SAFEFTY AND SECURITY: REDUCING FIRE RISK WITH SMART PLUGS
Many members of the Ocean Posse are tied to a dock either presently, have been, or will be at some point along the way.ย If and when one decides to ‘Plug In’ it is important to know the risks and available safer options available today.
A significant risk when plugging one boat in to shore power is fire risk.ย The power to the pedestals along a dock may not be consistent.ย There may be surges, outages and or just regularly inconsistent flow of power.ย This variability can pose a risk within the pedestal and worse it can pose a risk aboard ones vessel at the connection.
Recently, Posse members aboard SV SERENITYย shared their experience with this risk on the Posse Line Ap.ย It is a shout out to other member to be aware and check their power cords:
For those of you with 30 or 50 Amp power that get close to itโs limit on a continuous basis (e.g. running AC while cooking with electric).ย For the second time in two years, our standard cable and socket shorted. This time, the insulation in the socket between hot and neutral melted and the wires actually touched. Itโs worth the investment to prevent a fire hazard.
The only place one can control is where and how the power comes aboard their boat is one their boat.ย Serenity has now installed a ‘Smart Plug’.ย This is a branded receptacle and plug for the boat side of the ‘Plug In’ process.ย The Smart Plug is a huge help AND one still needs to check it for damage regularly as seen above!
SVย SERENITY was lucky.ย They lost a cord and a plug, but did not sustain any damage to their boat.ย Years ago Posse Member, Rob Murray on SV AVANT, saw smoke billowing out of the stern of a neighboring vessel.ย The fire had started at the cord inlet.ย He acted fast and doused the fire before any help even arrived.ย Here he shows a concise visual on the steps he took to get the fire out fast:
SYSERENITYย ๐บ๐ธย Mark & Kathryn โย Antares 44โฒ & SYย AVANTย ๐จ๐ฆ Rob & Debra โย Beneteau 43.5
