Smart Plug -- Wow!

[smac999]

the kit is garbage. well the first ones were. I think they have improved a bit. buy the real cord. the kit ends break off / fall off the cord with a light touching... plastic junk. and the black rubber seal lasts about 2 months.

[transmitterdan]

I have had a 30A kit installed on a power boat for over 5 years. It has held up very well. The installation instructions have to be read and followed. Some of the steps are not obvious.

[CharlieJ]

Post #11: Chuck Hawley's excellent film that needs one correction. The thermostatic disconnect is not installed in the marine product line. It was removed to comply with ABYC E-11 that requires that a circuit breaker has to be manually reset after it opens.

Post #46: SmartPlug is extremely customer friendly and offers an unprecedented seven year warranty against defects!

https://smartplug.com/warranty/

Full disclosure; I have been a dealer for SmartPlug since they were introduced.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by rbk

Most people are unaware that drinking distilled water is bad for you short term and long term it will kill you. Also consuming huge quantities of regular drinking/tap water over a short period can also kill you.

https://biology.stackexchange.com/a/2253

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

I have had a 30A kit installed on a power boat for over 5 years. It has held up very well. The installation instructions have to be read and followed. Some of the steps are not obvious.

Same here. Bought a kit and replaced the end of my old power cord and the boat inlet at least 5 years ago, maybe a bit longer. The plugs are in perfect condition, much better than the cord itself.

The only problem I had with the kit was operator error. The instructions warn about this but I still screwed up (literally) when I over loosened the wire clamping screws which then fell out inside the plug inside a sealed compartment in the plug body. Took me an hours to jiggle them back into place and re-engage the threaded section.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by john61ct

https://biology.stackexchange.com/a/2253

I started reading this article and immediately red flags popped up. For one thing the pH of distilled water is nowhere near 3. Since pH is a logarithmic scale a pH of 3 would be extremely acidic and corrosive, comparable to concentrated sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. Pure distilled water will have a perfectly neutral pH of 7. Exposed to the air it will absorb some CO2 and form a weak carbonic acid which will slightly reduce the pH, maybe to 6.

The article is correct in one statement, if you consume nothing but distilled water IE no other liquid and no food at all, it can cause a problem. However unless one is on water only fast he/she will be eating food that contains lots of minerals, salts, etc that will more than make up for the lack of these in distilled water.

[rbk]

Originally Posted by skipmac

I started reading this article and immediately red flags popped up. For one thing the pH of distilled water is nowhere near 3. Since pH is a logarithmic scale a pH of 3 would be extremely acidic and corrosive, comparable to concentrated sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. Pure distilled water will have a perfectly neutral pH of 7. Exposed to the air it will absorb some CO2 and form a weak carbonic acid which will slightly reduce the pH, maybe to 6.

The article is correct in one statement, if you consume nothing but distilled water IE no other liquid and no food at all, it can cause a problem. However unless one is on water only fast he/she will be eating food that contains lots of minerals, salts, etc that will more than make up for the lack of these in distilled water.

Didn't read the article but the PH you describe is correct, should be more or less neutral.

This statement "However unless one is on water only fast he/she will be eating food that contains lots of minerals, salts, etc that will more than make up for the lack of these in distilled water."does not take into account the level of excursion, diet etc. Your average middle class fairly sedate North american or European living at home would probably not notice any effects of drinking distilled water on a daily basis, but if you were on rations, a diet, athlete training extensively (also applies for out of shape individuals just starting a fitness regime as the excursion can be significant relative to the individual) or just working/living in tropical heat etc, your expenditure of minerals also goes up. The minerals found in foods may normally make up for those lacking in the distilled water but you'd need to significantly increase your intake of soluble minerals to make up for the ones missing and the ones the water is stripping from your body, all the while your body is busy using them up.
The same effect can be derived from quickly consuming large quantities of regular water and has been documented extensively. The most memorable was a water drinking contest in California (if I remember correctly). The wining contestant collapsed and later died in hospital from water intoxication. Found the article: Woman dies after being in water-drinking contest - latimes
Put simply, if you're body does not have salt, it cannot hold water, but you'll die long before you completely run out of salt/water.

