Alternative to useless bulgin deck socket

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roblpm

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As my boat is designed to have the mast taken down easily there is a six way deck socket like this for the wind instruments so they can be easily plugged in and out:

http://www.topqualitytools.co.uk/so...tm_source=bc&gclid=CKqcjsKHxdECFYeVGwod8IUL4w

The cable comes down inside the mast to a 6 way plug and into the deck socket. Problem is I can't stop the corrosion inside the plug and socket. Filled the plug with silicone last time. But obviously the water comes down the wire into the plug. I think I have replaced it 3 times!!

Its taken me 3 years to get my ancient stowe instruments working (a long and boring story). This is the only unreliable component left!!!!

My mate says solder the connections stuff them into the hole in the boat and cover it with gaffer tape!

Theres got to be a better way than that?!
 
I use simple swan neck fittings made up with stainless tube and elbows, with all connections made inside.
 
roblpm said:
Hmmm. Not sure i can get to the inside side easily? Or do you just shove them down from above?
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The top is lifted off and there is a large OD hole in the deck which allows plugs to pass through. Below decks I have a rectangular box on the headlining where the plugs sit to connect to their counter parts. The deck glands used to leak, bone dry since this was fitted.
 
NormanS said:
I use simple swan neck fittings made up with stainless tube and elbows, with all connections made inside.
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+1 a swan neck is far the easiest. I used to used deck plugs and glands but always found it a nuisance. If you have to. Then seal the plug with BueTak and tape over it.
 
I've used Bulgin plugs and sockets and found them adequate. Obviously, it's better to have no connectors on deck but it can't always be avoided on small boats.
It sounds like the O ring and gland in your plug is not correctly installed (or perished). See if you can get some replacements from Bulgin.
Those plugs are supposedly to military specification and have been recommended in the past by respected forumites.
 
I have rubber cones on all my mast lines. these form a close fit on the cables, while slipping over the plug/socket combination. If used with tinned wires, the resulting plug/socket will last for years. My deck instruments still have the original cables and I've owned the boat for over 15 years.

I've two lighting plugs feeding the deck flood/steaming light combination and the trip-white. These have conventional cables which corrode from the plug upwards but at the light fittings, the silicone potting seems to last much better, possibly as it's not disconnected when the mast comes down.
 
Another vote for making the connections inside. Various ways of taking cables through the deck. Deck glands from Index Marine or Scan Strut are good.
 
The Bulgin plug/socket is rated to IP68 which is continuous immersion to 1m (or more). So it looks like the wiring entry or the mating faces are not doing their job - heat shrink may be a remedy. I find -ve connections, inside the boat or out, tend to corrode anyway despite sealing against water - I assume just from galvanic action from the atmosphere - as does non-tinned wiring.
I prefer Vaseline to silicone based products (for this purpose, anyway!).
 
Tranona said:
Another vote for making the connections inside. Various ways of taking cables through the deck. Deck glands from Index Marine or Scan Strut are good.
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A good solution for most boats, but the OP does say his is designed to take the mast down "easily". If that means a trailer-sailer or something (would be good if he'd clarify) then I think dismantling glands every trip might be a bit too much of a faff. I'd probably look at improving the plugged connection, it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to make one that's actually waterproof. Matching the compression grommet to the cable will be important, the better plugs have a choice of sizes.

(As a matter of interest, the gold standard here is Subconn, able to be plugged and unplugged by divers at the bottom of the North Sea. But the prices are reputed to be rather fierce, definitely not something for the deck of a small yacht :) )

Pete
 
prv said:
A good solution for most boats, but the OP does say his is designed to take the mast down "easily". If that means a trailer-sailer or something (would be good if he'd clarify) then I think dismantling glands every trip might be a bit too much of a faff. I'd probably look at improving the plugged connection, it shouldn't be beyond the wit of man to make one that's actually waterproof. Matching the compression grommet to the cable will be important, the better plugs have a choice of sizes.

(As a matter of interest, the gold standard here is Subconn, able to be plugged and unplugged by divers at the bottom of the North Sea. But the prices are reputed to be rather fierce, definitely not something for the deck of a small yacht :) )

Pete
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If the water really is getting inside the outer jacket of the multiway cable, from higher up the mast, blaming the connector is not a route to a solution.

Neither do I personally think swan-necks are an adequate solution for a racing boat. Racing boats IMHO should cope with the decks being subjected to moving green water.

The other issue is that on a racing boat, anything near the mast will be either trodden on by the crew or used as a toe-hold.
(what would you do if you're at the mast when the other idiots broach the boat?)
One of the neater solutions I've seen is to put the connector a little way up the mast under an alloy shield or box. The wiring to indoors then goes through a gland, positioned to be protected from the crew.

The devil is in the detail, it's about finding the right place for the wiring among all the fittings.
I'm assuming deck stepped rig?
 
prv said:
A good solution for most boats, but the OP does say his is designed to take the mast down "easily". If that means a trailer-sailer or something (would be good if he'd clarify) then I think dismantling glands every trip might be a bit too much of a faff.

Pete
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Not sure in this case easily is the same as frequent. From other posts the boat is kept afloat and regularly raced. Also too big to be trailable.
 
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