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Bruce
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Wollongong, Australia
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15-04-2018, 06:25 AM
1

Anderson Plugs for DIY

I mentioned them in another thread but thought you might be interested in Anderson plugs if you are not familiar with them. If you have a car, camper or caravan and you need to connect solar, fridges or any 12/24v DC appliance then these are ideal.

As you can see it is impossible to connect them the wrong way round. As I said they are ideal for connecting solar panels, fridges etc or anything than carries a few amps because they make a much better connection.



Personally if I can take the wires into my garage then I use solder (and a gas flame) to connect the wire to the connector but if it has to be done in situ (say, under the bonnet) I use a crimping tool.

There are plenty of Chinese copies which seem as good as the actual brand name connectors for a fraction of the price; I usually buy them in packs of 10.

The only thing you have to be aware of is that the different colours do not fit each other. I just stick with the grey ones.

If you do need to connect DC power in your car/caravan then these are far superior to the normal cigarette lighter socket. They end up being cheaper than a cigarette lighter plug, they make a really good connection, can't vibrate loose and it is impossible to connect them the wrong way round.





BTW When I changed the cigarette lighter plug on my fridge I just cut the wire a little away from the cigarette lighter plug and put an Anderson plug on both ends of the cut wire so that I could still use the fridge in a car which only had a cigarette lighter socket.
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15-04-2018, 09:26 AM
2

Re: Anderson Plugs for DIY

I see they are available in the uk.

https://www.altecautomotive.co.uk/an...ctors-62-c.asp
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15-04-2018, 09:54 AM
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Re: Anderson Plugs for DIY

These have been standard power connections, in Patterson Golf Buggies, for 10, or more, years.

Perhaps a little more expensive than the Chinese copies around.
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15-04-2018, 11:03 AM
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Re: Anderson Plugs for DIY

Not see them before Bruce wish we'd known about them when we were making our own camper vans !
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16-04-2018, 03:10 AM
5

Re: Anderson Plugs for DIY

Originally Posted by caricature ->
I see they are available in the uk.

https://www.altecautomotive.co.uk/an...ctors-62-c.asp
I would have been very surprised if they hadn't been. They are used in a lot of low voltage applications (actually I think one of the pictures I used was from a UK web site)

Originally Posted by Julie1962 ->
Not see them before Bruce wish we'd known about them when we were making our own camper vans !
They're not new Julie, they have been around since the 1950s (I think) but they have been so expensive. I think it was only when the Chinese started making cheap copies that they have been popular especially in the RV community and the outbreak of cheap solar.

Solar panels tend to have these bloody awful MC4 connectors which are fine if you don't want to disconnect things (and are careful to get the polarity right). Personally I just chop them off and put an Anderson plug in their place.

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16-04-2018, 09:28 AM
6

Re: Anderson Plugs for DIY

Aha now those I have seen and yes a pain.
 

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