Solar port - which is +, which is -

[KevK]

I'm going to put in a solar port on my trailer. I've seen some videos that say the Zamp port has the polarity of the terminals reversed from the standard. My panels and wiring is my own so as long as I'm consistent it will work for me but my question is, in the standard SAE solar port, which terminal is positive? The male or female connector?

I guess in the end, it doesn't matter as long as I mark them but it would be nice to go with the flow.

[KevK]

I think I found the answer to my question and it makes sense to me. If the connector is on the 'power side' of the connection, the positive is the female side of the connector. For the load side, the male is positive. This makes sense for negative ground systems as you want the positive of any power source protected in case it comes into contact with a ground.

Here is where I found the information.

http://sae2pin.com/2017/03/03/sae-2-...lack-polarity/

[UT_Grandpa]

My ZAMP connector was backwards so take a meter and verify the polarity. I bought a SAE extension at Autozone and cut in half. Then I could get the Red wire on the correct socket terminal.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by UT_Grandpa

My ZAMP connector was backwards so take a meter and verify the polarity. I bought a SAE extension at Autozone and cut in half. Then I could get the Red wire on the correct socket terminal.

That is what I saw on YouTube from an RV sales site is that Zamp does it backwards from the norm. However, it may be a grey area as I think the Zamp Solar port is really just a direct, and hence powered, line to the battery. So it can be used as a power outlet as well as a charging port. In my case I'm mounting the solar controller inside so the solar port isn't powered.

This is the video that brought on my original post:

https://youtu.be/X1V3OM-Z6Z8

The video didn't have the text overlay giving the polarity of the Zamp setup when I watched it on my mobile device. The overlay does show up on my computer. ;-)

[UT_Grandpa]

I wired a connector directly to my batteries (Red to the positive connection on battery 1 and black to the negative connector on battery 2). This by passes all the wiring inside the trailer and shortens the length to the battery. My charge controller has a pig tail to connect to this battery connector I added (used Anderson Powerpoles). My solar panel is on a 20 foot cable so I can keep it in the sun when parked in trees. So right now I am not using the ZAMP connector on the front of the trailer.

[clintbonnie73]

Originally Posted by UT_Grandpa

I wired a connector directly to my batteries (Red to the positive connection on battery 1 and black to the negative connector on battery 2). This by passes all the wiring inside the trailer and shortens the length to the battery. My charge controller has a pig tail to connect to this battery connector I added (used Anderson Powerpoles). My solar panel is on a 20 foot cable so I can keep it in the sun when parked in trees. So right now I am not using the ZAMP connector on the front of the trailer.

That is exactly how I wired mine solar panel system.. the Zamp wiring in too small.. you need #10 or #12 stranded wire for a good setup.. When the mfg says it is "Solar Ready", that is really stretching the truth.. IMO

[dmchapman]

Originally Posted by UT_Grandpa

My ZAMP connector was backwards so take a meter and verify the polarity. I bought a SAE extension at Autozone and cut in half. Then I could get the Red wire on the correct socket terminal.

That's exactly what I did but the didn't run my solar through it. It just serves as a 12V power outlet.