Electrical connection corrosion

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Daydream believer

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Like many I have some of the chrome type deck plugs & sockets ( I also have the plastic ones as well) I have just plugged in my tiller pilot & to my dismay nothing happened.
The problem is that over the winter corrosion has built up on the terminals to the plugs & sockets. This is in spite of efforts to seal them off at the end of last season.
Male pins are easy enough to clean, using fine abrasive paper, or wire wool. However. the female part is always the problem.
Sprayed contact cleaner is next to useless. Connections below deck & alternatives to plugs & sockets are NOT an option
So does anyone have any special tips on how to clean the sockets to get a good contact?
 
I have used BlueTak for many years. It is easy to apply and remove and leaves the contacts bright and shiny. A layer of tape may be needed to keep it in place outside. A bit late for this year!
 
Roll up a small piece of your abrasive paper and insert it into each socket, then rotate it in the direction that tends to unroll it and force the abrasive against the metal?

Personally I would (and did) replace those crappy chromed things with something more modern, but that's not what you asked.

Pete
 
prv said:
Personally I would (and did) replace those crappy chromed things with something more modern, but that's not what you asked.
Pete
Click to expand...
When I made the comment I meant that i did not want to just replace te xisting with the same or make the connection below deck so that i could not remove the tiller pilot ram at the end of the days sail.
Your comment about " something more modern" has me perplexed. What exactly do you mean please?
 
[
Daydream believer said:
Like many I have some of the chrome type deck plugs & sockets ( I also have the plastic ones as well) I have just plugged in my tiller pilot & to my dismay nothing happened.
The problem is that over the winter corrosion has built up on the terminals to the plugs & sockets. This is in spite of efforts to seal them off at the end of last season.
Male pins are easy enough to clean, using fine abrasive paper, or wire wool. However. the female part is always the problem.
Sprayed contact cleaner is next to useless. Connections below deck & alternatives to plugs & sockets are NOT an option
So does anyone have any special tips on how to clean the sockets to get a good contact?
Click to expand...

I used to use the traditional Cr or Ni plated metal bodied deck sockets .but changed all but one to Dri plugs many years ago.

I have never had trouble with Driplugs although I usually put thin smear of silicone grease on the pins and th O ring seal ( keep an eye open for tubes of silicone grease in Lidl)

Dri plugs are no longer available. If I was fitting any new sockets now I would use Bulgin Buccaneer plugs and sockets.

Whatever type of plugs you use fit the protective caps to the sockets when the plugs are removed.

Be aware that one pin of traditional deck sockets is usually connected to the outer shell. Be sure that's a negative connection. If you make it positive you will get more corrosion.
 
My tiller pilot uses a Bulgin 6-pin plug and socket. I installed it in 1999 and it is still working well. The socket has a cap that replaces the plug when not being used. I also have a Dri-plug in the cockpit that I believe is original, i.e. 1984. It still works OK although there is an occasional poor contact due to corrosion of the female connectors. Dri-plugs also have/had a cover, in this case sealed with an O-ring.
 
I discovered after getting loads of corrosion (looked like rust) on the original 6 pin 'Bulgin like 'deck plug (prewired) and socket supplied with my new Raymarine ST2000 that it was not actually a Bulgin ,being slightly different in dimension,without the Bulgin marking , and with pins /sockets that offered very poor corrosion resistance.The fine 6 pin arrangement also made it impossible to clean - so as I use the pilot only in the simplest mode I replaced the pair with the two pin real Bulgin set offering chunkier pins - inexpensive from CPC. I have found that a matching diameter of split pin will clean deck sockets effectively.
 
In my experience it is virtually impossible on a boat to protect electrical connections against galvanic corrosion - either by sealing the connectors or using some protective coatings. The best protection I found is keeping anything what is not in use disconnected from the power. Helps heaps.
 
Some time ago I have replaced my original 6 pin plastic bulgin type connector on my tiller pilot with a two pin connector.

I also use a protective cover when the tiller pilot is not connected.

My reasoning is the two pin sockets are much higher rated and have much larger contacts. I also prefer to set my tiller pilot to sail to a course to steer rather than following the route determined by way points on a chartplotter and dont bother with the Nmea conns.

The bulgin sockets are particularly good as you can check for any corrosion on the screw terminals by removing the insert from above deck without using another tool other than the sealing cap.

I had nothing but problems with the old fashioned chrome plated connectors for the mast electrics and have replaced these with the same.

I usually give all the connectors a good squirt of wd 40 at least twice a year and then a glob of dielectric grease.

I also use the two pin Tiller Pilot socket to connect either a cockpit table light, an anchor light, a dinghy pump, or temporary solar charging panel set up on top of the boom sail stack pack.
 
Corrosion Block is very good. My hand controller plug for the anchor winch suffers but a squirt of CB does the trick. We also use it on connections for our
model boats that we race. The futaba joint fittings get corroded but CB gets them working again.
You can get the grease or the oil in a can on E bay.
 
Daydream believer said:
Like many I have some of the chrome type deck plugs & sockets ( I also have the plastic ones as well) I have just plugged in my tiller pilot & to my dismay nothing happened.
The problem is that over the winter corrosion has built up on the terminals to the plugs & sockets. This is in spite of efforts to seal them off at the end of last season.
Male pins are easy enough to clean, using fine abrasive paper, or wire wool. However. the female part is always the problem.
Sprayed contact cleaner is next to useless. Connections below deck & alternatives to plugs & sockets are NOT an option
So does anyone have any special tips on how to clean the sockets to get a good contact?
Click to expand...
Be interested in how to reach 'hidden' areas, tried wd40 on one switch, which worked one day, but not the next & still u/s.
 
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