🔋Battery Wiring Guide

General Battery Rules

1. DO NOT handle a battery by the leads

2. DO NOT plug a battery into another battery (use pink anderson ends, or add a colorful spot on the battery and not on the charger)

3. Battery beak EVERY battery (https://store.ctr-electronics.com/battery-beak/)

4. 1. Battery should be 12.5-13.5V before a match straight off the charger

5. If you have no charged batteries (see above), ask another team - many teams will loan batteries

Minimum Specs

• Leads must be copper, min. 6 AWG, max. 12” long, color coded for polarity, must have Anderson SB connector

• • Connector Only: https://www.andymark.com/products/sb-50a-app-connector-with-contacts

  • Prewired: https://www.andymark.com/products/6-gauge-battery-cable?Insulation%20Type=Flexible%20EPDM%20(am-4483)&quantity=1

Assembly

• Red (postive (+) terminal); black (negative (-) terminal)

• Use a #10 or M5 nut and bolt

• Connection must be completely covered (heat shrink or electrical tape)

Helpful Hints

• Higher strand count wire is easier to route, and has a higher fatigue limit (ex. 84/25 or 259/30)

• replacing the bolt with stronger steel

• Add a functional lock washer (ex. #10 star washer or nordlock washer system) (only use 1 style lock washer per connection)

• • Nordlock washers: https://www.mcmaster.com/nord-lock-washers/

• Use a nylock nut

• Have at least 6 batteries in rotation

Battery Charger example

• https://www.andymark.com/products/battery-charger-3-bank-6-amp-dual-pro-rs3-with-sb-50a-connectors

• https://www.andymark.com/products/battery-charger-1-bank-6-amp-dual-pro-rs1-with-sb-50a-connector

• 
• Convenient to have on wheels for transport

Additional Resources

• https://docs.wpilib.org/en/stable/docs/hardware/hardware-basics/robot-battery.html

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/18PGDfuLh26kURBMiwVEF4ygojsajCF2G/view

• Awesome Battery Dressing CD Post