Patent ID: 7794254

Claim:
A connector part for use underwater or in a wet or severe environment and for interengagement with a second connector part to establish an electrical connection, the connector part having at least one pin extending axially from a support for engagement with an electrical contact in the second connector part when the connector parts are interengaged, said pin comprising: an axially extending electrical conductor; and an axially extending electrically insulating sleeve around said conductor, said insulating sleeve having an outer surface and a longitudinally extending portion forward of the support, said longitudinally extending portion comprising a metal or metalized coating formed on said outer surface forward of the support and exposed to ambient conditions when the connector parts are disengaged, the metal or metalized coating suppressing penetration of water into said longitudinally extending portion and reducing localized condensing of equipotential electric field lines in a region radially outward of the metal or metalized coating.