Connecting Zamp plug to camper

Carolyn

I have the original Zamp plug from my 2014 clamshell and want to connect it to the T@da. I remembef that Zamp connects backwaeds but can’t remember which color wire goes to which port. Can someone help?

bergger

On a Zamp connections the exposed connection, on the plug that is attached to the trailer, is the positive wire.  If you can see behind the connection the wire will be red.  The negative, black wire, is the one that is covered.  It is my understanding that most other port plugs have it the other way around where the positive terminal is covered and the negative is the exposed one.  I have a Zamp on my 400 and us the adapter to plug in my non Zamp equipment.  

Carolyn

This is what I have. Which color goes to which battery terminal?

bergger

The red should be positive and typically negative is black and a white wire is a ground.  My guess is the red is positive and white is the negative.  You may want to open up the black wire loom and and just confirm where the wires connect.  If this is a Zamp brand plug the exposed terminal is positive and I suspect the red wire will be attached to that.  

ScottG

The Zamp backward-reverse-polarity-whatever-thing used to be a hot topic with early nuCamp T@Bs, when suitcases and other portables--mostly from Zamp and Renogy--were SOP for solar power in camp.

I agree with bergger's assessment of the typical arrangement of Zamp equipment but will emphasize to always verify your connections by visually tracing wires, checking continuity with a multimeter, or both. Don't rely on colors or assumptions about which pin is which.

This becomes particularly important when attaching non-Zamp equipment as plugs may fit but you end up crossing connections somewhere between your panels and your battery. Regardless of what you are hooking up, always confirm that through the entire circuit positive connects to positive and negative to negative and all will be well!

pthomas745

Once I worked out the 'SAE" port and figured out the entire internet was all wrong about the "Reverse Polarity" I wire my controllers properly and have never looked back.  "Experienced" motorcycle riders have used these types of cables for years to attach heated vests, gloves, etc to a battery for riding.

The problem is that everyone only looks at a "pigtail", or a cable with one end of the connector cut off.  If you look at an entire cable, it can make more sense.  But, the connectors you can find at Amazon are just inexpensive cables with no discussion of which end should plug into what.  And then the confusion with the black and the red cable.  So, the internet decided that "reverse polarity" is the problem when instead......well, people.  And, if you are inexperienced, even the phrase "reverse polarity" sounds like something from a Frankenstein movie.  It took me a year to figure out.

This is how a "standard", wired from the factory, SAE port is attached to the battery.  The meter is showing the "positive" wire to the battery is attached to the "top" section of the port.

IF your solar port is wired this way: what you want is the positive output from the solar controller to be safely "inside the plastic" of the cable.  In theory, it is possible to have voltage running from the solar panel to the controller and out to the cable in your hand.  If the positive wire is attached to that big metal chunk of the cable, you might get sparks.  Having the positive output safely "inside the plastic" protects from that possibility.  (Note: always attach the cable from the controller to the battery to the controller first: then plug into the trailer.  Always unplug the cable from the connector first before disconnecting the cable at the solar controller.  If the plug is still attached to the port on the trailer, and you unscrew bare wires, it will spark!  Ask me how I know!)

The cable below is a "full" SAE cable.  On the right side, the "positive, red, big metal part" would be connected to the power source.  In a perfect world, we would have solar controllers with this type of port on the controller and the trailer.  Follow the red  cable around to the left side....and the positive "hot" wire is safely "inside the plastic".  Look at the port picture above with the meter.  That "inside the plastic" would simply plug into the top, or "positive" side of the port. (Again...after you know for sure how your port is wired.)

On my portable solar setup, I simply cut off the right side connector, trimmed about 1/4 inch of insulation from the red/black cables, attached them to the appropriate +/- "Battery" outputs from the controller, and simply plugged it into the port.  No adapters, nothing.  Just properly wired SAE cable and port.  (That cable above is still in use after about 5 years, with some small mods.)

So...a multimeter is your friend, here.  I agree with Bergger....the Red cable on your harness there "should" go to the positive side of the battery, but you still need to have a look inside that plastic harness and make sure. If it is, look at the multimeter picture again and see how that black "inside the plastic" plug will go in.

 Is this the cable you plan to install?  Or the cable you removed from the trailer?  What solar controller do you intend to use? 

bjn2

Once you've figured out the connector's polarity to the trailer, I suggest marking it in a durable way at the outside connection. When I put an external solar port on our 2023 320s I ordered a generic SAE port and a Zamp port. The Zamp port's wire colors are reversed from what I wanted, but their port is better made and the cap stays on unlike the generic one. I made butt connections that honored the Zamp's red wire as positive, but I may reverse that so I don't have to deal with one of the polarity reversing double-ended adapters with my solar panel. When I do that, I'll slide colored heat shrink to recode the Zamp port's wiring and I'll mark the actual polarity prominently at the port.

rfuss928

Being aware of the constant confusion and inconsistencies I decided a bit of labeling was in order...

AnOldUR

Marked our SAE port the same as @rfuss928. That and I'm obsessive about always keeping the red wire hot and the black ground since it's easy to reverse this with an SAE extension.