poles, so this may be apples and oranges. But you still need to use the correct crimper.

Sure, the crimpers can be expensive; some of the ones we use cost hundreds of dollars. But without the right crimper the connection can, and probable will, fail mechanically or electrically.

I'm in the touring audio business. We have hundreds of multi-channel audio cables ("snakes") with connectors on each end, many with more than 100 terminations on each end. The snakes have good strain relief where the cable enters the connector body. These cables go out on tour for weeks or months at a time and experience sun, water, saltwater spray, etc. They are abused, dragged, pulled and who knows what else. These cables are uncoiled, deployed in position, and coiled back into a case every few days or sometimes daily.

The majority of the pins and sockets we use are gold plated.

We have also use crimped contacts for high-current, low-voltage applications. These were silver plated.

I can say that I have never seen a properly crimped connection fail due to corrosion. Occasionally, I have seen mechanical failure due to a loosened strain relief.

As I said, just my 2 cents…

Ken Wells · January 9

As mentioned above: Using a little "De-Ox-It" is always helpful to clean the "self-cleaning" spades on Power Pole Connectors. Also, once the "De-Ox-It" is applied . . . insert and remove the connector several times to allow the "self-cleaning" spades to scrape each other clean.

Here are some additional hints:

1) NEVER use the cheap import 30-Amp connectors or the spades designed for them. Always use good quality 45-Amp Power Pole connectors for FlexRadios. There IS a difference!

2) Give a little strain relief to the Power Pole connector by giving it a half-turn around the rear leg of the radio closest to the Power Connection. This keeps the weight of the power cable from torquing the connector and preventing solid connection of the contacts. Loose connections create resistance, and resistance with high current generates HEAT!

3) Keep your Power Pole Connectors CLEAN! Depending upon the radio's environment, they can tarnish or oxidize. Dirty power pole connectors generate resistance, which generates HEAT (and also reduces your power output.)

Power Poles

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