Patent ID: 6932636

Claim:
A subsea electrical connector comprising: a pin unit having a pin with a pin electrical contact on the exterior of the pin; a receptacle unit having a housing with a bore, the bore having an entrance on an outer end to sealingly receive the pin, the bore defining a shuttle chamber; a receptacle electrical contact in the bore for electrical engagement with the pin electrical contact; a dielectric compensating chamber connected to the shuttle chamber by a communication passage, the compensating chamber and the shuttle chamber adapted to contain a dielectric fluid, the compensating chamber having a pressure compensator that applies hydrostatic fluid pressure of water surrounding the connector to the dielectric fluid in the pressure compensator; a shuttle member carried within the shuttle chamber for inward and outward movement relative to the housing, the shuttle member being biased toward an outer position in sealing engagement with the entrance of the bore and being moved to an inner position by contact of the pin when the pin unit is coupled to the receptacle unit; and a replenishment valve that allows flow through the communication passage from the compensating chamber to the shuttle chamber when pressure in the shuttle chamber is less than pressure in the compensating chamber, the replenishment valve blocking flow through the communication passage from the shuttle chamber to the compensating chamber.