Kato / tamia rc electrical connectors

[cteno4]

Hey does anyone know the manufacturer of the 2 pole electrical connectors kato uses? They are the same as the tamya rc battery connectors. I did a search a few years back to see if any molex connectors matched but found none. I’ve gotten some Chinese knock offs on ebay, but they were just a tad large on the male parts and required some sanding but never were great. Maybe they are AMPs? 

 

Just wondering if any of the Japanese Ttrak club’s might have sourced them to buy them in bulk. Some ttrakers here in the states are making a bunch of cables (I thin k for the big upcoming national show where they are going for the world record in length again) and needs to buy a pile of them. The real tamays are not cheap and usually have wires attached. Would be great to source them thru a real electronics source that has the same ones kato uses.

 

jeff

[Kiha66]

There was some discussion about this recently on trainboard, seems Kato uses their own modified version of the tamiya mini dc connector.  While tamiya's female connector is compatible, the male one apparently has squared edges that do not fit in the Kato female plugs.  I suspect Kato may have done this on purpose.  

http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/kato-unitrack-n-scale-track-discussion.107698/page-11#post-1050266

[kvp]

Imho the mini Tamiya connectors seem to be matching with the Kato ones. One square and one round peg:

https://www.componentshop.co.uk/leads-and-connectors/leads/mini-tamiya-lead.html

[cteno4]

Yes the tamya rc connectors are identical in my experience, the fit smoothly and look the same in all regards, thus I presume they are sourced from the same connector manufacturer. Folks have long assumed that it was a molex as they make a scad of very similar ones. But no one has ever presented a molex part number and I could not find one.

 

i think the ones that the trainboard guy is mentioning may be the knockoff Chinese ones that are very cheap, but the males need a tad of sanding to fit. I have (and others) have gotten tamya connector to work fine with the kato, but they are usually with leads and $1-2 a set.

 

on ebay these knockoffs get listed as tamya mini connectors but they are not quite right.

 

the hope is both tamya and kato source from the same connector manufacturer and that can be sourced as I unassembled parts in bulk at decent prices for folks doing big trunk cables and conversion cables (many clubs now use power poles like ntrak).

 

its crossed my mind as well that kato designed their own and had a bunch of jackets made (simple for them with all the plastics manufacturing they do) as they could use standard metal insert pins and sockets. This way they force folks to buy their extension cords... Maybe tamya licensed it from them for the same purpose...

 

Jeff

[katoftw]

I tried a few different types listed as Tamiya but nothing fitted 100% correctly.  I decided to use my own wiring system and just use a modified Kato extension cord.  On end as my wiring, and the other end the original to plug into a Kato throtte.

[kvp]

The Tamiya ones are made by Tamiya, they are a plastic moulding company. Both Kato and many japanese RC and airsoft makers buy from them. Actually even Kato built in sockets seem to be a wired variant mounted in the plastic Kato cases.

 

Personally i just do what katoftw and make my own wiring and use the plugs when i have to connect to a Kato throttle or switch.

[cteno4]

Kvp,

 

Any info on where you got the info that tamiya makes them themselves and others buy from them? Just trying to track down the actual manufacturer and if that’s tamiya it’s good to know. That means they are just jacking up the price a bit on them and if not giving a good deal to others then why kato extensions are priced as they are. Connectors is one part ive seen a lot of manufacturers use a standard component from another company even when they make stuff similar as standard connectors get made in huge quantities and can usually be had very cheap so easier and cheaper than rolling their own unless an unusual design needed.

 

i agree I never use them myself anymore except to plug into a kato power pack. This is in response to someone having to make a lot of connections and adapters for a huge Ttrak setup. Old standard (and still for many clubs) is to use kato power connectors so you need trunk busses or converter cables to other connector standards to hook in all those modules. They need a pile of the kato/tamiya connectors, hensentrying to source them from the manufacturer and in unassembled form.

 

jeff