I already own a 5 watt DC solar panel, to wire it correctly should the center of connector be positive or negative?
1187704
Usually the center connector is Positive. Use your DMM to determine the polarity.
1263912
Vincent. Ground wire should be connected to the same ground as 110V line in the panel. Take care DN
289546
From my panels, I go to a junction box. From the Junction I use #4 wires to my DC fuse box. From the fuses ( 4 at all) with #6 to each of my 4 inverters. But the final size depends of your distance from the Panels and the max supplied amps from the panels. Consult a certified electrician in your area...Hope this help..Shifu Castro
1478897
After looking at the drawing on the unit...the drawing shows that the positive wire of panel one and two goes to the first terminal (see the hump in the diagram). The first panel negative goes to the second terminal and the second panel negative goes to the third terminal. The reason for this configuration is to double the amps going from the 2 panels to the one battery. Still may have to use crimping terminals (spade or fork).
2083996
I just cut off the solar panel connector and installed bullet connectors. Just make sure you put the female side on the panel wires so there will be not accidental shorts. Has been working fine for almost 6 months now.
2132941
Either way is fine. I hard wired mine to the panel but had I had a 220v outlet close I would have gone that way.
2151889
If I remember, you can use either the positive or negative terminal. I connected to the positive side. You will need to purchase an additional cable Autozone). I used a 9" positive cable. I connected the positive cable from the battery to one side of the switch and the additional cable from the other side of the switch to the positive connection point. Did not have to touch the negative. Hardest part was creating a hole in the battery case (RV trailer) to locate the switch. It only took a few minutes to install and has worked without problems for a year. Hope this helps.
1600081
Exactly. These connectors are basically the same thing as the yellow, blue and red crimp and bullet connectors you buy at Home Depot, with rain shielding and a quick disconnect option. In other words, high resistance, boutique crap. If you are doing solar right, you are dealing with much more robust wire and connections. In order to get full power from panels, you need to make the shortest, fattest wire path possible, with the most solid connections. With even a few panels, I'd say 8 gauge wire and heavy screw lug connectors minimum. Invest in a good battery monitor that shows exact amp flow and use the feedback to build an efficient wire harness. Exactly. These connectors are basically the same thing as the yellow, blue and red crimp and bullet connectors you buy at Home Depot, with rain shielding and a quick disconnect option. In other words, high resistance, boutique crap. If you are doing solar right, you are dealing with much more robust wire and connections. In order to get full power from panels, you need to make the shortest, fattest wire path possible, with the most solid connections. With even a few panels, I'd say 8 gauge wire and heavy screw lug connectors minimum. Invest in a good battery monitor that shows exact amp... » Read More Exactly. These connectors are basically the same thing as the yellow, blue and red crimp and bullet connectors you buy at Home Depot, with rain shielding and a quick disconnect option. In other words, high resistance, boutique crap. If you are doing solar right, you are dealing with much more robust wire and connections. In order to get full power from panels, you need to make the shortest, fattest wire path possible, with the most solid connections. With even a few panels, I'd say 8 gauge wire and heavy screw lug connectors minimum. Invest in a good battery monitor that shows exact amp flow and use the feedback to build an efficient wire harness. « Show Less
700450
The center pin is negative and the outer rim is positive. Most DC power supplies are center-negative, but a few are center-positive so check the supply before you plug it in. There will be a diagram on the power supply telling you which configuration it is.
1479499
With a standard 12v DC adapter. Look on the PCB and you will see a + and - sign indicating the polarity.
714824
Center-tip-negative polarity is not the norm, easier to buy one here. You'll see one in the "customers...also bought" links--e.g. Planet Waves 9V Power Adapter, which has the polarity you need. Just make sure any adapter you use is "center tip negative".
2153851
This is a switch so you only want positive connections - one from the battery and the other from the load. These generally attach to the largest of the 2 studs and it normally doesn't matter which one the battery cable attaches to and which one the load cable attaches to. The 3rd terminal is for the Switch and often this terminal has an S next to it but not always. You shouldn't have to do anything with your negative cable(s) which should already be connected properly. If this is a brand new circuit then connect the negative cable from the load(motor,etc)to a negative bus bar or the negative terminal of the battery This is a switch so you only want positive connections - one from the battery and the other from the load. These generally attach to the largest of the 2 studs and it normally doesn't matter which one the battery cable attaches to and which one the load cable attaches to. The 3rd terminal is for the Switch and often this terminal has an S next to it but not always. You shouldn't have to do anything with your negative cable(s) which should already be connected properly. If this is a brand new circuit then connect the negative cable from the load(motor,etc)to a negative bus bar or the... » Read More This is a switch so you only want positive connections - one from the battery and the other from the load. These generally attach to the largest of the 2 studs and it normally doesn't matter which one the battery cable attaches to and which one the load cable attaches to. The 3rd terminal is for the Switch and often this terminal has an S next to it but not always. You shouldn't have to do anything with your negative cable(s) which should already be connected properly. If this is a brand new circuit then connect the negative cable from the load(motor,etc)to a negative bus bar or the negative terminal of the battery « Show Less
1581547
The meter is not symetrical, and one side must "face" the source of power, as outlined in the directions. Double check you have that right. From your description, I don't know how you have the panels wired. I would suggest you test only one panel at a time, and see if it produces 80% of it's rated power output when in direct sunlight and when the system is under a load. You could have a defective panel, a short, etc. (I'm assuming that you have already tested the meter using just the battery and a load and know it's okay)
1787884
The 12 volt negative would connect to the negative lead of the 12V accessory you are powering.
1056067
I have several solar panels. I started out with the MC4 connecters but found them both very un-reliable and hard to work with. I would lose power on a/some panels, trace the problem/s to the connectors (always). I simply replaced the line coming out of the panels with some long enough to run to weather proof plastic junction boxes, running the positive leads into one and the negative to the others. Out of those to my charge controller. Problems ended, and WAY lower cost than those MC4 connectors and the over priced branch connector un-reliable cables or over priced boxes.
306604
If there are only 2 (12 Volt) panels; you could put both wires in the "solar panel" connectors. For more panels I would suggest you get wire nuts. Wire nuts allow you to connect many panels together (in parallel) without any wires slipping out. The kind of wire nut is the bolt kind, a slotted screw with a nut to crimp a few wires together for a tight electrical bond. Have a thicker gage wire going from the wire nuts (+ & -) to the controller.
1263652
What are you using "load" for? I plugged the Schumacher solar panel into the "power" connector and the "load" connector is not used. If you are using the "load" connector for an accessory and polarity is important to you, examine the leads on this item. It shows the positive and negative terminals. The red wire is positive and the black is negative. http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-WM-12-Connector-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B003WDDLTO/ref=pd_sim_auto_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=17QWYESMERCBD397V2K6