What are these plugs

[BigAl.NZ]

Hi,

Our boat has these plus throughout it. The holes look like a foreign electrical socket and the boat which is ex USA did have a 110 inverter in it.

The actual size of them is about the size of a box of matches.

[Dave_S]

Could they be the old 2 prong stereo headset plug.

[a64pilot]

Sure look like a 220V receptacle to me, usually in pairs like US plugs though.
https://www.worldstandards.eu/electr...and-sockets/c/

[Bleemus]

I have a Wauquiez Hood 38 like you. Those are the old 220 outlets that came on boats made for Euro market. I presume you are on a boat, like mine, that was converted to 120 for US and these 220v outlets were disconnected.

[BigAl.NZ]

Ahh - good to know. I couldn't work out why there was two sockets in the head and both different styles. That explains it.

Need to find a nice little blanking plug to go over the top of them.

[a64pilot]

Most European plugs you had to rotate to actually open the hole to plug in.
I assume for this reason we didn’t find any child proofing plugs in Germany to plug into the sockets like you can find for US plugs, but if you want covers, maybe you can find childproofing covers?

[a64pilot]

These work for you?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lindam-Euro.../dp/B007F8BBUI

[Bleemus]

I think you will find that a proper conversion to USA 120 volt took the wires off of the back of these completely. No need for safety plates. Unscrew the socket and see if there is even a wire on them. If so trace the wire and remove it. You will find they either removed the wire completely or disconnected it from the panel and terminated it. I personally like to get all dead wires out of the boat.

[CarinaPDX]

Just a thought: don't be tempted to put a 120V outlet in place without running new wire. The wire size for 220V will be too small for the higher current of a 120V system. Also I recommend taking a hard look at all of your AC wiring for the same reason. A friend here has a European boat that failed survey because the original 220v wiring was used in the 120V conversion; the wire was undersized and of course the color codes were wrong. It was a dangerous mess. He now has a modern 120V system with isolation transformer and a new breaker panel.


Greg

[BigAl.NZ]

Originally Posted by CarinaPDX

Just a thought: don't be tempted to put a 120V outlet in place without running new wire. The wire size for 220V will be too small for the higher current of a 120V system. Also I recommend taking a hard look at all of your AC wiring for the same reason. A friend here has a European boat that failed survey because the original 220v wiring was used in the 120V conversion; the wire was undersized and of course the color codes were wrong. It was a dangerous mess. He now has a modern 120V system with isolation transformer and a new breaker panel.
Greg

Thanks Greg and others. I am in NZ, so we use 240V and the plug style is different to both UK and USA.

I have already removed the 110 inverter, and plan on installing a Victron in the near future, but so that we are compliant with local laws will have a electrician do the AC side of things.

The blanking plugs were not so much about making the plugs safe, but more to do with actually covering the hole if I removed the plugs all together.

Cheers

Al