Which connector is male and which is female?

[edurbrow]

Which connector is male and which is female? Which goes to positive and which goes to negative? I'm very confused because some solar web sites call the connector that looks like a jack, male and some call it female. Also, YouTube videographers conflict. Looking at the metal parts that go inside the plastic housing, the larger metal tube, which one would assume is the female, goes into the plastic connector that looks like a male body part.


So is male/female reckoned by the outside appearance or inside structure? And, does the male connect to the + or - side of the panel?



This site illustrates the plastic housing which looks like a male body part and calls it female. https://www.leadergroup-cn.com/how-t...onnectors.html

This site says put the male into the female and in the video names them according to their outward appearance. https://www.prostarsolar.net/support...ng-cables.html


This site illustrates the plastic housing which looks like a male body part and calls it female and says it is positive!

https://marinehowto.com/installing-solar-mc4-terminals/

[Ampster]

Yes it is even more confusing because the crimped part that goes inside the female clip actually looks like a male part. Easy enough to remember until you are up on the roof and you put a female part where a male part is supposed to go.

[Mike90250]

The connector gender is determined by the conductive core, not the plastic shell.

[littleharbor]

The connector gender is determined by the conductive core, not the plastic shell.

And to confuse matters even more the positive output on most solar panels is the female connector

[edurbrow]

And to confuse matters even more the positive output on most solar panels is the female connector

So it is kind of a double negative or positive: positive is not the one that doesn't look positive. So the outwardly appearing male is really female but is the positive output. Got it. Thanks a lot.

[Mike90250]

And to confuse matters even more the positive output on most solar panels is the female connector

Why is that confusing ? Electrons flow from neg to pos. (see Edison Effect & electron flow). There is a positive connector & a negative connector.
Just because an incorrect assumption in labeling was made hundreds of years ago, does not mean it's correct.
Electrons flow - to + Holes move + to -

https://www.douglaskrantz.com/ElecElectricalFlow.html

ElectronAtomicFlow.gif

[bcroe]

Note that the connector is designed to be daisy chained, so at the end the same connector used as the
energy source positive is used as a load negative terminal. And visa versa.

As for the plastic MC4 Assembly & Disassembly Tool, I use them for assembly, but got tired of them
breaking on disassembly, and the width needed was not well standardized. I made a couple
different width metal tools to solve the problem. Bruce Roe

[bcroe]

Why is that confusing ? Electrons flow from neg to pos. (see Edison Effect & electron flow).

That is a goof picture, the electron you push into one end of a wire probably is not the same one coming
out the other end. I think of them as a crowd packed into a big room. As more are pushed in somewhere,
others will find any available escape paths somewhere else, not limited to just one path. Bruce Roe

[qrper]

Why is that confusing ? Electrons flow from neg to pos. (see Edison Effect & electron flow). There is a positive connector & a negative connector.
Just because an incorrect assumption in labeling was made hundreds of years ago, does not mean it's correct.
Electrons flow - to + Holes move + to -

https://www.douglaskrantz.com/ElecElectricalFlow.html

ElectronAtomicFlow.gif

Quick silly story.

I was involved with a client that was putting up a 10Kw wind turbine. He purchased this from a scam artist in Florida. It had to 'water pumper' types blades on it. One on each end with the opposite end slightly smaller. The thing looked like a coffin with a turbine on each end. The idea was (and this guy took it in sinker and line) was that two turbines would extract ALL the wind power and thus double the power.

There were two PM generators, one on each end, and wires went into two large (200A) diodes. The owner, having read that electrons go from neg to pos decided that the diodes had to be installed BACKWARDS. The instructions were correct, but this guy's thinking was 180 deg out of whack.

After spending $$$$$$$ on this system, the first time the brake was released, the whole shebang went up in smoke. The batteries drove the windmill backwards as the wind tried to turn the blades the opposite direction.

I'm mike

[littleharbor]

Quick silly story.

I was involved with a client that was putting up a 10Kw wind turbine. He purchased this from a scam artist in Florida. It had to 'water pumper' types blades on it. One on each end with the opposite end slightly smaller. The thing looked like a coffin with a turbine on each end. The idea was (and this guy took it in sinker and line) was that two turbines would extract ALL the wind power and thus double the power.

There were two PM generators, one on each end, and wires went into two large (200A) diodes. The owner, having read that electrons go from neg to pos decided that the diodes had to be installed BACKWARDS. The instructions were correct, but this guy's thinking was 180 deg out of whack.

After spending $$$$$$$ on this system, the first time the brake was released, the whole shebang went up in smoke. The batteries drove the windmill backwards as the wind tried to turn the blades the opposite direction.

I'm mike

Dont'cha just hate it when that happens?