New Reverse-gender BIRNS Millennium Series Configurations

BIRNS has announced unique new reverse-gender (RG) contact configurations in its 6km-rated BIRNS Millennium connector series. These custom-engineered connectivity solutions provide flexibility and enhanced safety and security options for subsea system designers who prefer that a power source use sockets versus pins in the receptacle.

This can improve safety and further protect against mechanical damage or electrical shorts in specific application designs—an example of a subsea application for which this might be preferable could be Hydraulic Power Units (HPUs), which provide power to the thrusters on certain ROVs.  

In most common electrical connections, it’s considered optimal to specify a power source with recessed sockets or contacts. Therefore, in typical connector pairs, the Cable Plug (CP) incorporates sockets, and the receptacle has pins. However, in some systems the power comes from the receptacle, so BIRNS’s innovative RG connector options offer an effective solution: recessed sockets in a flanged or other receptacle, with pins recessed within the mating CP. 

These new solutions fit the same mounting footprints as non-RG receptacles, providing complete system backwards compatibility. They provide the same depth rating and electrical performance characteristics, as well.  Also, RG inserts are backwards-compatible into existing receptacles. Thus, system designers have the option to change existing connectors to an RG configuration by simply replacing the inserts and re-wiring.