Andrew Shadow
Site Supporter
I have a question for the electricians/electronics guys on here.
With something like a household connector where the conductors are either exposed or recessed it is easy to determine which is male and female. When both the male and female conductors are sheathed inside of an insulator what is the protocol?
I was looking for a connector on-line and it is impossible to trust the description because some vendors refer to it as male and some refer to it as female.
In the picture below the blue plastic insulator of this connector is female in that the mating plastic male insulator fits inside of the circle and D that you see below. The conductors housed inside of it however are male. The other half of this connector is male in that it fits inside of the below connector. This male connector however houses the female conductors.
So if the orientation is determined by the insulator this is female connector. If it is determined by the conductors found inside of the insulator this is a male connector.
Without pictures I would not be able to tell what many vendors are selling as some list the below as female and some list it as male.
Is the determination of whether an electrical connector is male or female made by the insulator or is it made by the conductors inside of the insulator?
Is there a standard/protocol so everyone knows what they are talking about that is being disregarded?

With something like a household connector where the conductors are either exposed or recessed it is easy to determine which is male and female. When both the male and female conductors are sheathed inside of an insulator what is the protocol?
I was looking for a connector on-line and it is impossible to trust the description because some vendors refer to it as male and some refer to it as female.
In the picture below the blue plastic insulator of this connector is female in that the mating plastic male insulator fits inside of the circle and D that you see below. The conductors housed inside of it however are male. The other half of this connector is male in that it fits inside of the below connector. This male connector however houses the female conductors.
So if the orientation is determined by the insulator this is female connector. If it is determined by the conductors found inside of the insulator this is a male connector.
Without pictures I would not be able to tell what many vendors are selling as some list the below as female and some list it as male.
Is the determination of whether an electrical connector is male or female made by the insulator or is it made by the conductors inside of the insulator?
Is there a standard/protocol so everyone knows what they are talking about that is being disregarded?

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