Is there a reason polarity is not standard?

[Bob1956]

Still a newbie trying to figure things out...
I purchased an Eco Delta and the MC4 charging cable that came with it has a positive male connector on the black wire and a negative female connector on the red wire. When I go search to find an adapter cable, the cables online all seem to have positive red wire connectors and negative black wire connectors. What is up with that? Why isn't there some standard ie. all red cables are positive?
I wanted to buy a few Rich Solar panels for my Eco, but their polarities on their panels are the opposite. What am I missing here?

 

[Diysolar123]

some connector specs have a "genderless" housing such as the anderson powerpoles which is why they are so popular. All that matters is that you get the red/black wired right.

some connectors have genders and the polarity is stamped on the connector(for example the XT90 plugs). It is STILL up to the user if you want the power source to be the male or female connector. While there is a common convention, its not a standard.

Many other connectors have "genders" (please no SJWs freak out over this, it just makes it easier to communicate!) but they have no +/- markings on them at all. FOr example XT150's have male/female plugs and different size housings...you can buy different colors or use the same color for everything and mix and match to your hearts content with regard to what plug goes in large housing and what goes in small housing. The only limits are same sex connectors cannot fit of course and same size housings cannot go together.

basicly everytime you build a power cable cable you need to know what the "convention" is for that device, and you need to follow that.
It can be confusing as the + and - on an MC4 cable is, well, useless hehe

Once you have decided on what YOUR convention will be, you just start cutting/rewiring as needed and make sure everything you wire up follows your convention so it is easy to make extension or know if something will easily plug in.

as I said, this is why ham radio operators love the 45amp or smaller anderson powerpole connectors; if you see another ham with a powerpole battery and you have a powerpole radio, it WILL plug in and work.
I have a LARGE bag of "adapter cables" hehe

 

[chrisski]

I think you found a good reason to start making your own cables by buying an MC4 crimper, some MC4 plugs, wire cutters and 10 gauge wire. After the first couple of crimps its amazingly simple and you can make cables for whatever you buy.

 

[Bob1956]

some connector specs have a "genderless" housing such as the anderson powerpoles which is why they are so popular. All that matters is that you get the red/black wired right.

some connectors have genders and the polarity is stamped on the connector(for example the XT90 plugs). It is STILL up to the user if you want the power source to be the male or female connector. While there is a common convention, its not a standard.

Many other connectors have "genders" (please no SJWs freak out over this, it just makes it easier to communicate!) but they have no +/- markings on them at all. FOr example XT150's have male/female plugs and different size housings...you can buy different colors or use the same color for everything and mix and match to your hearts content with regard to what plug goes in large housing and what goes in small housing. The only limits are same sex connectors cannot fit of course and same size housings cannot go together.

basicly everytime you build a power cable cable you need to know what the "convention" is for that device, and you need to follow that.
It can be confusing as the + and - on an MC4 cable is, well, useless hehe

Once you have decided on what YOUR convention will be, you just start cutting/rewiring as needed and make sure everything you wire up follows your convention so it is easy to make extension or know if something will easily plug in.

as I said, this is why ham radio operators love the 45amp or smaller anderson powerpole connectors; if you see another ham with a powerpole battery and you have a powerpole radio, it WILL plug in and work.
I have a LARGE bag of "adapter cables" hehe

Thank you. That is helpful.

 

[Bob1956]

I think you found a good reason to start making your own cables by buying an MC4 crimper, some MC4 plugs, wire cutters and 10 gauge wire. After the first couple of crimps its amazingly simple and you can make cables for whatever you buy.

Thank you. I do see why making your own cables would be the best idea.

 

[Deleted member 9967]

I always use red tape and black [or blue] tape to show which is positive and which is negative for me.
This prevents any blunders.
I tape the end that is going to be connected to something else.
This way i can use whatever wire I have handy.
Hope this helps.

 

[Bob1956]

I always use red tape and black [or blue] tape to show which is positive and which is negative for me.
This prevents any blunders.
I tape the end that is going to be connected to something else.
This way i can use whatever wire I have handy.
Hope this helps.

Thank you. That is a great idea!

 

[Rider]

Still a newbie trying to figure things out...
I purchased an Eco Delta and the MC4 charging cable that came with it has a positive male connector on the black wire and a negative female connector on the red wire. When I go search to find an adapter cable, the cables online all seem to have positive red wire connectors and negative black wire connectors. What is up with that? Why isn't there some standard ie. all red cables are positive?
I wanted to buy a few Rich Solar panels for my Eco, but their polarities on their panels are the opposite. What am I missing here?

