[C320-list] Shore power

[Rod Boer]

Gary,

Thanks for the number.

Rod

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Malcolmson" <gary at dupreeinc.com>
To: "C320-List" <c320-list at catalina320.com>
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Shore power


Rod,

The phone number I have is:  727-544-6681 (but haven't used it in awhile).

Gary Malcolmson
C310 #230

Rod Boer wrote:
> All,
>
> Lee and I arrived at the boat one evening in the late summer or fall and 
> turned on the A/C because it was pretty warm.  We thought we smelled hot 
> wires, like insulation burning, so I shut the A/C off and checked all of 
> the A/C wiring in the aft compartment and the port lazerette and 
> everything appeared to be okay.  So I turned the A/C back on and 
> everything seemed to work properly and there was no longer any smell of 
> hot wires.  I continued to use Odyssey through the fall with no additional 
> problems.
>
> After haul out, I removed the shore power cable and discovered that one of 
> the receptacles on the cable was very charred.  I normally plug the shore 
> power cable into Odyssey in the spring and don't remove it until the fall 
> at haul out since I take the cable when sailing.
>
> This weekend I disassembled the receptacle on the back of the boat and 
> determined that the failure was where the black (hot) wire attached to the 
> receptacle and the wire itsself was burnt for two or three inches. 
> Examination of the wires yielded that the both the white and green wires 
> had tin plating on them as marine wire is supposed to have, but there was 
> no evidence of tin plating on the black wire.  All three wires had 
> printing on the insulation indicating they were 10 AWG 600V marine wire. 
> If that particular wire didn't have tin plating on it from the factory, 
> that could explain the problem that occurred in that the copper could have 
> started corroding which eventually increased the resistance of the contact 
> and caused the generation of the heat.  The contact screw that the wire 
> attached to has evidence of severe corrosion while the other two appear 
> okay.  If it did have tin plating then it is possible that the excess heat 
> vaporized it but the wires didn't apppear to h
> ave ever had the plating.  I will investigate further the next time I 
> visit the boat by stripping a portion of the jacket further away from the 
> initial contact.
>
> I just want to alert those who have a hull number near mine, #688, to be 
> aware of this potential problem.  If the wire wasn't tin plated when it 
> was produced then there was probably at least whole roll used during the 
> 2000 model year.
>
> Also, the connector on the back of Odyssey, was manufactured by Hubbell. 
> I spent sometime on the internet looking for a similar connector but there 
> isn't much information from Hubbell.  I understand that the C320's are 
> manufactured in Florida now and I only have the California parts 
> department number.  Does anyone have the phone for the Florida parts 
> department?  Thanks.
>
> Rod Boer,
> Odyssey, #688
>
>
>