Camlock Connectors

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steve66

steve66

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Does it matter which half of a camlock connector is connected to the source of power, and which half is connected to the load?

I don't believe either half of a camlock is finger safe, so I'm not sure which end should be connected to power.

These are 200A connectors, so the female connector is large enough to easily be a shock hazard. (I could stick my finger inside the female connector if I were so inclined.)
 
steve66 said:
Does it matter which half of a camlock connector is connected to the source of power, and which half is connected to the load?
Click to expand...

Yes, it matters. Most all manufactured equipment uses M on the utilization end. Occasionally, you'll run into some portable distro or mobile production generator that has the green and white gender-reversed, but AFAICT that's fallen by the wayside. It's a huge pain, IMO. (No doubt SceneryDriver will comment :D.)

Of course they're not finger safe.... don't connect/disconnect while energized.

Also, if you're referring to the usual "E1016" style, those are rated for 400a. The "E1015" ("mini") is 150a. That's the connector rating, which IIRC is 105deg; cord and other terminal ratings may differ.
 
steve66 said:
Does it matter which half of a camlock connector is connected to the source of power, and which half is connected to the load?

I don't believe either half of a camlock is finger safe, so I'm not sure which end should be connected to power.

These are 200A connectors, so the female connector is large enough to easily be a shock hazard. (I could stick my finger inside the female connector if I were so inclined.)
Click to expand...

Take a look at 406.7 (B).
 
Yes, they are E1016 style connectors.

The electricians installed the female connectors on the source wiring. However, the copper connector part stuck out past the rubber cover. I'm wondering if the camlock was installed incorrectly, or if that's just the way the female connector is.

petersonra said:
Take a look at 406.7 (B).
Click to expand...

Does that apply to camlocks? I don't think either half of the connector is really "finger safe".
 
steve66 said:
However, the copper connector part stuck out past the rubber cover. I'm wondering if the camlock was installed incorrectly, or if that's just the way the female connector is.
Click to expand...

They're not correct; you can see some panel-mounts at http://store.jbn-duraline.com/category/6 but the cable-mount are no different in this respect. BTW, if you're not careful, don't have the assembly tool, or don't read the instructions, it's easy to mess this up. Done it myself :p.

Another assembly failure is not using the copper tape (if provided) around fine-stranded cable, which is also in the instructions of some brands.
 
ron said:
The text in 406.7 (B) does seem to have language that can be interpreted to apply to camlocks.

Even if you look at the definition of an attachment plug in Article 100
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I just realized Article 520 (Theaters, motion picture, and television studios, and similar locations), Article 525 (Carnivals, Circuses, Fairs, and similar events), and 530 (Motion picture and television studios and similar locations) all have paragraphs with exceptions that say 406.7 and 406.8 don't apply. 520.53(K), 525.22(D), and 530.22(A)
 
here are some properly made up male and female camloks. these are e1016s (400A).
 

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petersonra said:
here are some properly made up male and female camloks. these are e1016s (400A).
Click to expand...

Thanks. It's apparent the electricians didn't install my connectors correctly. Here is a photo:

camlock connector.jpg

That's why I though I might have had the wrong connector on the hot end.
 
steve66 said:
It's apparent the electricians didn't install my connectors correctly.
That's why I though I might have had the wrong connector on the hot end.
Click to expand...

That's a newbie mistake. (Depending on exact make of the connector, the bump is from the locking pin that should be about 1/2" farther in from the end. They also won't mate with the M connector like that; or it'll be tough, like putting a L6-20 into an L6-30R :D.)

Here's an older scan of assembly instructions: http://www.galco.com/techdoc/coh/e1016-1704_ai.pdf, still accurate.
 
zbang said:
They're not correct; you can see some panel-mounts at http://store.jbn-duraline.com/category/6 but the cable-mount are no different in this respect. BTW, if you're not careful, don't have the assembly tool, or don't read the instructions, it's easy to mess this up. Done it myself :p.

Another assembly failure is not using the copper tape (if provided) around fine-stranded cable, which is also in the instructions of some brands.
Click to expand...

A while back we had some camlok connectors that we just could not assemble properly. I don't remember the brand. We followed the instructions. We used the assembly tool. We gave up following the instructions and tried lots of things. We simply could not get the contacts fully seated in the housings.

We finally gave up and bought some Marinco connectors and all was good.

-Jon
 
I just did a project that required Cam-Loks. Without seeing the male connector, I opted for the "common sense" method of using the female end on the power/line side. When I put the Cam-Loks on I noticed the ends of the connectors could easily be touched with a finger. These were the E1015 series. After reading the instruction/spec sheet again, I noticed it gave the distance from the end of the connector to the rubber boot. The distance was farther/more on the male than the female.:slaphead: I thought I had installed them wrong but I hadn't.

Also, when putting these together, you need to use some type of lube to aid in sliding the boot over the connector. I didn't have a tool to assemble these but I did use lube as suggested. You need to make sure the pin goes into the "bump" on the top of the boot.

So to answer the OP's question, I don't know of a code requirement, but other than making sure the power is off when connecting/disconnecting, I would use the male end on the power source. At least the connector is further inside the boot than the female connector is.
Not sure about the E1016 but they look similar to the E1015.


Just for a "FYI"..... I did order the assembly tools for the Cam-Loks. You need one for the male and one for the female. The tools were about $65 each and I didn't think much about it at the time. But when I got them I was totally annoyed. The tool is just a male or female connector with a 1/4" brass handle pinned to it. Also has a "Tee" at the top to grip with. The 1/4" piece is just drilled with a smaller piece inserted in to make the "tee".:rant:
You could just buy a male and female Cam-Lok and make your own. The connectors only cost about $15 and any kind of 1/4" stock shouldn't cost very much. You would probably have about $20 in a home made tool vs $65 for the mfg version!:thumbsup:
 
Little Bill said:
After reading the instruction/spec sheet again, I noticed it gave the distance from the end of the connector to the rubber boot.
Click to expand...

Duh...why didn't I notice the instructions gave a distance. I never even thought to look there.

I'll have the electricians leave the female connectors on the line side, but I'll make sure they get the connectors installed the way they are supposed to be.
 
steve66 said:
Duh...why didn't I notice the instructions gave a distance. I never even thought to look there.
Click to expand...
:) If you don't know what they should look like, it isn't always so that obvious.

Tools- after looking at the factory tools we did take the innards of a MF set and had someone braze handles on. If you do a lot, the bench-top "shove-er" is a nice addition.
 
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