Converting from mini-Tamiya to Deans...

[RostokMcSpoons]

Hi ho!   

Well it's been a while but I'm expecting to go to a skirmish or CQB session for :checks notes: the second time this year, I think.
And to celebrate this I went a bit bonkers and bought another gnu.  Yay!    I couldn't resist a nice little Cyma AK74SU that the previous owner anointed with Adidas stripes and some (no doubt) amusing pro-Ukraine Cyrillic text, from Action Hobbies boneyard 
I guess it's one of the older Cyma's, it's got the metal body but plastic handguard, and (damn it) mini Tamiya battery connector.   All my stuff is Deans, so I've got the soldering iron out... 

I've done this job before but I think I made an educated guess and got lucky last time - this time I've got no batteries I can afford to bin, I don't want to trash my new gnu, and both wires are grey so I need help with which side of the tamiya connector is which, in the Cyma world.    

Please help an old man

 

[Austeyr]

Could you not make a deans to tamiya converter in case you end up in the same situation again in the future? lol

 

[Galvatron]

In terms of the terminals on the mini-Tamiya connector, the circle would be the red cable and the square would be the black cable so if you were converting it to Deans, the cable from the circle terminal of the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the horizontal part of the Deans "T" whereas your square terminal cable from the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the vertical part of the Deans "T".

 

[EDcase]

This is my home-made adaptor so I know its the right way around

View attachment 154124

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Could you not make a deans to tamiya converter in case you end up in the same situation again in the future? lol

Well I suppose I could    But often cabling space is at a bit of a premium (and it is a bit in this case) so I prefer to make it all 'go native'

This is my home-made adaptor so I know its the right way around

View attachment 154124

In terms of the terminals on the mini-Tamiya connector, the circle would be the red cable and the square would be the black cable so if you were converting it to Deans, the cable from the circle terminal of the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the horizontal part of the Deans "T" whereas your square terminal cable from the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the vertical part of the Deans "T".

Cheers guys - thanks

 

[EDcase]

Using an adaptor in game is pointless because you're losing the benefit of the better contact from the Deans connector.

I only use the adaptor to test a new pew before soldering on a Deans.

In terms of the terminals on the mini-Tamiya connector, the circle would be the red cable and the square would be the black cable so if you were converting it to Deans, the cable from the circle terminal of the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the horizontal part of the Deans "T" whereas your square terminal cable from the mini-Tamiya would be soldered on to the vertical part of the Deans "T".

Er, I think that's wrong if I'm reading it correctly

+ is Red and - is Black

So your description of the Tamiya is correct but the Deans is the other way around.

 

[Gunboat Diplomat]

I couldn't resist a nice little Cyma AK74SU that the previous owner anointed with Adidas stripes

Ha - so it was you who bought that one!

As an aside to this thread for anyone who stumbles by, be careful if ordering any Mini-Tamiya to Deans converters from eBay/Amazon/AliExpress etc.  Most (if not all) of these are aimed at the RC Car market, where the polarity is reversed so you'll need to swap the wires for airsoft use.

(Or just snip and solder on a Deans plug as above which is infinitely more sensible) 

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Success!   The beast is ALIVE

cheers all


 

Ha - so it was you who bought that one!

(I'll add a couple of pics here)

Indeed.  Being a fan of the gun in the Battlefield games etc, I had to get one of these stubby AKs eventually.   This one has the 'interesting' customised paintwork.  I knew I wouldn't mind an excuse to get the old rattle cans out again, so that didn't bother me.  Neither did it being semi-auto only, as it'll be for CQB.
If you're wondering, the long bit of Cyrillic text reads "Russian warship, f*ck yourself"    And the short bit on the other side is 'glory to heroes', along with a 'Slava Ukraini'.
The Adidas stripes and logo might be a bit much, but I'll probably keep it all like this until my daughter's Bulgarian boyfriend has had a go with it!