Mystery socket

[Nicholas123]

Anybody know what piece of equipment this would have been for? http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/j359/Nicholas1954/Winter2013009.jpg

It was probably installed on the Continent in Holland & would be about an inch across.

 

[pete]

looks like an autohelm socket to me,

 

[Evadne]

It looks to me like a bog standard 12V socket, although it's hard to see form this angle, not unlike a Dri-fit socket.

 

[Nicholas123]

looks like an autohelm socket to me,

I've got an autohelm & one pin is bigger than the other,plus of course this one is in the cabin so would not be much use for that.

 

[Nicholas123]

It looks to me like a bog standard 12V socket, although it's hard to see form this angle, not unlike a Dri-fit socket.

Not sure what a Dry-fit socket is but if it is a bog standard twelve volt socket what sort of equipment would you plug into it?
Presumable from the time before the cigarette lighter type socket?

 

[prv]

It's a Driplug socket.

It's something you buy and install for whatever you need to connect. There's no way of telling, just by looking at the socket, what the previous owner put it there for. A better clue is where it's mounted. Common uses are tillerpilots and mast wiring; slightly less common but also possibilities are searchlights and portable plotters.

EDIT: Just noticed you saying it's in the cabin. Would have been useful to mention in your initial post . So it's not going to be for a tillerpilot, mast wiring, or (probably, unless it's just inside the hatch) a searchlight. Could be literally anything - previous owner's electric poodle massager?

Check where the wiring on the back goes, but 90% likely it's just a 12v supply. You can buy the plugs in any chandlery or online if it's in a convenient location for things you want to plug in, ignore it or remove it if it isn't. What the previous owner used it for doesn't really matter.

Pete

 

[michael_w]

I've got several of them on my boat. On deck power socket for searchlight, deck wash pump, feed for the solar panels, cockpit light, etc. They are one of the few really waterproof deck connections.

 

[Westerly Jetstream]

I've one just inside aft cabin hatch for autohelm to plug into.

 

[Pye_End]

Can you trace it back to your main switch board, and is it marked on the board?

 

[Cardo]

Defo a driplug. I have two at the base of the mast for the mast lights.
As per other posts, you'll need to trace the wires back to find out where it's connected up to. Could be any number of things, though most likely is a 12v supply.