PSA - Check your shore power cables

[Stee6043]

We had a fire at our marina 2 weeks ago. Sank three boats and totaled a fourth. All big boats. Fortunately nobody was hurt other than an injured leg from a man jumping to the dock from his bow. Speculation is that the problem started at the shore power connection to the boat.

Needless to say everyone at the marina is a bit on-edge, checking connections, adding smoke detectors. I happened to be in my transom locker and decided to take a look at the business end of my shore power cables on Sunday. One of my cables is 2 years old, looked great, no issues. I pulled the other off, this cable came to me with the boat, no clue how old, and was quite disturbed to see that one of the three prong connections on the cable was black with soot. Obviously that thing had been sparking and generating a lot of heat.

Pretty terrifying, actually. I have a wife and three kids on the boat every weekend.

So check your cables! Check both ends! I almost have a hard time complaining about the cost of a 25' cable in the grand scheme of things...I'm just glad I looked at it.

 

[CliffA]

good reminder....and always use the lock rings to keep the plugs inserted....i see a lot of people on our dock just insert the plug and twist it thinking it is locked into position......but the movement of the boat rocking in waves can be enough to loosen the connection over time.....loose connections can generate heat and sparks......using the lock rings will prevent this.....

cliff

 

[ttmott]

Also keep a light coat of di-electric grease on the terminals. This will keep the corrosion at bay.