XT60 hot glue strain relief

thingiverse

I use XT60 connectors on a lot of leads with thinner wires so I can power stuff like dinghy inflators and strings of 12v lights using standard LiPo batteries. Thinner wires tend to break on the connector at the solder joint, though. I'm aware of plasti-dip treatment but that's a bit messy and time-consuming, so I came up with making a mold to encase the XT60 connector where I can squirt hot glue into for a kind of strain relief. It still works well because the cable is stressed where it leaves the end of the relief. The results are pretty good if you get the glue gun as hot as possible then squirt the glue between the two wires first with a couple of firm squeezes on the trigger, and follow up with one squirt at each side of the wires to complete the joint. If you leave the glue to cool for a couple of minutes then trim the excess away with a knife, the results are fairly neat. The halves on my prints with eSun ABS come apart surprisingly easily and leave a nice joint. Sanding the mating surface of the XT60 improves the joint. I've found that the same mold works well for both male and female XT60 connectors. Print Settings: Printer Brand: Up! Printer: Up Plus2 Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Doesn't Matter Resolution: 0.15 Infill: Doesn't matter. Notes: I used ABS, not sure how well PLA will part from the hot glue.