[C38] shore power

[D McC]

We 'toasted' 2 shore power sockets and 2 shore power cables over 4 years. The socket and cable failures were related for sure. The first indication of the impending failure was a reverse polarity light followed by smoke and sparks from the shore power socket at the dock in one instance and at the boat in the other. After re-wiring the shore socket and the boat receptacle the second time, I started using dielectric paste on all shore power connections. We have had the same connectors for over 5 years now and no problems. I will have to replace the UV degraded crispy cable long before the sockets fail. We live aboard and use a lot of electrons. We occasionally pop the breaker in the panel if we forget to manage our usage and we have never had a problem at the shore power connections since using the dielectric paste. Just one more thing to put on the cyclical maintenance list: paste on the connections. 

~Dave  Cat-38 Pretty Lady #148

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Common Sense is a rare gift from the Gods.
Most people have only technical training!

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The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span those hours spent in sailing.

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When in doubt, try the vice You haven't tried before!


--- On Mon, 6/6/11, Patrick Harpole <1derful at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Patrick Harpole <1derful at comcast.net>
> Subject: [C38] shore power
> To: "Catalina 38 Listserve" <Listserve at catalina38.org>
> Date: Monday, June 6, 2011, 10:51 AM
> A few days ago I asked for help
> determining loss of shore power.  Thanks for
> the advice.  Turns out one terminal of the female
> connector to Marinco cable
> melted down.  Local hardware sold connector for about
> $20.  Works fine.
> Harbor Freight sells (about $20)device which plugs into
> wall then plug
> appliance into other end.  It reads power consumed by
> appliance.  I believe
> I was using too many amps, for example, hairdryer.
> Patrick
> "Blue Eyes"
> 
> 
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