Looking for wiping contact for Die Hard 19.2V Battery

Why not just contact the parts and service center and get the actual socket that the battery went into for the drill or what ever device it was intended to be used on?

Unfortunately, the sockets built into the tool are custom for each tool. They do not appear to be applicable for my needs. I would certainly use them if I could.

If you mean the contacts... the ones in the tools are designed to attach to a PC board in the tool. I really need screw terminals and would rather avoid having to build a PC board just to interface the contacts to screw terminals.

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Les

Square-D uses the type wiping contacts you describe in service disconnects etc..

or

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Amphenol-Tuchel/C702-10M008-230-4/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMv12%252brFPZJrWWzGH6aWVe3S8xvY%252bhWIg%2fY%3d

bwire,

I've been on vacation the last week, so sorry for the delayed response.

The connector that you linked to from the mouser catalog won't work for a number of reasons: it is a low-current digital signal connector that won't handle the power and, if it were larger, it is molded into the plastic connector housing and not accessible as an individual contact.

The Square-D (Schneider) connectors are unsuitable for the opposite reason: they are too big.

Thanks for the suggestions however,

Les

My suggestion is convert the charger portion into a stand alone charger with a mating plug such as a DC adapter plug. The battery used in your application can be charged 500+ times so why not solder wires onto the battery terminals and mate with your modified charger you choose the plug/jack connection. This is done in industry where Lithium batteries have wire terminals to solder into your low power circuit. I have one that I will be using for PICs. Why mess with wipe terminals that are non standard for your custom app. Just be careful not to apply too much heat and blow up the battery.

P.S. I have apps. for Li-ion where I have bought 1000maH 3.7V battery from China an also a charger module to charge them and they are non standard size so I am just going to wire them in and they should last a long time. Today I saw 3000maH batteries and the prices are quite reasonable. When the batteries do not hold a charge any more replace them after 500+ cycles which depending on your current budget should last a long time!

i agree with other posts on this. why not just add some sort of jack to battery pack, and use it to power whatever peripheral devices you would like. this way, no major modifications to original equipment, other than battery pack itself.

your peripherals could be equipped with a small whip/cord, with a plug that would fit the jack you build into the battery pack. just try to use a plug that would be different than some of the other devices in your life (not a good idea to use the 1/8" plug like your i-pod earbuds... talk about your booming bass!)

post a picture of whatever you end up using.

good luck

JB

Johnnybravo,

I have been on vacation the last week, so sorry for the delayed response.

As I mentioned to Maveric, using the stock battery without a transition assembly is one of the design goals. Since the battery will be used to power a mobile device, using the battery's own connector arrangement provides not only electrical connection but also a secure (enough) mechanical support as well.

Thanks for the suggestion however,

Les

Maveric,

I have been on vacation the last week, so sorry for the delayed response.

A design goal for this project is to use the battery unmodified. This gives me two benefits: It can simply be plugged into the stock Die Hard charger. The inherent quick-change capability is retained.

The project the adapter is intended to be used with is a remotely operated vehicle (a small robot) and the and the ability to quickly replace depleted batteries is important (rather than building the batteries into the unit and recharging them in place when they run low).

I considered building an extra transition assembly that would would use standard 1/4" female quick connect terminals to connect to the battery and more convienient connectors to connect to my device, but rejected that plan because it was inelegant. I wish to be able to just plug or unplug the stock battery without having to fiddle with a transition part.

Thanks for the suggestion however,

Les

Hello Les LaZar,

Interesting job you set yourself.

Welcome to CR4 it is a great site with enthusiastic and very clever Members who are very helpful! Firstly, let me congratulate you on one of the best explained requests I have ever seen, be it first or tenth try! Well done.

I see what you are looking to do and from the look of it, a normal 'kettle' socket and plug would do the job. If you can fit the female part onto your tool and the male part can be glued onto the illustrated battery pack after you first cut the two pin connection off. The plug I am talking of is the same, (at least in the UK) as the one used to connect a computer to the mains.

I may have missed something here, why does the wiped connector have to fit this particular socket? If you are using the battery to power lights etc, would it not be possible to either find an old drill or similar, or get the connector that is used on the actual drill or other cordless tools?

Do you still want to be able to use the battery to power your tools?

How about a 6 mm female spade connector? They can be insulated also. or left bear.

This is the address of the type of spade I am talking of: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kabelschuh_verschiedene_commons.jpg

=

I am still researching for you, but can you tell me does the terminal have to fit into a certain plug surround you have designed?

I am sending this in while I continue to look.

Take care and good luck!

Hi Les,

Here are some other spade terminals which fit ¼" (~6 mm)

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/media/gfdb4%2520agu.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wiringproducts.com/&usg=__2PXYls6siTFvXQiu9JF6Z6X4QxY=&h=332&w=432&sz=129&hl=en&start=73&sig2=-AqYVjwMgydLgOFCQC8iHQ&um=1&tbnid=2dAb6MGoqQOrkM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dquick%2Bconnect%2Belectrical%2Bterminal%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-gb%26sa%3DN%26start%3D63%26um%3D1&ei=klyaSrj-D8GvjAeKtaWkBQ

babybear,

The connectors that your link led to appear to be for cylindrical fuses.

Now, if I could find contacts designed for flat-terminal fuses, even if I had to destroy the fuse blocks to harvest the contacts, that might work. Unfortunately, I have yet to find connectors for flat terminal fuses that are not based on quick-connect (wrap-around) terminal designs...and thus, not appropriate for the blind-mating that I need.

Thanks for the suggestion however,

Les

Hello LL,

This site has all sorts of connectors including flat and round fuses. and all types of terminals.

My thought was to use the flat 'spade' type slide on terminals.