The MC-4 connectors are confusing. The connector that looks like a male is actually the female, and vs versa. It's not the shape of the plastic part, it's the shape of the metal connector insert that makes it male or female. In the picture below, notice the metal ferrule is a female, although the plastic part looks male and is labeled "+".

 

[Bob1956]

The MC-4 connectors are confusing. The connector that looks like a male is actually the female, and vs versa. It's not the shape of the plastic part, it's the shape of the metal connector insert that makes it male or female. In the picture below, notice the metal ferrule is a female, although the plastic part looks male and is labeled "+".

View attachment 49879

Thanks, but you have me confused. I understand your point about the ferrule, but it seems like when I look for panels and cables online they consider the connector shape shown above as the "male." I will attach an example from Rich Solar (taken from their website).

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter what gender you call it as long as you get the polarity correct. But then the polarity marked on the connectors means much of nothing, either (according to diysolar 123...see above). I just do not understand why solar things don't have some kind of standard. I do not understand why DIYers have to do checks on things like polarity...make them standard and this would not be an issue.

 

[Rider]

I will attach an example from Rich Solar (taken from their website).

That diagram is incorrect.

MC4 connector - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[iamrich]

Just make sure you are checking polarity (every time) with a multi meter. Even with a rock solid industry standard (MC4 is as close as you will get for that), there is still nothing preventing a mfg from putting the connectors on the wrong wires (colored or otherwise). A lot of the mfgs are small and in some cases just getting into solar and have no standards set internally which means as long as they get two connectors on there, they feel they have succeeded...

This is why you pay through the nose for UL rating. UL (usually) gets you the correct polarity and ratings.

 

[Rider]

there is still nothing preventing a mfg from putting the connectors on the wrong wires (colored or otherwise)

Or the end user/installer. I know I've done it by accident when I was learning.

 

[Bob1956]

That diagram is incorrect.

MC4 connector - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And therein lies the problem for newbies. I saw many diagrams just like the one I posted incorrectly labeling the male/female connectors. It is difficult to learn things when the information you find conflicts with the truth!
I do appreciate your help.

 

[Rider]

To take this a step further, you'll find a female connector on a positive wire often. This is done so if the connector is pulled apart, there isn't a live protrusion that could accidentally hit something or a ground. A female connector is more 'protected' from accidental shorting. It's kind of like the outlet in your house. The wall outlet would be a real danger if it had male protrusions. In the case of the MC-4, kinda hard to short either end, the metal parts are recessed.

In my mind, there are only two reasons to keep MC-4 connectors on a solar panel wire: 1) cutting it off will void the warranty. 2) It's a portable or semi-portable system that required disconnects.

If a panel is permanently mounted and you don't care about the warranty, cut it off and hard wire everything.

 

[Bob1956]

I just looked at the Ecoflow Delta directions for connecting to a "non-MC4 connector solar panel." But aren't the photos in these directions showing a solar panel WITH MC4 connectors? And in step one, the connectors are labeled incorrectly gender-wise. By step 3 (red print), Ecoflow refers to the gender of the connectors correctly. Right?
Sheesh. It is no wonder newbies sometimes struggle with this stuff.

 

[Rider]

Like iamrich stated above, a multimeter is your friend. Check and verify each wire for polarity, and then wire accordingly. Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

[Supervstech]

A big reason why mc4 polarity convention is source direction... panels may have male positive, but the feeders would be female, and also positive. So, the other end will be male again, making he charge controller need female on the positive... unless there is a combiner box in the middle, now changing again to female on positive...
clear as mud?

 

[Deleted member 9967]

And therein lies the problem for newbies. I saw many diagrams just like the one I posted incorrectly labeling the male/female connectors. It is difficult to learn things when the information you find conflicts with the truth!
I do appreciate your help.

I suffered from that a lot at the beginning. Caused a lot of friction because one said this and another said that. And I got it in the middle looking like a jerk.

One more reason I try to read a lot as well and learn from others mistakes.

 

[Bob1956]

A big reason why mc4 polarity convention is source direction... panels may have male positive, but the feeders would be female, and also positive. So, the other end will be male again, making he charge controller need female on the positive... unless there is a combiner box in the middle, now changing again to female on positive...
clear as mud?

Yes, definitely clear as mud!

 

[Bob1956]

I suffered from that a lot at the beginning. Caused a lot of friction because one said this and another said that. And I got it in the middle looking like a jerk.

One more reason I try to read a lot as well and learn from others mistakes.

I am definitely doing a lot of reading...and I know that "looking like a jerk" feeling, too. Thanks.