Anderson Powerpoles
Anderson Powerpoles are a common brand of electrical connectors. Anderson connectors come in two parts: the housing which is colored plastic and the metal crimp which goes inside the housing.
In Anderson's naming conventions, PP refers to connectors which are modular can be rearranged into connectors with any number of positions, and SB refers to connectors with a fixed two positions. The number after either PP or SB is the maximum current capacity of that connector, but this maximum is also determined by crimp in the housing. A given housing will support multiple sizes of crimps for different wire gauges and current capacities.
Powerpole housings and crimps can be relatively expensive. Crimps can only be used once, but Powerpole housings are all reusable. See the extraction tool for how to extract crimps from the housings. With the larger connectors, a small flat head screw driver can fulfill the same purpose.
This video is great! I highly recommend watching all of it because he does a great job at explaining all of the small details you need to know. However, you should never solder crimps. A crimp is not designed to be used with solder, and a good crimp creates a cold weld which is just as good as a soldered connection.
We most frequently use the PP45 housing because it is the smallest in the Powerpole lineup and fulfills most of our needs for current capacity. The PP45 housing comes in a wide variety of colors, but red and black are most commonly used for positive and negative. The housing supports three different sizes of crimps:
| Crimp Name | Current Capacity (A) | Wire Gauge (AWG) |
|---|---|---|
| PP15 | 15 | 20-16 |
| PP30 | 30 | 14-12 |
| PP45 | 45 | 12-10 |
Secures PP45 housings together. Should be used on all PP45 housings on a robot. Robots produce a lot of vibration which is not ideal for connectors which can slip apart. This mechanism ensures that wire cannot accidentally become disconnected or mistaken disconnected by members of other subteams.
We have used the PP75 series for battery connectors because of their larger current capacity and wire gauge support. Don't let the image fool you, they are about 2-3x as big as a PP45 housing. This housing uses the same terminals as the SB50 and supports either 6, 8, or 10 gauge.
- For high current or voltage applications, the SB series provides a slightly smaller package than an equivalent PP connector, but with only two positions.
- Same as the PP series, don't let the picture fool you, the high current connectors are massive.
- The SB series are all keyed by color! This means that a green connector will not fit into a blue connector. This mechanism is desirable for certain applications where it would be dangerous to connect two things using the same connector. This is not a feature of the PP series.
- Used for PP15, PP30, and PP45 crimps
- Numbers on crimper correspond to crimp: 15, 30, 45
- If you need to release the crimper before completing the crimp, push up on nub between the handles and squeeze slightly.
- Extract PP15, PP30, and PP45 crimps from PP45 housings
- Use by inserting hook under the crimp and bending it upward
- Crimps need to be bent back into shape before re-inserting them
- Can also be useful for pushing PP15 crimps into the housings
I recommend always buying Powerpoles and related tools from Powerwerx. It is also recommended to buy in bulk, which will reduce the per unit price.