Should the XT60 be female or male in this setup with SMART SOLAR 100/20 MPPT and LiFePo4

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elenabr asked Nov 29, '23

Should the XT60 be female or male in this setup with SMART SOLAR 100/20 MPPT and LiFePo4

Hi everyone,

We took our Nugget Westfalia to a Westfalia dealer to get this job done:

- Have our Varta AGM batteries substituted by 2 Relion LiFePo4 batteries, 100ah each.
- Then, they put a Victron Smart Solar 100/20 MPPT plus a socket where to connect a portable solar panel (this one: Ecoflow Bifacial 220W), which was my request (being able to park in the shade while still charging batteries with a solar panel in the sun).

The socket they put is a female XT60.

Pictures:

I realized the MC4-XT60 cable provided by Ecoflow is female, and from what I see in their powerbanks, their socket is male. And when I tried to find a MC4-maleXT60 cable I saw that almost all MC4-XT60 cables are MC4-femaleXT60. I only found one, which I bought on Amazon (this one https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0B9SGYDX1)

This lack of MC4-MaleXT60 cables in the market is making me wonder if the setup they have come up with is then correct -and I prefer to ask here-, because if the market is selling MC4-femaleXT60 is because powerbanks and the like have a male socket, and not female. So why female on our case? Is this correct? Are companies manufacturing powerbanks wrong? :D Or in our setup, it is a different game?

I am no expert in electricity, so bear with me, and apologies in advance. I do hope the setup is okay, for our peace of mind :)

Thank you!

Elena

MPPT SmartSolar

photo1701282180.jpeg (39.9 KiB)

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klim8skeptic ♦ commented · Nov 29, 2023 at 09:16 PM

@elenabr I realized the MC4-XT60 cable provided by Ecoflow is female, and from what I see in their powerbanks, their socket is male. And when I tried to find a MC4-maleXT60 cable I saw that almost all MC4-XT60 cables are MC4-femaleXT60.

Probably done this way to ensure that you cant plug the solar panel to a powerbank.

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kevgermany answered · Nov 30, 2023 at 04:41 AM

Hi Elena.

Safest is to check with the installer. What's really worrying is getting the polarity wrong.

But I used the following search in Amazon uk, pulled up plenty of choices: mc4 xt60 male. Substituting female for male brought up the cables you're seeing.

By the way, those MC4 connecters are really tight. I hope there's enough space to grip it. MC4 is not good to disconnect/reconnect, and shouldn't be done under load.

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elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 12:28 PM

I did a search on Amazon.co.uk following your comment @kevgermany and I still found only 2 cables with male connector (and not female), in a myriad of MC4-XT60 female connectors :S ;D Else, I'm blind!

"By the way, those MC4 connecters are really tight. I hope there's enough space to grip it. MC4 is not good to disconnect/reconnect, and shouldn't be done under load." I'm not sure I am following you here, what do you mean by not disconnecting under load?

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kevgermany ♦♦ elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 09:24 PM

Probably got filtered as you're not in the UK. Sorry, I didn't think of that, I get the same problem between UK and Germany.

Under load, means when the panels are passing current through the connectors. Anything drawing current from a provider is a load. Ideally connect/disconnect after covering the panel.

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elenabr kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Dec 07, 2023 at 12:12 PM

OH GREAT TIP! thank you, blanket and then voila, disconnect. It's amazing that the solar panel brands don't tell you this @kevgermany be blessed.

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kevgermany ♦♦ elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 09:35 PM

Same search worked on Amazon.es and I didn't log in. If you're still having problems and don't have a contact outside Spain who can help, mail my user ID at hotmail.com

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kevgermany ♦♦ elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 09:31 PM

I've just tried amazon.de. No problem there. Not sure which Amazon covers your country. .EU perhaps.

I also found male:male connectors, female:female connectors, male:female connectors there.

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elenabr kevgermany ♦♦ commented · Dec 07, 2023 at 12:12 PM

I have an account at amazon.co.uk @kevgermany so I found them and I bought an extra/spare one, just in case!

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Modifications Space

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Answer 1 · 2023-11-29T19:51:22Z

kevgermany answered · Nov 29, 2023 at 07:51 PM

About all that matters is that the polarity is correct. XT60 connectors are common. Easy to swap if you want male instead of female.

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elenabr commented · Nov 29, 2023 at 10:36 PM

Actually @kevgermany maybe not that easy :) 1) I know nothing about electronics - which should be enough to cross 'easy' off the list :D, so it means asking the dealer who did it 2) it's all inside the bottom of the passenger seat.

