Understanding The Molex Picoblade Connector & JST PH Connector.

by John Salt 

The Molex Picoblade connector, also called "Pico Plug" along with the JST PH 2 pin connector are very small and have 1 & 2 Amp ratings respectively.

Picoblade & JST PH RC LiPo Battery Connectors

You'll see Picoblade and JST PH connectors primarily used on small micro single cell LiPo RC aircraft such as Blade's micro helicopters and Eflite's micro airplanes.

The 2 pin Picoblade is also a decent low cost connector for LED RC lighting systems or any other very low current application that needs a tiny, yet robust plug.

These are both very decent little connectors. You do however have to be very careful when soldering wires to the male connector pins as too much heat for too long will easily loosen the pins and they will then fall out very easily.

A little trick I will use if I do run into this problem is to put a very tiny drop of medium or thick CA glue on the base of the connector to keep the pin in place. Just make sure the glue doesn't wick all the way up the pin and insulate it (why I don't recommend thin CA).

The female connector pins on the other hand are crimped onto the wires and then slid into the connector housing so soldering heat is not an issue with them. 

JST PH Prewired ConnectorsPre-Wired Picoblade & JST PH Connectors Save Time & Sanity!

Most female Picoblade and JST PH connectors come with the wires already attached since not many RC'ers have the correct crimp tool, or the patience when working with these tiny pins. I know I don't!

There is actually much confusion circulating on the internet regarding all these micro connectors. This stems from each brand such as J.S.T. (Japan Solderless Terminal Mfg. Co.) having many different series of connectors, but many in the hobby just reference the brand name and associate it with a particular connector (eg. JST connector).

Moreover, each series of connector comes in an assortment of pin numbers ranging from 2 up to as high as 20. So to be correct at micro connector identification, you need to know both the brand's particular series designation and number of pins when ordering.

All these tiny connectors are also classified by a "pitch" number. This is the distance in millimeters from one pin center to the other. Molex Picoblade's for example have pins that are spaced 1.25mm on center. JST PH connectors have a pin spacing distance of 2.0mm on center. 

There is a fairly good J.S.T write-up on Wikipedia showing all the various series of JST connectors and links to the data sheet on each one.

There are also lots of "copies" of RC connectors of all types out there and this obviously leads to even more confusion because they are often called different names. It's quite frustrating to say the least!

Molex Picoblade Connector & JST PH Connector Links

Here are links to each connector type if you want to order some or just read up on the specifications:

Combination Picoblade & JST PH Para Board

Here's an item I have that I find very useful for parallel charging all my LiPo's that have Picoblade and JST PH plugs - The Micro ParaBoard. 

As you can see, it has both Picoblade and JST PH plugs to charge small capacity 1S LiPo packs that have these plug types. 

Just one word of caution when using the Micro Paraboard. Some higher power RC chargers won't detect when a tiny 1S LiPo pack is fully charged due to the high internal resistance they all have, and may overcharge the battery until it resembles a small cocktail wiener (don't ask how I know). 

I find I have to have at minimum of 3 packs plugged into this Micro Paraboard to work correctly; at least with my more powerful RC Chargers.

For more helpful RC connector information & soldering tips, please see my RC Battery Connector Page.

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