Power system help (Speed control/battery to two outputs)

[Flag Captured]

Sorry for littering the board with help threads, but I could really use a hand to make sure I get this right!

I've got a Turnigy 4S 5000mah battery (http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=35831) and a pair of BotBitz 85As (wholly recommend by the way!)- how exactly should I wire the battery up to both of these? I know it's both red wires on the speed controllers up to the red on the battery, likewise for the black (+/- respectively) but something went wrong with my last setup and it's shook my confidence slightly. Even more so now that I've got a good £100 worth of Speed Controllers that I'd rather not blow up!

Thanks in advance, and sorry for all these help threads!

[shakesc]

Basic wiring would be something like

[Flag Captured]

Ah, great - thanks! Are there any do's and don'ts when connecting it all? My last setup for whatever reason kept sparking on the contacts on the battery (though never shorted out as far as I'm aware)

[shakesc]

Make sure you use the male and female connectors the right way around
i.e. the connector on the battery the pins should be fully shielded so there is no chance of shorting

If you use something like a Deans connector (personally prefer XT60 and XT90's) then use heat shrink at the back to protect the terminals.
Secure the wiring so it can't chafe - use spiral wrap of similar if required.

[leorcc]

Sparking when putting the link in is quite normal, when the capacitors of your ESC charge up the current draw can cause a spark. When voltage goes up so does the intensity of the spark.

With high voltage high capacity packs (> 36V) it is therefore quite common to use a spark eliminator that also protect the ESC from damaging. Basically it is just a matter of connecting a smaller wire with a resistor in line first, allowing the capacitors to charge up at a slower rate. Once charged, the potential on the battery and ESC side is the same, no more spark when linking up. Keep in mind that the robot is basically armed once the spark eliminator is in place, so do not do this in the pits but make it a part of the linking procedure.

For robots this is normally not done, but once you start with 10+ cell lipos it is not a bad idea to start thinking about it to save the ESC's. On 6 cell lipos I normally don't bother.

[Flag Captured]

Ahh, thanks!
The ones I use are these weird blue ones I've never actually seen used before, they look like these - http://www.dhgate.com/product/dhgate...FePHtAodQy4APg but I might look into some of those XT90s - the reason I ask about anything going wrong is because my battery sparked something chronic when I was plugging it in the last time I used it, almost as if it was shorting out (but it wasn't from what I can see) - like, rapid bright white flashes on the contacts in the connector (didn't have a link at that point) and the wiring's insulation all melted together/unsoldered itself - The only thing that changed for it to spark as intensely as that was that I'd clipped the wires to one of the ESCs, which might have caused it but naturally I'm a bit cautious now!

I'll definitely look into a spark connector though at some point too, looking into those higher cell LiPos, familiarising myself with it early on can only be a good thing! Thanks for the help!