Hey I know this may be a dumb question but what do people mean when they say female molex connetor or female molex connector? I'm assuming the male molex connector is the connector that has has the pins and the female molex connector is the one that has the sockets that the male molex connector pins plug into right? I'm sorry but I don't mean to go into detail but it is the same idea as a male reproductive organ going into a female reproductive organ right?
What does male and female molex connector mean
- Thread starter Thomas-18
- Start date
- Sep 7, 2013
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And the two terms are used on all types of connectors (even non-electrical ones), not just molex.
That covers the gender part, now about "molex".
Molex is a company that makes hundreds of electrical connectors, many used in computers at various spots. But by far the most common use of the label "4-pin Molex connector" is for a female connector on wires coming out of the PSU. This connector is about ¾" wide with four holes in a straight line. If you look at the end with open holes, you'll see that its outline is rectangular except that two of its corners are cut down at a 45-degree angle. That way it can only fit into the mating male connector one way. This item was used extensively to supply power to IDE hard drives and older 5¼" floppy drives, and later to optical drives. It was so commonly used that other items like fans and LED light strings have used them as power sources, also. So now, even though their original uses (floppies and IDE HDD's) have almost disappeared, you will still find them as one type of power output connector on PSU's. These connectors have one Red wire on one end (+5 VDC), a Yellow on the other end (+12 VDC), and two Black ones (Ground) in the middle holes.
By the way (this was not part of your query) watch out for a source of confusion and trouble. The newer (now also almost outmoded) 3½" floppy disk drives have a slightly different connector for power from the PSU, but it still has the same voltages and 4-pin spec of the original wider Molex. But this connector for smaller floppies is smaller, too, and looks a lot like a 4-pin fan female connector. However, it is normally found on the end of some wires in the SAME group as the wider older "4-pin Molex" outputs. Do NOT ever plug one of these into a mobo fan header - it can damage the fan header circuits!
Molex is a company that makes hundreds of electrical connectors, many used in computers at various spots. But by far the most common use of the label "4-pin Molex connector" is for a female connector on wires coming out of the PSU. This connector is about ¾" wide with four holes in a straight line. If you look at the end with open holes, you'll see that its outline is rectangular except that two of its corners are cut down at a 45-degree angle. That way it can only fit into the mating male connector one way. This item was used extensively to supply power to IDE hard drives and older 5¼" floppy drives, and later to optical drives. It was so commonly used that other items like fans and LED light strings have used them as power sources, also. So now, even though their original uses (floppies and IDE HDD's) have almost disappeared, you will still find them as one type of power output connector on PSU's. These connectors have one Red wire on one end (+5 VDC), a Yellow on the other end (+12 VDC), and two Black ones (Ground) in the middle holes.
By the way (this was not part of your query) watch out for a source of confusion and trouble. The newer (now also almost outmoded) 3½" floppy disk drives have a slightly different connector for power from the PSU, but it still has the same voltages and 4-pin spec of the original wider Molex. But this connector for smaller floppies is smaller, too, and looks a lot like a 4-pin fan female connector. However, it is normally found on the end of some wires in the SAME group as the wider older "4-pin Molex" outputs. Do NOT ever plug one of these into a mobo fan header - it can damage the fan header circuits!
chegalhavara
Honorable
- May 7, 2016
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This post should have been closed with the "birds and bees" answer..
I almost fell off my chair..
I almost fell off my chair..
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