Pete Marchetto

I'm working with a group and the University of Minnesota that's trying to figure out a way to listen for respiratory ailments in chickens. We need to compile a library of health (and sick if you have them) bird sounds. If you have any audio or video of your birds vocalizing, please upload it here: http://j.mp/ChickenSoundsUpload

Thanks,
Pete

Rambling aside, I personally have had some serious connection problems with those auto styled 12v plugs. Intermittent connections that require a ton of jiggling to make them stick. They are a 12v standard, and they may work exceptionally well for you. I just wanted to voice that concern. Good luck.

I agree. I generally clean the insides of the ones that I've worked with with isopropanol once every couple of years, and try to use the solid contact type, rather than the spring loaded ones whenever possible. I was also looking at the EmPower™ connector, but they're quite expensive, and only rated for 75 W.

Another thing to consider is that XLRs and SpeakOns have other, primary functions. Maybe it's just me being OCD about this, but I generally like to keep focus on one connector type per function. Also, since there doesn't yet seem to be a particular NEC chapter that covers 12 VDC systems extensively, I'm looking into this book.

Yes! Thank you John Polk! Turns out that there's a lot of these around, and they're just what I need! The thing that I might add to them is a 12 V fuse or breaker on the back like this one.

These are great for outdoor work, and I've used them for that. However, what about for indoor wiring? I'm looking at a peak load of about 3 A per circuit, giving me about 36 W max power.

I'm building a 12 VDC solar/wind system into my house where the landline phone jacks used to go. So far, I've been using cigarette lighter-type sockets for 12 VDC up to 2 A, and switching DC-DC regulators (PT6202 and the like) with female USB A ports to charge phones and other things that need 5 VDC. What standards exist for low-power, in-house, permanent installation connectors?