Whats that smell?

Burnt boat connection

Over the last 2 weeks we have had three shorepower outlets burn out. With the wild spring winds pushing the boats around in every direction it is very hard on shorepower and boat electrical connectors.  If these bad connections are not caught in time the outlets will overheat, burn the cord contacts and possibly cause a fire.  If the one particular boat did not have somebody onboard a fire just may have

Burnt cord

occured. When the boat end of the connector was pulled out to be serviced all the wires were burnt for 3 inches into the boat and the wood was chared.

What can be done about this problem?

Now enters the SmartPlug technology.  The twist type of connector has been around since the late 30′s. The SmartPlug was introduced in 2008 and now is becoming very popular. Below is more info about the SmartPlug.

The Problem
Contrary to popular belief, the #1 cause of shore power failure and fires is not electrical shorting, but rather overheating caused by poor electrical conductivity. How does this happen? The problems with many plug designs are that the shape of electrical pins allow for very little contact area, and the pins themselves are also largely responsible for bearing any physical stress placed on the cord (from constant movement of the boat, someone tripping on the cord, etc…) This results in the pins working loose, further lessening the precious little contact area they had to begin with. Furthermore, such loose connections allow for moisture intrusion and ultimately corrosion of the pins. Arcing occurs and the connection heats up, scorches, and in some cases, catches fire. Because the current draw is unchanged, all of this happens long before a breaker or a GFCI can cut the power. Additionally, the old design can be very difficult to use in low light or hard-to-reach scenarios since the “L” shaped pin must first be located and then oriented before connection.

SmartPlug

The Solution
SmartPlug’s 4-Stage solution protects against overheating every step of the way. Loose connections are addressed by a Sleeve Design and Multi-Point Locking System which take all the physical stress off of the pins while securely fastening the plug to receptacle. Pin contact area is increased by more than 20x and protected behind three weatherproof seals for a dry and corrosion-free connection. Finally, an integrated trip thermostat cuts power at the first sign of overheating. See all SmartPlug features.  http://www.smartplug.com/index.html

Installation is fairly straight forward and can be done in about an hour if no hull modifications have to be done. At this time only 30 AMP solutions are available. Cost for the combo plug kit is under $200 dollars

Discussions have been held with  our  insurance companiy and it is possible that insurance rates can be reduced if the SmartPlug is installed in all fleet boats.

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Tags: Fires on boats, SmartPlugs