On Tue, Mar 01, 2011 at 08:49:25PM +0000, Densler, Vernon R (IT Solutions)
wrote:
> I was told that my power cord on my boat was actually on fire between the 50
> to
> 30 amp adapter and the 30 amp cord. Anyone have any idea what could cause
> something like this?
Sure - a bad (i.e., high-resistance) connection.
> Trying to figure out why there of all places and if
> something on the boat was able to draw enough current to cause something like
> that. The rest of the cord is fine and it has been plugged in and running
> fine
> for almost a year.
Not so much a case of something on the boat drawing enough current as a
combination of even relatively low current and too-small of a wire
cross-section. A wire coming loose from its terminal, the terminal
itself cracking at its base, the wire being run over by a dock cart and
getting crimped - could be anything.
Imagine the connection being "worn down", for whatever reason, to a
single strand of copper instead of, say, the normal 1/4". That single
strand tries to carry, say, 10 amps - i.e., 1200W. That's more than
enough to turn it into an incandescent fire-starter.
I've often wondered, based on my experience with high-frequency systems,
if designing a little gadget that occasionally sends a, say, 100MHz
burst signal down a power cord and gauges its impedance (which would
instantly catch situations like that) might be a worthwhile business
idea. Then, I remember my forays into marketing stuff like that, and
forget all about it. :)
Ben
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