Comments on: SmartPlug’s new shore power standard

By: T.L.Sea, Inc.

T.L.Sea, Inc. — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:03:23 +0000

Finally a workable solution to the; “twist-and-twist-’til-the-blades-line-up-then-push-in-and-twist-to-lock-only-to-find-out-that-you-still-don’t-have-a-good-connection” type shore power connector that currently dominate the market. The Smart Plug is a straight forward plug and inlet set that you just orient, push in and it locks by it self. For additional support the cap on the inlet locks onto the back of the plug to counter any downward pressure the heavy cord may apply. There are, however a couple of installation woes associated with the plug. The cable gasket is such a tight fit, that I found it impossible to insert the cable through it without ripping the gasket, even after applying a generous amount of soap for lubrication. Care must also be taken when inserting the wires into the terminals, or you risk breaking off the 3 strain relief jaws molded onto the plug. An included rubber plug cap would also be useful to keep moisture out of the electrics when not in use. Now, if someone could just convince the marinas to convert to this system.

By: b393capt

b393capt — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:49:17 +0000

How many fires is due to this … 5, 500 a year ?

This would need to start with the boats being manufactured, the outlets for the boats would need to be cheaper or the manufacture would need to see that it would be a selling point (you can connect the cable easily in the dark, eliminate risk of fire), the other end of the cable remains as a normal connector (I am guessing fires are less likely to start on the dock side, the dock side end of the cable less likely to fall in the water, etc.).

Then maybe.

By: Geoff Collins

Geoff Collins — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 05:29:32 +0000

Better shorepower cable – yawn

Not having a go at your article, just thje product. Can’t get excited about this one.

Besides I’m not fitting something that can’t easily be replaced in a local chandlery when on a cruise.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:35:15 +0000

Yeah, this is a tough one. Especially for marinas that are really feeling the downturn pain.

The best opportunity I can see for these guys is to get the marine insurers to offer a discount to boaters and marinas that install these things. That would require convincing the actuaries, but if regular shore power cords are as bad as they say (and Steve D’Antonio’s June 09 PassageMaker article is any indication, maybe they are) that shouldn’t be impossible.

One wonders if the right approach here wasn’t a revised NEMA standard. But I guess in that case a startup would have no differentiator and would eventually be crushed by Hubbell/Marinco’s manufacturing capacity.