Full confession: 20 years at Hubbell. What happens with twist lock connector bodies is that the female contacts can fatigue or can be damaged by mating with a bent or corroded male pin on a plug or in the case of a boat, a flanged inlet. An unsupported and partially engaged connector body (the cable mounted female part) might cause this. On things like hospital meal carts, the plugs get damaged by frisky nurses, who are tough on the equipment! When the female contact fatigues it will create a higher resistance connection, eventually get warm, corrode, create more resistance, more heat, etc etc until it gets hot enough to melt and catch fire, even at below the 30a breaker rating. So the problem is in the connector body, but as things deteriorate, the male contact can also be damaged. In addition to making sure the rings are tightened and the twist lock fully mated, feel the connector occasionally (they get warm in use when trouble is brewing) and inspect both the male and female contacts, looking for corrosion, discolouration from heat or other damage. Don’t use a new cable on a corroded or otherwise damaged male inlet. Dave Ex-33-2 Windstar.
Sent from my iPhone > On May 5, 2025, at 7:46 PM, Matthew Wolford via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > > I do the same as Dennis. In addition, the new Marinco plug (slightly more > expensive) conveniently grips the boat outlet so you don’t need to screw the > plug in place to hold it securely. > > Matt Wolford > C&C 42 Custom > > From: Dennis C. via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Sent: Monday, May 5, 2025 6:57 PM > To: Stus-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > Cc: Dennis C. <capt...@gmail.com> > Subject: Stus-List Re: Power Connection ->SmartPlug Vs Marinco > > My 2 cents. > > I did marine repair for about 15 years after retiring from my "real" job. In > those years, I saw or replaced several of the standard Marinco plugs where > degradation had occurred with evidence of over heating or arcing. Many of > them had one thing in common. The plug was always unsupported. That is, > they were hanging with some cable weight on the plug. Some were routed from > the pier directly to the plug. > > My opinion is that by being unsupported, the movement of the boat can cause > the plug to become slightly loose and then arc or whatever. If you eliminate > any load or stress on the plug, there is less chance of failure. > > Touche's power cord, a Marinco, is routed from the pier then around the stern > pulpit then has a single wrap around a winch before being plugged in. On > the dock, it is coiled on a hose reel before being plugged into the dockside > receptacle. When I cruise, I always make sure there is a wrap around a > piling, the shore power stanchion or a cleat on the dock. I maintain the > wrap around a winch on the boat. Never had an issue. > -- > Dennis C. > Touche' 35-1 #83 > Mandeville, LA > Your contributions help pay the fees associated with this list and help to > keep it active. Please help by making a small contribution using PayPal at: > https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/stumurray All contributions are greatly > appreciated.
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