SAE Connectors, polarity?

MidLife

MidLife

Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
1,847
Location
Houston, Tx
Bike
2012 ST1300
Am looking at a bike with a long SAE connector lead from the battery to the front, but not connected to anything. Looks like a lead you'd be tempted to use for power to the tank bag (it is tied to a Gerbings lead).

However....it also looks like it could be the line the PO was using for connecting his battery tender....no idea why it is routed to the front the way it is.

Does it mean it would take a reverse polarity SAE plug (+ fuse) on this line to actually use it for power to the bag ?
 
If it is in fact going to the battery properly then the covered pin should be hot and the exposed pin should be ground. There should also be an in-line fuse holder near where it connects to the battery on the hot lead. So it should be good to put power to the tank bag. Likely used for a Battery Tender. Where is the Gerbings cable in this? That's not clear. I used to have Gerbings heated gloves so am familiar with the Gerbings connections. Mine was a direct connect to a fuse block.

You say the cable is connected to the battery and runs to the front. Have you found the actual SAE connector?
 
rjs987 said:
You say the cable is connected to the battery and runs to the front. Have you found the actual SAE connector?
Click to expand...
Yes, the SAE connector is right there, by the tank. Coming from the battery, the lead is zip tied to a Gerbings lead that also ends by the tank, next to the SAE connector.

The Gerbings connector is a power source, so it is tempting to think that the SAE that is zip tied to it could be used for power as well, but am not sure about reverse polarity if the line was originally intended for a battery tender.
 
TerryS said:
A voltmeter will answer your question. The exposed pin should have 0V to ground, and the concealed pin should have 12V to ground.
Click to expand...

Yes. That's what it is.

I have a bag of spare SAE leads, some with the red wire to the protected pin and some red to the exposed one.

So I suppose the ones with red to exposed are to be used attached to the "consumer item"?
 
rjs987 said:
There should also be an in-line fuse holder near where it connects to the battery on the hot lead. So it should be good to put power to the tank bag.
Click to expand...

Tender leads I've used in the past were fused....the one on this bike is not! Good you made me look for a fuse and follow the wires, they are routed over a seat resting point and showing damage....needs to be yanked right now. Thanks!
 
TerryS said:
A voltmeter will answer your question. The exposed pin should have 0V to ground, and the concealed pin should have 12V to ground.
Click to expand...
I never trust polarity without a voltmeter check.... then I mark the Positive lead at each end with a dab of red paint so there is no doubt when I connect up something.
 
The fused SAE connectors on my 1100s mate with both my heated gear and my battery maintainers without gender adapters.

A friend needed one to make his small solar charger panel work with the SAE plug in his '02 Goldwing's cigarette-lighter socket.
 
MidLife said:
Tender leads I've used in the past were fused....the one on this bike is not! Good you made me look for a fuse and follow the wires, they are routed over a seat resting point and showing damage....needs to be yanked right now. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Any damage = absolutely replace.
Battery Tender cables with SAE connectors are very inexpensive. Get one that @Obo showed with the ring connectors for the battery end and the in-line fuse. Also highly recommend that the wires be color coded as indicated with a red wire showing hot. That will eliminate any questions.

A properly wired Battery Tender cable will have the correct polarity for anything you want to plug into it. The typical Battery Tender cable is 18 ga and has either a 3 amp (about) or 7.5 amp fuse. I bought one for my bike on Amazon that has 16 ga wires and a 15 amp fuse. This allows me to use it to plug in my Battery Tender and also to power Gerbing gloves and also my Slime mini compressor. Most stuff is fine with 3 amps or less fuses but my compressor MUST have 15 amps or it will blow the fuse instantly. The cable I installed also does have the red wire indicating which side is hot.
Like this one:
https://a.co/d/cKGxXxf

There are also longer cables available if you need one longer than 2 ft.
 
rjs987 said:
Any damage = absolutely replace.
Click to expand...

While removing the non-fused SAE tender lead, found that the Gerbings to front and rear were carelessly routed and pinched, so had to gut these as well!

rjs987 said:
Battery Tender cables with SAE connectors are very inexpensive. Get one that @Obo showed with the ring connectors for the battery end and the in-line fuse. Also highly recommend that the wires be color coded as indicated with a red wire showing hot. That will eliminate any questions.
Click to expand...

That's what I have on the older ST. Also have a spare for this newer one.

rjs987 said:
A properly wired Battery Tender cable will have the correct polarity for anything you want to plug into it. The typical Battery Tender cable is 18 ga and has either a 3 amp (about) or 7.5 amp fuse. I bought one for my bike on Amazon that has 16 ga wires and a 15 amp fuse. This allows me to use it to plug in my Battery Tender and also to power Gerbing gloves and also my Slime mini compressor. Most stuff is fine with 3 amps or less fuses but my compressor MUST have 15 amps or it will blow the fuse instantly. The cable I installed also does have the red wire indicating which side is hot.
Like this one:
https://a.co/d/cKGxXxf

There are also longer cables available if you need one longer than 2 ft.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info ( I use a hand pump most of the time...faster).
 
Larry Fine said:
...without gender adapters.
Click to expand...
This. Unless the SAE connector is some home made/counterfeit connector Red (or White on occasion) will be the protected connector and should be wired to B+. Black will be the exposed connector and should be wired to to B–. Any so wired SAE connector connected to another wouldn't need a gender adaptor.

There was a thread here some time ago about using charging a bike's battery from another bike via a "tender" connector two another. This would cause catastrophic failure of a fuse. Worse if neither SAE pigtail were fused. In this case a gender adapter would be needed. But that could be a pretty slow charge if something more than a "tickle" were needed.
 
ST Gui said:
This. Unless the SAE connector is some home made/counterfeit connector Red (or White on occasion) will be the protected connector and should be wired to B+. Black will be the exposed connector and should be wired to to B–. Any so wired SAE connector connected to another wouldn't need a gender adaptor.

There was a thread here some time ago about using charging a bike's battery from another bike via a "tender" connector two another. This would cause catastrophic failure of a fuse. Worse if neither SAE pigtail were fused. In this case a gender adapter would be needed. But that could be a pretty slow charge if something more than a "tickle" were needed.
Click to expand...

I do also have a 3 ft extension SAE to SAE cable and a gender changer for just such a circumstance... to provide a trickle charge, NOT a jump. This goes with the SAE connector to battery post alligator clips adapter to complete the package. These cables/adapters don't take up much space at all so they are always on the bike.
 
rjs987 said:
I do also have a 3 ft extension SAE to SAE cable and a gender changer for just such a circumstance... to provide a trickle charge, NOT a jump. This goes with the SAE connector to battery post alligator clips adapter to complete the package. These cables/adapters don't take up much space at all so they are always on the bike.
Click to expand...

Now I see where this gender x-over comes into play. Thanks.
 
Obo said:
This would be the connector on the bike running to the battery

1729979144190.png
Click to expand...

Looking at this again.....

As the PO already had a Gerbing Coax pick up from the battery, it seems it could also be used for the tender, just by adding a SAE to Coax adapter lead to the tender tail? No real need for an additional dedicated (unfused...!) SAE tender line like he had?

That would eliminate one of the 5 pick-ups he installed straight from the battery.
 
There's almost always a way to mix and match connectors across brands. You just need to understand polarity and current draw/wire size to ensure you don't damage anything. Fuses don't protect against all issues, they are just one method to help.
 
My Tender harness is fused at 7.5A and I think my heated kit harness is fused at 15A or more. A jacket and gloves would probably blow a 7.5A fuse. So I have the factory SAE harness for my Tender connection and the Warm n Safe coaxial harness for my heated kit.
 
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