OK so they may not be what you are looking for and I am sorry for that.

I am still thinking but do not have a clear picture in my mind of what you plan. Sorry my friend.

I hope I think it is JohnDG can find what you want my friend.

Take care.

babybear,

I have been on vacation the last week, so sorry for the delayed response.

Thanks for the complement on the initial request. I knew what I needed would be hard to describe in simply text, so I took the time to design and render the critical elements. I figured that it would help those, like you, who were trying to help me.

Unfortunately, the standard female Q-C terminal is not appropriate to the blind-mate action that I am looking for.

As I mentioned above, the application requires that the battery be usable unmodified.

Thanks for the suggestion however,

Les

Hi LL,

Hope you had a nice break! OK?

Despite your explanations I cannot put together a picture. I can see the battery terminal to drew on CAD but I do not know where the connector will be on the mating part.

Take care.

Since you've drawn the battery in CAD, you can make a mating part to fit with 3D prototyping company like Redeye: http://www.redeyeondemand.com/

Pineapple,

I've been on vacation for the last week, so sorry for the delayed response.

While I could use 3D prototyping to get a part that is the right size and shape that I need, it is unlikely to be functional. This type of contact has to be made of a springy and relatively smooth material (nickel-plated spring steel would work as would phosphor bronze or beryllium copper). To my knowledge, 3D prototyping systems do not produce parts with the physical properties needed by a wiping electrical contact.

Even if a 3D printer could produce the parts, I suspect that they would not be cost-effective. I am still hoping to find stock contacts that can be used. If they are already tooled for production, they should cost only a few cents each in small (Q100) lots. I don't think that 3D printing is quite at that level yet.

Thanks for the suggestion however,

Les

Hello LLZ,

I think this has also been mentioned on another post, though I cannot see it now.

Is it feasible to find or buy second hand old tool that has the same battery fitting? Then use IT as the other half of the battery fitting so as to speak?

Just a thought?

Take care and please send a pic' of the final item?

Hi Babybear,

There are two problems with your suggestion. 1) The contacts in the tools that I have examined are mounted on PC boards that are parallel to the terminals in the battery (in general, the PC boards run up the tool handles). In my application, I prefer to have the mounting for the terminals perpendicular to the battery terminals in order to conserve space inside of the device (there is no handle or similar structure to provide space for a parallel PC board. 2) Even if I was willing to accept the space penalty of problem 1, I hope to build a bunch of these devices, so absorbing the cost of even a used tool (if I could get enough of them) for what should be a few cents worth of contacts, is not cost-effective. If necessary, I can make the contacts out of raw metal...I was just hoping to avoid that if something usable already exists as a stock item.

Right now I am looking at test clips from Grayhill and component spring clips from Seastrom.

Les

Hi LLZ,

I really appreciate your explanation post to me, thank you.

Can I assume you need no PC board then, or will you buy them to use in the correct orientation in your tools? So a simple slide fit will be OK?

Tale care.

Hi Les

If you go to www.newark.com & search for 66740 you will get a hit for a AMP/Tyco CPC connector power socket contact. If this contact looks like it might work for you then the AMP/Tyco site can be searched for the customer drawings & specifications. If you have troubles locating information on the AMP/Tyco site then you could contact them direct.

I would have posted a image however i do not know how to give a URL for my clipboard.

Doug

Hi Doug,

The Tyco CPC contact is close, but not quite there. These are the issues it has for my application:

1) It is designed for a thicker mating contact than the battery has. Its un-mated opening is 0.050". The battery contact is only about 0.030" thick. At best, the battery contact would be in contact with only one side of the Tyco contact. Worst case, it would not touch either side.

2) The Tyco contact is designed to be supported by the plastic CPC connector body. In my application I would have to crimp (or otherwise fasten) the contact to a threaded shaft in order to provide a mechanical mounting. Getting this arrangement secure and properly aligned would be a challenge.

3) Since I am expecting a large number of insertion/withdrawal cycles, I would have to go with the selective gold plating on the Tyco contact to mate with the Nickel-plated battery contact. I am not sure how durable the few micro-inches of gold would be after multiple wipes against a relative rough Nickel-plated surface. I am thinking that a Nickel on Nickel contact would be the most reliable.

Thank you for your suggestion,

Les

Les

I understand the problem with the CPC contact.

What about the contacts used on electrical power cords. Buy the connector & take out the needed contacts, fit your wires and pot with epoxy using the battery as a locating fixture. This might work ok for testing. There are many types of these connectors at home building centers & if you sprang for the higher quality ones the cost would still be reasonable. Most of these contacts use a screw to hold the wire & maybe this feature could be used to mount the contacts to a piece plastic as well.

Doug

Hi LLZ,

Hope you're well?

I have been thinking and I am still looking.

I have a couple of sites here. One is a series of images from a google search, and the other is more specific and may be able to make a small quantity for you. I am sending the 'prototype' page where they say they can make smaller amounts than the usual hundred of thousands.

See how you get on.

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&um=1&q=Female+Quick-Connect+%C2%BC%22+terminal&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=21

http://www.precisionmicro.com/category.php?cat_id=83&name=Prototype_Volume

I seem, to recall you mentioning a quantity you were thinking about, but, have you asked anyone for an estimate for making the quantity you need or not? And, this is where I am not sure what you are doing............ will you need a female plastic moulded fitting to mate with the Battery? The other thought is my original one of 'spade connectors', which are sold in three or four differing sizes and would have kind of 'pigtails' soldered on them for connection to the battery in your item.

Another thought is a similar fitting to the household or factory fuses which slide on and are very strong.

Can you let me know if any of this is even close to being of use please?

Good luck.