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Contrary to popular belief, the #1 cause of shore power failure and fires is not electrical shorting, but rather overheating caused by poor electrical conductivity. How does this happen? The problems with many plug designs are that the shape of electrical pins allow for very little contact area, and the pins themselves are also largely responsible for bearing any physical stress placed on the cord (from constant movement of the boat, someone tripping on the cord, etc…)
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This results in the pins working loose, further lessening the precious little contact area they had to begin with. Furthermore, such loose connections allow for moisture intrusion and ultimately corrosion of the pins. Arcing occurs and the connection heats up, scorches, and in some cases, catches fire. Because the current draw is unchanged, all of this happens long before a breaker or a GFCI can cut the power. Additionally, the old design can be very difficult to use in low light or hard-to-reach scenarios since the “L” shaped pin must first be located and then oriented before connection
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Old Technology - what is wrong with the current method?
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Introducing The SmartPlug: a revolutionary shore power system designed to replace the outdated and problematic twist-type design in use today. It’s intuitive to use and provides greater protection against loose connections and corrosion – the leading causes of shore power failure and fires
One of the primary causes of electrical arcing in twist-type designs is the fact that the electrical pins bear any weight or tension in the cord, and eventually work themselves loose. The SmartPlug’s sleeve design means that the body of the plug bears that weight or tension, rather than the electrical pins, keeping those points of electrical contact secure.
Pin contact area is increased by more than 20x and protected behind three weatherproof seals for a dry and corrosion-free connection.
Simply remove the legacy twist-type round inlet from your *boat, connect the wiring to the SmartPlug inlet and reinstall using the same screw hole footprint. On the plug end, you simply cut off your old plug end and attach wires to the new SmartPlug. |
Water intrusion leads to corrosion, and corrosion leads to electrical arcing and overheating. SmartPlug’s three weatherproof seals eliminate the possibility of water and moisture intrusion, ensuring a safe and dry connection.
SmartPlug Systems uses only the finest materials available in construction of it’s products. All external metals are Marine-Grade 316 Stainless Steel, the electrical pins are nickel-plated brass for maximum conductivity, and plastics are UV and heat resistant Valox 553U resins made in the USA. |
SmartPlugs employ two locking side levers as well as two points of contact on the locking cap to ensure a rock solid connection. When not in use, the cap can be closed to form a weatherproof seal on the inlet.
Simply push the plug straight in until the side levers ‘click’ and then snap the locking cap down on top to finish the job. Additionally, the unique shape of the plug ensures a straight-in connection that can only be plugged in one way. No more finding the offset pin in the dark and no twisting required!
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