[luckylg]

Originally Posted by hat4349

It doesn't take suspicous activity to cause this, an electrical short, an accident on board, etc.. can cause them.

I've responded to more than a dozen boat/marina fires in the past ten years. In almost every case it was related to the shore power connection on the boat's side. Other causes have been space heaters, careless fueling practices (gas in bilge) and electrical shorts on the 12v side. Only one boat survived the fire and is better than new, and that was just pure luck.

[gsuburban]

Okay...that makes sense however, the boat side, meaning the interface connections on the yacht or the extension cord or the marina equipment being used etc? Please elaborate a tad.

[Pascal]

the inlet on the boat side is usually the most at risk. corrosion in the contacts lead to heat, arcing, more heat and melt down.

inspecting the plugs and inlet regularly is a must, as well as checking them for heat under full load.

[GFC]

I was very lucky last summer with my boat. I stopped by the slip to just check on things and found the was no shore power on the boat. I checked the breakers on the dock and they were not tripped.

I then checked the shore power connection and the plug end of the cord was black. Looking into the boat's connector I found it severly scorched, blackened and one of the male contacts was burned completely away from the connector.

I pulled the connector out of the boat and found the plastic cover on the back of the plug was melted, the screw connector where the wire attached to that loose contact was burned as was the wire insulation for about 2" back from the connector.

I am not sure what stopped the heat/fire, but I'm thankful it did not get any hotter and spread to the rest of the boat. A new shore power cord and boat-side connector were all that was needed to make it good as new.

[jmcdevitt]

Smoke alarms would have made a big difference here. The possible cause is careless smoking.

If smoke alarms were installed on this boat the fire would have been detected at 2AM and exteinguished with a garden hose.

Nearly every boat over 40 feet has a stateroom with only one way out. Egress in the time of a fire is a problem.

If the boating industry is going to build boats with limited egress, it should provide the consumer with early warning detection.

Why doesn't a $5 million yacht have a smoke alarm?

[NYCAP123]

Smoking inside a yacht, that always amazes me. I smoked for 50 years until recently, and I would never do that even with the owner's permission (even back when it was fashionable). Don't people understand how that stinks up a boat with all that fabric? I guess burning it down avoids answering why you stunk it up. Bad joke, sad subject.
About a week ago I was asked to sleep in what was laughingly called the crew quarters of a 62 footer (posted on different thread) which was a hole alongside the engine room. The inability to get out in case of a fire was one reason I slept on deck. After reading this post it occurred to me that yes, no smoke alarm, but I don't even think there was a CO detector. Fire scares the hell out of me. Why aren't smoke alarms mandated or at least campaigned for as they are for houses?

[jmcdevitt]

CO detectors are required on gas boats with accommodation spaces. CO detectors are not required on diesel boats because there is relatively little CO produced by a diesel engine. Certainly not deadly levels anyway.

Smoke alarms are not required by the boating industry. The RV industry has required them since 1982. Every industry that manufactures structures with sleeping quarters installs and requires smoke alarms. But not the boating industry.

If you are going to put your customers to bed in a vessel with AC and DC electric, a fuel source plumbed to multiple devices, and some staterooms with limited egress, you would think the boat builder would at least spring for a smoke alarm.

[gsuburban]

Yeah...you'd think they would outfit the below deck areas with alarms etc and likely this would have been an asset for the Naples family who were awoken only by the popping of the fiberglass and epoxy.

One post above mentioned the shore power port on the vessel is the number one cause of fires. This is interesting, why? Could it be the power consumed when docked exceeds the rated power of the receptacle of the vessel or maybe the plug from the dock power? With that being mentioned, it would appear the hardware being used is under rated for vessels. I'd like to review the engineer documents which support installing the hardware that eventually overheats as a result of being undersized for the applications. My guess is one size fits all; no matter what accessories the builder is installing. I'd like to guess at least 100 amps is being used when 200 amps should be considered the safe option. Maybe it was the dock equipment?

