Shore power socket location

[PetiteFleur]

I also have a spring loaded lid and it's located in the cockpit near the companionway on a level with the seats. I also use the camping type with 3 sockets complete with an RCD.

 

[colind3782]

I wondered about that when I was posting above so I looked it up on a few suppliers' websites but they all call it a socket; so I did the same.

But technically you're right.

Or how about "a socketed plug"?

Often called an "inlet" in ads.

 

[jbweston]

I wasn't trying to be pedantic, I was just struck by the way it's a sort of hybrid.

And you do sometimes hear of people who wire up the shore cables so there are live prongs ('plug' ?) that they carry around before pushing them into a socket.

I should talk, though. A couple of years back I dropped my live shore cable into the harbour throwing the main breakers in the small Swedish boatyard where we were doing some work. They were very patient - asked me to disconnect so they turn their power back on. Then when I thought the cable had dried out, I plugged it in again. It wasn't dry. They were even more patient the second time they were plunged into darkness and had to reset their power.

 

[guyd]

A plug has male bits of copper, a socket has female copper bits. The housing has no bearing on the gender. So a 16a blue socket is the male plastic bit, with female copper tubular holes and the plug is the other one, usually the bit that needs power, so the end of the lead that you shove into the marina is a plug, the other end that you shove into the boat is a socket and the boat has a plug.

YMMV if using marinco style equipment. But the principle stands.

The 16a plug is the dead end, as it's easy to get a finger in there.

 

[RupertW]

A plug has male bits of copper, a socket has female copper bits. The housing has no bearing on the gender. So a 16a blue socket is the male plastic bit, with female copper tubular holes and the plug is the other one, usually the bit that needs power, so the end of the lead that you shove into the marina is a plug, the other end that you shove into the boat is a socket and the boat has a plug.

YMMV if using marinco style equipment. But the principle stands.

The 16a plug is the dead end, as it's easy to get a finger in there.

But common usage is that a plug is a mobile thing that you push into a fixed socket, so I will stick to my boat having a socket with male connections and my lead having a plug with female connections.

Otherwise I have to start calling propellors on planes, "air screws" to differentiate them from all those planes with propellors facing backwards. You are right technically but language has moved away from you.

 

[guyd]

I’m ex aerospace / military plug and socket design engineer.... a plug is still a plug, irrespective of the housing.

 

[RupertW]

I’m ex aerospace / military plug and socket design engineer.... a plug is still a plug, irrespective of the housing.

And that the difference between technical language which has to be precise and common usage which should be understood

 

[TwoHooter]

I can't resist telling my story. We bought a caravan once. The previous owners had made their life easier by installing a second inlet (ie: male ftting) on the opposite side of the caravan to the factory fitting. They had wired it into the same terminals as the factory fitting. Therefore whenever power was connected to one of the inlets the other one became live. Under a little plastic flap. At toddler height.
Every now and then when I am walking round a marina I look to see if any boat owner has done the same sort of thing, one inlet at the bow and another at the stern. Haven't seen it yet.

 

[Momac]

I can't resist telling my story. We bought a caravan once. The previous owners had made their life easier by installing a second inlet (ie: male ftting) on the opposite side of the caravan to the factory fitting. They had wired it into the same terminals as the factory fitting. Therefore whenever power was connected to one of the inlets the other one became live. Under a little plastic flap. At toddler height.
Every now and then when I am walking round a marina I look to see if any boat owner has done the same sort of thing, one inlet at the bow and another at the stern. Haven't seen it yet.

My near neighbour made his own shore power cable which had the exposed prongs live. He took several shocks and even then didn't believe me when I pointed out his error. Eventually he corrected the fault ... and he is still alive.

 

[davidpbo]

My surface mounted inlet plug is mounted on the bulkhead at the top of the cockpit locker.
The lid on the locker allows the cable to pass out underneath it protected by a rubber seal and down a drainage channel between it and the bulkhead. Anywhere else was too close to engine or fuel (Petrol) for my comfort.