When I first started off racing radio controlled cars, one thing that the hobby shops owners never told me is that the standard connectors that come on battery packs will eventually melt. This like so many other secrets are for some reason with-held from you, you can see that they know more than they let on even as they take your money. I don't know why this hobby shop phenomenon exists, or even if it's just my imagination, but I always get the feeling that as they ring up my purchase they are thinking... you'll be back soon... go figure.

Deans are also know as Ultra-plugs, which is the official name, but deans is the more common.

Anyway Deans plugs are the one thing that you should, as I mentioned the standard connections will eventually get very weak from the heat and stop making a good connection, this can be a problem to troubleshoot as it can be very intermittent when it starts. It's best to attach ultra-plugs to your NiCd or NiMH battery as soon as you buy them, better still if they come pre-attached.

You need to be able to use a soldering iron to connect the deans, most hobby shops will help you out if your too young or can't do a good job of it. Soldering takes a bit of practise, but it's not a difficult skill to pick up and anyone can do it. The tools are inexpensive and if you are involved in radio controlled cars or other hobbies you'll need one eventually.

When I eventually figures out that ultra-plugs are a must I went back to the hobby shop (again) and the hobby shop man, a.k.a. "The Simpsons comic book shop guy" Sold me two different colour sets of deans plugs, no problem surely an ultra-plug is an ultra-plug. I mean they are the same size and everything... but "you'll be back..." for some unknown reason the different coloured ultra-plugs just don't seem to fit as well with each other, so it's fine if you have red to red or black to black, but red to black just doesn't gel as well as it should.

On a final note one great trick which I only learned recently is that when you solder the deans plug, keep it attached to it's pair, this helps keep the pins aligned, as the heat might melt the casing and they shift slightly.

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