It would appear since this was a recent purchase by the Naples family, the broker/builder are going to find out the hard way via lawsuit unless they move forward with the owners and make a fair resolution. I cannot fathom owning a yacht for 10 days then watching it burn 3 yachts while threatening all lives in the vicinity.

Has anyone heard what had caused this one in particular?

[Pascal]

shore power system are protected by breakers, on the dock, near the inlet, and at the main electrical panel... it woudl be hard to pull more than the system is rated. BUT, one big problem is corrosion and aging connectors. that increases resistance which generate heat... it's always a good idea to check your shore power connectors for heat under a full load...

poor seamanship can be a contributing factor: unpluging a cord without first shutting down the breakers... a guaranteed cause of arcing and problems in the long run.

i dont' see how the broker could be responsible or liable... or the builder for that matter unless the connectors were not large enough for the breakers... VERY unlikely.

most larger boats have retractable power cords (cable masters or similar) and the connections on the boat side are permanent (not plugs) which shouldn't cause any issue.

[NYCAP123]

Just slightly off issue, we burned out the motor on our cable master. Couldn't figure out how it happened without the breaker tripping, but we replaced the motor. It lasted for one in / one out. New motor burned out. Changed it out again. We figured the cable jammed a little causing problem even though that really made no sense as the breaker should have popped. New motor and cable cleared, no problem. Expensive way to find that the breakers don't always do their job.

[CODOG]

Smoke detectors are a normal part of compliance when it comes to charter regs. MCA take all this very seriously, a lot of non charter clients are too these days.

[K1W1]

Hi,

I agree with Pascal as to the cause of many of the problems with shore power plugs. The covers are often left loose and get wet, the cords are known to fall into the water or be left open on the dock where that can get wet. Once there has been arcing and any corrosion form the problem just increases with subsequent use and abuse.

Common Sense and Situational Awareness would go a long way to stopping the number of these type of incidents that occur every year.

[Pascal]

one problem i've see with shorepower cord that is related to the design of the boat is their location. Ever seen a boat with the shore power low on the swimplatform? I have... it's plain stupid! no matter how much you tighten the covers, under way there will be spray and even water splashing on the platform... sometimes you have to wonder what some builders are thinking since the inlets could have been located one or two steps up.

[Marmot]

"Expensive way to find that the breakers don't always do their job."

Breakers are installed to protect the wiring, not the motor. The breakers have to be sized for the wiring and to handle the starting load. Moderate overloads for extended periods can burn up a motor without bothering the supply wiring, as you discovered.

That is why motor starters and controls have "heaters" before the fuses or breakers, they respond to long term overloads the same way the motor does and provide a trip. Other small motors might have thermal switches to open the circuit when the motor overheats.

Like someone else said, it's corrosion of the contacts that cause the heating on the boatside shorepower connection, not overloading.

[jmcdevitt]

The shore power cord is sometimes the cause of fires aboard boats. The cause of a shore power cord fire is usually a corroded connection coupled with a high demand. Undersizing is not as big a problem as corrosion. This boat was a Lazzara and I would guess that the shore power cord was not undersized. Undersizing normally takes place when equipment is added after the boat is built and the conductor (wire) running from the shore power inlet to the panel is not increased to properly handle the additional load.

The cause of the fire was not officially determined due to the condition of the evidence after the boat sank. There is more than some speculation that a carelessly discarded cigarette was the cause of the fire.

Every industry in America provides (required by law and/or industry regulation) early warning detection for the people who sleep in the product they build and sell. ...but not the boating industry. (RVs since 1982.)

Nearly every boat over 40 feet in length has a stateroom or two with limited egress or escape - but we don't provide smoke alarms. Statistics show that 55% of all boat fires are electrical - a slow smoldering type of fire - the type of fire that makes smoke alarms good common sense.

Smoke alarms in a boat are a no brainer!