NAPA autoparts power distribution

Vito on RCGroups noted this item for use as a power distribution connector:

I was looking around NAPA autoparts and saw this. The 16-14 gauge fits the RCTimer 30A controller and it has a center hole to solder the battery lead. Two per package - and it is riveted so no screw to loosen. I'm not sure if I will solder or crimp. 

Very light power distribution

rinatka at rcgroups has an idea for light-weight power distribution for this setup: plush 6a, 18-11 2000kv motor, 5x3 prop.

John Bernard's Power Distribution

Via the CrashCast, an interesting way to solder up a multi-ESC power distribution system by John Bernard.  It uses a short length of brass tubing to splice the wires together.  It looks quite tidy, and Crash Hancock liked the results when he tried it out.

It's written up in a PDF here.

Power Distribution Spider

Dontenorio69 has a nice power distribution "spider" wiring system documented on youtube.  Not only is it very nice, but his narration is good too.  I hope he makes some more videos!

Update: Wago Connector for Power Distribution

As promised, here's an update on using a Wago 222-415 5-wire connector for power distribution.

Executive summary: seems to work pretty well!  And eliminates lots of soldering.  The soldering itself isn't bad, but the bundle of soldered wires are big and bulky, and lose their flexibility where they're soldered.

Heres a close-up of the device.  You lift the clamp up, insert your wires, and close the clamp.  You will need two connectors, one each for hot and ground.

There's a couple of good vendors on ebay selling them.  I bought a box to reduce shipping.  If you would like a pair of these for $5.00 including shipping, send me a note at my email under the "About" entry under "Interesting Things".  I'll confirm with you that I still have some, let you know my paypal, and send them out.

As noted in a previous post, this genius idea was by Lenz Grimmer, who has a very nice flikr set of his quad build.

I'm still interested in learning more about power distribution.  My collected survey of systems is here.

EC5/4xEC3 power distribution harness

Here's a nice power distribution harness by nanobug at the aeroquad forum.  Input is an EC5, outputs are 4 EC3's.

Power Distribution via screw terminals

The Flying Breadboard: "Another small problem was the power distribution. We had to get power from 1 battery to 4 engines, so we created a splitting system made from 6 screw terminals. More work on that (including connecting the lipo) will follow later this week."

ArduCopter power distribution PCB for Quad setup

DIY Drones:
"First users need to put some soldering paste on center traces, this way we can drive currents over 40 Amps. Thickness needed for 30 amp constant currents is at least 0.5 millimeter of soldering paste (like on PCB at center). This is essential otherwise board cannot handle current surges."

Drawing for a simple Power Distribution Board

RC Groups: "very simple : 2 or 4 pads on a pcb, minus from the battery on one (or two) positive on the other one (or two) and then all escs are connected to the pads using solder.
Simple, neat and fail-proof"

cncguns power distribution board

RC Groups post: "i am going to be using cncguns power distribution board since we are both using the same frame/quad setup/design. some people stated that the pcb traces needed to be built up w/ solder for the A needed for the quad. i did a solder paste/flow and wanted to get your opinions if i built up the traces enough - i added ~.025' of thickness to the traces. the more i use solder paste the more i can't believe i waited so long to use it"

Read the whole thing, it's got several pictures of how to do this.

ghetto PC board: sand off the copper layer!

ArduPirates build: "Ideally, the power distribution board should have been made like PCB's are usually done. But I did not want to meddle with FeCl and the long preparation process (may be I'll do it some day). So I sanded off copper layers with Dremel except two square areas."

off-the-shelf Power Distribution boards and harnesses

kkmulticopter.kr:  $7.00
"Switch included.  Thickness: 1.6mm
Switch slot length: 7mm  Hole distance: 45mm
Weight: 12g
This kit is compatible with MikroKopter components."

aeroquad: $17.95
"Very simple, yet solid power harness design for you to confidently put your quadcopter design together.  This has four power/ground wires for each of your motors, plus one plug for your Arduino / AeroQuad Shield and two additional plugs for things like powering external LED's.  The blue plugs are EC3 connectors which includes 3.5mm bullet connectors with the blue plastic hood.  All mating connectors are provided to give you a complete solution."

jdrones: $12.00
"Power Distribution for Quad Copters
Includes:
    * Power Distribution PCB (Rev.D)
    * 20 Pin 90 deg Pin header
    * 4 pin 20 awg signal cable
    * 2 pin 20 awg signal cable"

Using XT60's for power distribution

dalswede on rcgroups has a nice post on his quad.  Here's his XT60-based power distribution unit, future-proofed as he notes for a hex.

WAGO 222-415 connector for power distribution

Here's a nice flickr set by Lenz Grimmer for his quad build.  He is distributing power using Wago connectors and credits Christof Glückler for the idea.  Genius!!

The 5-connection unit is WAGO 222-415.  They also sell 2 and 3 connection units.  There's a couple of people selling them on ebay.