"I suspect a large number of the 55% of boat fires that are electrical in nature (source ABYC & USCG data) are the result of this antiquated and unsafe twist-lock standard we currently use. Of those 55% of boat fires nearly 54% of that number is caused by "shore power". That means that nearly 25% of all boat fires start in the shore cord/power system. Wow!!!!!" [Credit at the link in MS's reply above.]
OK, but there are TENS of THOUSANDS of twist-lock cords out there. How many total boat fires per year at US marinas? More than 100? Say (100 boat fires/year x 0.25 cords at fault) /10,000 cords in operation = 0.25% of twist-lock cords causing boat fires per year. Admittedly, I'm guessing about the number of boat fires/year and the number of cords. But at 1 boat fire/day = (365/yr x 0.25)/10,000 = 0.91%. Raise by a factor of 10 the number of cords, then it's 0.091%. The failure rate of the twist-lock cord does not appear high. Perhaps that's why they are "still with us."
OK, but there are TENS of THOUSANDS of twist-lock cords out there. How many total boat fires per year at US marinas? More than 100? Say (100 boat fires/year x 0.25 cords at fault) /10,000 cords in operation = 0.25% of twist-lock cords causing boat fires per year. Admittedly, I'm guessing about the number of boat fires/year and the number of cords. But at 1 boat fire/day = (365/yr x 0.25)/10,000 = 0.91%. Raise by a factor of 10 the number of cords, then it's 0.091%. The failure rate of the twist-lock cord does not appear high. Perhaps that's why they are "still with us."
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