Older Scotty plug Ins

[Daveroo]

I have a pair of the older Hella plugs for my Scotty 1100 series downriggers. Every year I have to take them apart to clean and sand them or redo the wire connection. What happens at some point is that my connection eventually becomes very unreliable and I have to reach down and push the plug into the receptacle harder to get the gear to work. So it's basically losing electrical contact due to corrosion etc. Are the newer marinco plugs better? If so can I remove the old Hella plug and adapter and replace both items with their marinco parts?

 

[abl]

yes you can. I had the same problem so replaced plug and socket. buy the package with both as it was cheaper than buying individually

 

[UkeeDreamin]

x2 - finally bit the bullet and made the switch this spring after years of the same problems you describe: replacing the old style annually and still having to wiggle and push on them to make the connection. New style locks in place and have worked perfectly so far. Switching over was easy peasy and I'm no rocket surgeon when it comes to DIY jobs.

Cheers!

Ukee

 

[Daveroo]

OK, another item to add to my list of boat projects this weekend. Switching to the newer style of plugs!

 

[gungadin]

If you remove your downriggers after each trip, you will find it a lot easier to plug in (they only plug in one way) the next time, if you mark the plug with a dab of bright paint to indicate "this side up".

 

[Rockfish]

If you go for the new style plug buy a spare combo plug/socket package. It is not that uncommon for the plug or socket to fail and need to be replaced in the field (I have done it twice in the last ten years) which can mess up your day or vacation. All it takes is a few minutes with a screwdriver and some dielectric grease and you are back in action. You can test the rigger by plugging it in on the other side which usually eliminated the rigger as the problem. If you want to dry protect open electrical connections such as on a panel/buss or battery terminal without using dielectric grease, look for a product call Boeshield. I understand it was originally developed by Boeing for very expensive aircraft to prevent corrosion on open electrical connections in harsh and corrosive situations, but now has been found to have many uses.
http://boeshield.com/why-boeshield/