I was trying to install a battery charger on my boat, and before turning it on, I wanted to check out the whole AC wiring situation, before I "plug in the boat."

So I am "ringing out" the various circuits, checking to see what legs are turned on and off by what breakers, and wanting to ensure that there were no shorts anywhere.

First I discovered that the boat is wired so it appears that the "white" side or neutral is switched vice the "black" side or hot. This may all come down to the wiring at the AC service plug, so it may not be a boat wide thing.

Second, in checking a couple outlets, I find that they were quite loose. So I open one up. Inside I find that the plastic pieces that hold the brass parts that form the actual sockets, are quite loose and only held in place by the center screw, which is not captured, except by the very loose metal bits. Now that may not make sense until you consider that the plastic parts are held together with a couple of steel pins.

The steel pins had corroded.

There was nothing to hold the plastic bits together. With nothing holding the plastic bits together, there is nothing holding the electrical metal bits apart. Gonna have to replace all the electrical sockets on the boat. None of the actual electrical parts failed or corroded... just the pins that hold the whole works together. I found bits of pins (all white with corrosion) in the outlet boxes and a bit "in-place" in the back of the outlets.

Ever see an AC socket "dissected?" Well I didn't dissect it, it just fell apart; but here are all the bits that make up an AC socket. In the center is the hole that holds the screw that holds the cover, but that screw only goes into the ground strap;he silver bit down the middle... nothing holds the socket together but a couple of steel pins through the plastic half shells. No steel pins... the whole thing just falls apart.