[sailormed]

Originally Posted by Boatyarddog

I just left the old plug in place and attached to the AC system.
Then installed the smart plug recepitical.
Now we can use either.
Cheers
SV Cloud Duster

I did the same, but put the old Marinco boatside female in place of the unused coax/telephone connector installed on our boat, but never used in Europe.
As to exposure ti fingers, both receptacles are female, so no contact surface possible.

[transmitterdan]

On our boat the connector permanently mounted to the hull had blades sticking up. Not a receptacle at all.

The shore cord has pins sticking out for the dock end and a female receptacle for the male blades on the boat end.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

Rain water is distilled water.

Right up until it moves through the air and picks up contaminants or lands on the ground.
Haven't you ever heard of acid rain ?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by rbk

Didn't read the article but the PH you describe is correct, should be more or less neutral.

This statement "However unless one is on water only fast he/she will be eating food that contains lots of minerals, salts, etc that will more than make up for the lack of these in distilled water."does not take into account the level of excursion, diet etc. Your average middle class fairly sedate North american or European living at home would probably not notice any effects of drinking distilled water on a daily basis, but if you were on rations, a diet, athlete training extensively (also applies for out of shape individuals just starting a fitness regime as the excursion can be significant relative to the individual) or just working/living in tropical heat etc, your expenditure of minerals also goes up. The minerals found in foods may normally make up for those lacking in the distilled water but you'd need to significantly increase your intake of soluble minerals to make up for the ones missing and the ones the water is stripping from your body, all the while your body is busy using them up.
The same effect can be derived from quickly consuming large quantities of regular water and has been documented extensively. The most memorable was a water drinking contest in California (if I remember correctly). The wining contestant collapsed and later died in hospital from water intoxication. Found the article: Woman dies after being in water-drinking contest - latimes
Put simply, if you're body does not have salt, it cannot hold water, but you'll die long before you completely run out of salt/water.

From my reading on the subject I pretty much agree with the above so more correctly I should have stated "water only fast or other extreme situations that involve large volumes of water consumption that could drain the body of minerals and salts". This is why I add a supplement to the water I drink when doing hard labor in hot or very dry conditions.

[Bleemus]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Same here. Bought a kit and replaced the end of my old power cord and the boat inlet at least 5 years ago, maybe a bit longer. The plugs are in perfect condition, much better than the cord itself.



The only problem I had with the kit was operator error. The instructions warn about this but I still screwed up (literally) when I over loosened the wire clamping screws which then fell out inside the plug inside a sealed compartment in the plug body. Took me an hours to jiggle them back into place and re-engage the threaded section.

Glad to hear I am not the only one!

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Bleemus

Glad to hear I am not the only one!

Makes me feel a little better as well to learn that I have company.

[a64pilot]

I have the original Smart Plug, I bought both a shore power cord and the kit to change over a shore power cord, plus of course the part that mounts to the boat.

The original Smart Plug had a temp disconnect, if it got hot, it disconnected power.
I believe that part became hard to come by, or expensive and is no longer in the newer Smart Plugs, but I like the idea of that myself and wish it was still there.

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I have the original Smart Plug, I bought both a shore power cord and the kit to change over a shore power cord, plus of course the part that mounts to the boat.

The original Smart Plug had a temp disconnect, if it got hot, it disconnected power.
I believe that part became hard to come by, or expensive and is no longer in the newer Smart Plugs, but I like the idea of that myself and wish it was still there.

The feature was removed for the marine market. There is an ABYC requirement that any mains safety device that removes power from a circuit requires manual intervention to restore power. The automatic thermal switch was deemed not compliant.

My opinion is that the ABYC requirement is a bit foolish in this case. And a significant safety feature had to be scrapped because of it. In this case it is simple to ensure that the mains is safely disconnected merely by unplugging the cord. That should be SOP for any electrical work anyway.