Connector gender

[Harry D]

There seems to be a good bit of confusion on RCG and elsewhere regarding the gender of electrical connectors. I thought there would be no better place than here to try and set things straight.

The basic question is this: is the "male" or "female" designation based on the configuration of the metal parts (sockets and pins) or the housings? In many cases, the gender is obvious but in others not so obvious.

Consider the connector pair shown in the photo below. I have always called the one on the left female and the one on the right male, based on the metal connecting parts (sockets and pins respectively).

But if you go by the plastic housings, the genders are reversed.

People seem to have opposite opinons on this, and I was wondering whether there was any INDUSTRY ACCEPTED STANDARD that defines the proper designation - ISO, IEEE, whatever.

Thanks for any help. Maybe a small thing, but I've seen it lead to lots of confusion.

Harry

[Miami Mike]

"Male" and "female" refer to the types of metal pins. The housings are called "receptacles" and "plugs". Your left picture shows a receptacle with female pins installed, and your right picture shows a plug with male pins installed.

You can check this by browsing through some of the connector data sheets in the Mouser catalog. Try here, for example: http://www.mouser.com/index.cfm?&handler=data.listcategory&D=*molex*&Ne=200&terms=molex&Ntt=*molex*&Dk=1&Ns=SField&N=212&crc=true

[Andy W]

Actually, I would call the females connectors installed in the housing in the left picture "sockets" and of course the male connectors "pins".. Mike is correct, however, but I do notice that servo "plugs" are often referred to as the males when in fact they are the females, for the same reason as above.
..a

[ZAGNUT]

wearing a dress does not make a "he" a "she"....



dave

[TMetalMan]

...Mike is correct, however, but I do notice that servo "plugs" are often referred to as the males when in fact they are the females, for the same reason as above.
..a

I always considered a servo plug to be the male, and the receiver a female. This stuff can get confusing! As long as it is known which is which (servo connector and receiver), we shouldn't have to worry about which is male and which is female.

[Andy W]

.. only when buying parts to make up your own leads/extensions.. :)

[Miami Mike]

I always considered a servo plug to be the male, and the receiver a female.You wouldn't call these pins female, would you?

http://www.horizonhobby.com/ProdInfo/JRP/250/JRPR610UL-250.jpg