I thought the original post by RJ was whether to swap the cat5 female from the SSC for a 4-pin connector.
It is. I was just tossing in my .02 cents worth.
To me, I don't see much value added in changing the cat5 connection on the SSC, since as David said ... the cat5 is cheap and easy and the
ends are already completed (no splicing needed). I also like the cat5 cables because they have a little protection (vs. straight wire), but are so much easier to
pick up and store than extension cords ever were. They are also cheap enough that you can replace them if needed or buy color coded ones
on monoprice.
You are 100% right on, as usual. CAT5 cable is the handy-dandy way of doing things and I approve of CAT5 with RJ45 ends completely. I just can't use that method in my application.
I think for me, being in Colorado like Sean and David ... we just don't get much (if any) rain in December and don't have corrosion issues
in our dry climate. Even the snow doesn't cause any problems that I've ever seen. When it snows, the battery box and all these connections are
just buried and there hasn't been a problem ... except that rabbits sometimes find the cat5 exterior tasty for some reason.
At both my house in town, and especially at the lake house (it too is decorated with RJ's Smart String goodies) moisture is a HUGE issue.
Fog from the lake can creep in between anything and everything. When it lands on something and freezes, it expands and next thing you know, stress and grief with an uppercase G.
I couldn't get by using the RJ45's on the SSC side of things. I have no choice but to convert to Ray's waterproof 3-pin and 4-pin connectors.
I suspect if I lived in the desert, I wouldn't have had to go through all the trouble and effort I did.
The SmartHubs in both the CG1500 cases and the metal "Hoffman" boxes do not suffer from fog penetration, or moisture issues. I don't "goo" 'em with any waterproofing.
Thats a wild looking DIY SS hub and enclosure ... looks like an electrical panel almost. Its kind of confusing for newbies to see, I bet.
Some of the parts are for an electrical panel, such as the buss bars. The "signal" connector was from Radio Shack, sure fits the bill.
I hope my discussion doesn't freak out the newbies. Or the old timers!
I had no choice but to "adapt and overcome," that ol' U.S. Marine phrase.
joe