PS: I do find normal when I see our setup that a 'socket' is female, like all sockets...but what I wasn't expecting is nearly all cables MC4 to XT60 have a female ending. All the panels I am seeing that have a XT60 cable, this cable is XT60 female...so they need a 'male socket'.

So I bought this one, but it isn't Xt60i type, "i", I'm not sure it will suffice.

Ain't life complicated.
Any thoughs welcome.

Greetings from a tiny village in rural Spain.

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Answer 2 · 2023-11-30T02:16:13Z

k-k answered · Nov 30, 2023 at 02:16 AM

There is a trick17/catch22 in a xt60i to a xt60.

Xt60i is used by EcoFlow to switch between "cigarette" charging or solar charging. My old EF-RIver is via software setable (4,6,8A & autom, suncharge, cigicharge) and uses xt60. It seems to be that newer EF device use a middle pin to select via hardware switch. So the Westfalia people might not know exactly what they were doing, pls ask them and inform us :=).

If you should use the socket as input for the MPPT it must be a male one (my opinion! it acts like a River or Delta input for your panels)

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elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 12:25 PM

thanks @k_k :) Actually I am not charging a powerbank from Delta, I am charging 2 LiFePo4 relion batteries via Victron's solar smart mppt. So I guess newer EF powerbanks prefer the 'i' connector type for smarter data and optimized current drawing, but I don't think Victron MPPT cares or not about that "i" type then. When I plug the portable panel to the XT60 female socket, that socket is connected to the Victron's MPPT, which is then connected to the batteries setup.

The EF support have written to me today that connecting their EF panel to my non-EF battery setup with a normal XT60 -rather than XT60i- cable shouldn't reduce the efficiency of their panel.

And yet a different thing is whether I should keep the current female socket under the seat or ask the dealer who did this to unmount the seat and change the cables/polarity so that I have a male XT60 socket where to plug any of the portable solar panels out there (all with MC4-XT60 female connector), just for easier compatibility.

And when I am still ruminating about whether asking to change that - and how hard it is to mull over things you don't know :D-, I stumble upon this comment here:

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k-k elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 01:10 PM

We are on the same wavelength.

Stay compatible EF -> xt60 fem to mc4 for safety (De: Berührungsschutz) because your panels are "giving". If you shortcut the open pins of a xt60 male you might get unwanted sparks.

On MC4 you find symbols or textstripes: "don't un/plug under load" this is also ment as spark protection. So, if you use foldable panels, fold them (darken them) from the sun, then detach them.

My [Kobolde send me a] picture showing the polarity of a "giving" xt60 fem (panel to charger)

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elenabr k-k commented · Dec 07, 2023 at 12:19 PM

I hadn't checked the specs of the cable, because there wasn't any leaflet coming with it, but putting a blanket on the solar panel is a piece of advice that should be too in the solar panel brands brochures. Thank you, other user here on the forum has also warned me on that. Again, what a gem of a forum! @k_k

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k-k elenabr commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 01:34 PM

The plugtype xt60/xt60i surely does not reduce the efficency of the panel, but it sets the amount of ampere and type of algorithm of their (EF) build in MPPT. Its a difference wether they fetch 4A @18V or 15A -> 72W or 270W. Panels, when strong enough, could deliver, cigarette-lighter are mostly 8 to 10A maximal.

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k-k k-k commented · Nov 30, 2023 at 02:02 PM

Clarification:

..(EF) built in MPPT in their powerstations...

which is not the case for you, you have instead a victron-MPPT

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elenabr k-k commented · Dec 07, 2023 at 12:23 PM

So if I follow your rationale correctly:

Panels are giving, so panels should be male, and the socket -receiving- should be female (as it is currently), so no need to ask dealer to change the config (unless in the future I want to do this for the reason to find more compatible cables/solar panels without additional connectors).

no?

@k_k

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k-k elenabr commented · Dec 07, 2023 at 07:00 PM

@elenabr

Just let the cables (from your EF panels) original. If they have MC4 use the original EF adapter to xt60.

Does your EF-panel not have the plug shown in my photo?

This is a female because the hollow metal would embrace the solid metal pins of the males when stick together.

Like a 230V wall outlet is "giving", so its built that you cant touch the metal. The male (metal-) pins can be touched because they are "taking" so there is no voltage.*
Ask someone to have a look on his EF River or Delta. You will
find a male input there for charging. Your MPPT replaces EF so you should replace the connector on board your RV with a male.

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* There is one exception (De: Balkonkraftwerke) they have sharp regulations for switch off.

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