12V 'Cigarette lighter' type plugs and other 12v connections.

[s/v Faith]

There are few good options on a boat to readily (reliably) connect 12v accessories.

The innocuous plug found on every 'car changer' work reasonably well for small loads like... charging cell phones and the like.  The problem is that the connection is prone to corrosion and affected by movement. 

There are a couple types of pulgs one can install for this;

There are the metal plugs (sometimes marketed as 'stainless') like these;

Sea Dog Stainless outlet.




And the much worse type (sold in automotive parts places);


The second kind have NO PLACE on a boat... they corrode rapidly and fail with impunity.


Much better are the kind offered by Marinco;


I just installed a bunch of these on a friends boat... they are better but still rely on the pressure of the spring in the plug to maintain the connection.

[s/v Faith]

There are two other options that I have used, neither is ideal (IMHO).

The better option is the 'trolling motor outlet' like these (Marinco);


Several mfg. make their own... and they are mostly not compatible with one another.



Another common one;


OThers;


I like this one, but they are pricy....


These tend to be rated for higher current, but they are expensive and their design is 'hit or miss' as to reliability.  I did have one for my cockpit connection, but never was happy with the fact that I never had the right plug for what I wanted to use.  I had it on my spotlight... but could not plug in the cord for the GPS or the cockpit light I wanted to use.

[s/v Faith]

There is a third type that I have found that is fairly standard on boats... but not without flaws.

The 'Two pin' connector is made up of one small and one large pin.

Often seen in lighting applications, these plugs are made by Perko and others.



Polarity is maintained by the use of one large and one smaller pin.  I like these connectors for their all brass connections, but they lack stress relief... and it IS possible to put them in wrong once they are worn.  I used one of these for the plug on my outboard (charging coil) for years, and while I had to change it several times it worked... ok.

[LooseMoose]

All the so called "marine" plugs are seriously flawed, expensive or , in most cases a combination of the two. That said there is an excellent better than marine quality plug system that makes all kinds of sense and is cheap... Take a look at the Anderson Power Pole system (http://boatbits.blogspot.com/2010/02/trying-to-make-sense-of-boats-electricl.html)

Bob