"Chuck Tribolet" wrote in
:

Good idea to cut the power, but it's not the plastic connector that
gets eaten but rather the copper conductors.


"Larry" wrote in message
...
Be sure to cut the 12VDC power to it
because the plastic connectors get eaten by electrolysis caused by
the moist air and DC power people leave on them all the
time.....grrr...nuts.




I have this same plug that was simply unplugged at the helm of a 35'
sloop and left hanging, out of the rain under a bimini that didn't leak.

Between the +12V pin, that always had DC on it, and the ground pin, the
other side of the battery, the PLASTIC in this little 4-pin plastic plug,
was so stressed, chemically, by the combination of atmosphere and 12VDC
it DISINTEGRATED into powder! I'd never seen anything like it in 42
years in electronics. The plastic between the disconnected data pins was
hardened, but not disintegrated. The plastic was so changed, you could
squeeze it into powder and pull the whole 12V pin and wire leading to it
out of the molded plastic housing. The PLASTIC must have been made of
some conductive material that electrolysis caused by the battery voltage
could chemically change its state.

Really wierd! Planned obsolescence??...(c;

The power pins, themselves, were only slightly corroded.

Larry
--
If we eliminate religion, will they stop murdering each other?