I saw curious folks looking at the SP battery connectors. Of course people have to touch things and one guy had his thumb overlapping both terminals which were millimeters away under his skin. That freaked me out! So, I made a set of easy to pull /push connector caps (I have two 1/2 batteries). I simply used a thick piece of shrink tubing and carefully heated it up around the end while making sure not to melt the 3D printed cover. They are snug enough not to fall off on their own.
The excess 2" tubular section is great to grab (pull/push).
Phil
3 Likes
Nice simple design , I like it, although I hope it stays on during transport.
Thanks for the idea with the zip ties , even with the bolts my connector grip still slips off :-/
One of the covers actually slipped back as I was separating the connectors and reason for the added zip tie. There are a bunch of small improvements I made to my machine over time - nothing is perfectđ€Ș The Devil is in the details.
Now you tell me 
I didnât glue or zip tie behind the 3D printed connector assist to the original connectors and had the battery print slip off and cut the insulation on the positive battery lead. I couldnât disconnect the battery from the ESC for the second time in a row, so therefore, Iâm going with the winch connector setup this week.
Live and learn I guess.
I found out later that Paul had two kinds of covers and one has a small groove in it to prevent the covers from sliding back up. Of course I didnât know that, and It all ended up as per your photosđ This is when I added a zip tie at the base of the covers.
Anderson connectors are better but do not have a resistor built-in. I think Paul is working on a new system. I still donât like the connectors the way they are now even with the covers.
The winch connectors (Anderson I believe) do not have a resistor in them! Be careful! Ask Paul first.
1 Like
Well, I just had to spend $200 for the connectors and hydraulic crimping tool. Câest la vie
I think I may go this way too in the future (crimping tools). This is what my friend Bill did on his. Thatâs why it is called OpenPPG I guessđ Always things to improve on the machine.
1 Like
Yup, but I only have 14 flights on the battery if it was 100 I wouldnât be so disappointed.
I read you! I had my share of disappointments over time. That was done in one shot and it took about 1 second to make a pile of firewoodđ€Ł
Now you know what size prop I useđ
1 Like
Ouch! How did that happen?
I didnât get the chance right, even after doing hang check. Every time Iâd hit the throttle in sport mode it would spin more than I was used to. My third flight on SP140. Coming from Miniplane I wasnât comfortable with this much torque steer. Initial flights out of a restricted field, where there was no keep going straight and land. Made me real anxious and I botched the landing, caught the left leg of Frame on ground, flexed the cage and hoop into prop just as I gunned it. Destroyed net, hoop ,carbon tubes, Shorted MSC, bent motor mounts, broke off two pins for carbon tubes on frame. All fixed and flying again though.
I didnât get CG right.
I always disable throttle now when on final.
Even if flying again, you should update the SP to 5.6 or 5.7 to have the âGasâ mode which is a de-tunned âChillâ mode and has a more progressive acceleration.
What is your weight?
Gas mode ? This is the first Iv heard of it.
There is no gas mode but it the de-tunned chill mode - around here we sometimes call it gas mode as te acceleration from zero RPM is more gradual than the punchy Sport mode. The 5.6 and up version is smoother than the original chill modeđ I like it better for my students and now use it for myself as well after I updated the software.
Yep. Already updated throttle firmware before I flew it again. Before I even had everything fixed. Flies great now. Iâm at 185 lbs body weight, fly with a flight deck with Oudie Naviter, InReach, and a Large stearable reserve front mounted. Iâve got everything perfect now. Handles and flies great with 26 m Ozone Roadster 3. Iâm flying from a huge field now in New Roads La. While working out of state. Also flying my Miniplane Top 80 for some great XC flying along the Mississippi River. Lots of freshly harvested sugar cane fields to buzz, lots of Red tail hawks out thermalling too
Sounds wonderful!