How to Assemble Anderson Powerpole Plugs?

2024-02-21

Putting the Anderson powerpole connector housings together and then putting the connector pins in makes it easier to assemble, especially when using heavy paired wire.

Before soldering or crimping the contacts to the heavy paired wire, adjust the orientation of the contacts so that they all face the correct direction so that they can enter the housing without twisting the wires.

The plastic shells are connected together by a dovetail joint. Be sure to slide these joints together! If you try to piece them together or separate them, they will be damaged and they will only slide in one direction.

Slocable recommends the use of slotted retaining pins, no one wants to fall off during use. If your application is important and you want the pairing to be permanent, you can use Crazy Glue to fix the connector body together.

There is only one way for the contacts to enter the housing. When the contacts are inserted, their sharp edges point downwards against the flat springs in the housing, they should slide in and make a clicking sound. If you don’t hear a clicking sound or are not fully seated, please fix them. When they are fully inserted, you should notice that the contacts and their wires are slightly “floating” within their housing. When viewed from the front of the housing, the tip of the contact should slide over the top of the inner hose spring. This is the clicking sound that you hear.

Be careful when crimping. You may make the contact out of round, and it will not slide into the contact easily. This situation may occur with different types of crimpers and different specifications of wires. To resolve this situation, you may need to rotate the contact 90 degrees from the original crimping direction and then re-crimp using the original crimping tool or pliers. In any case, you need to make the body of the contact round again so that it can slide in the housing.

Note: If the contacts are too wide after welding or crimping, you will not be able to insert them into the housing!

Gently pull the assembled connector to ensure that the contacts are locked in place. If it is difficult for you to lock the contact into the housing, you may have squashed the contact and deformed it. Looking at the side profile of the contacts before and after crimping, you may need to bend them back before inserting them into the housing.

When soldering contact pins, be careful not to use too much solder. Keep the solder inside, which is the position of the wires. If a blob of solder enters the outside of the connector body, it may not be possible to put the contacts in the housing. If you get solder onto the contact surface, you will not be able to achieve good contact.

When crimping contact pins, use a crimper, which completely contains the wire in the pin and does not separate the connector. A good crimping means that the size of the crimped part does not exceed the uncrimped pins. If the crimp is flattened out, you will not be able to easily push the pin into the body. If you bend the contact blade relative to the crimping area, you should straighten it before placing it in the body.

Finally, make sure that the polarity is correct before plugging in the device.