Faux-Powerpoles

I’ll admit it, I’ve drank the Anderson Powerpole kool-aid.  I like them.  I like the detent.  I really like the fact that they are genderless.  I like the fact that lots of other ham radio people use them.  I’m not that crazy about having only one supplier of them.  However, it looks like their is another alternative.  Tyco/AMP has its Power Series connectors that seem very similar to Powerpoles.  I’ve picked up a few to see if they are interchangeable.  One thing that I have not seen from them is PCB mount contacts.  Anderson does make those in 25 A and 45 A varieties.

Update 4 October 2010:

I got a few of the housings and they look like Powerpoles.  They’re the same size as the 15/30/45 A Powerpoles.  They do mate.  The dovetail on the outside has a slightly different width.  You can get them both to dovetail if you want to force it, but I wouldn’t recommend it.  The Amp contacts come connected to each other, so you have to remove each contact by either fatiguing the metal or using wire cutters.

Tyco/AMP contact with wings still attached

I also paired the housings together and they will mate with a pair of Powerpoles.

Powerpole (left pair) and Power Series (right pair) connectors mating. Why a blue housing you ask? Because the black ones were not in stock.

Will I be using the Amp parts any time soon?  Probably not, as I have plenty of Powerpole connectors right now and I use the PCB contacts.  When my current supply winds down, I may give them a try.