Us it possible to take a lead with same plug ends on. Plug into the socket of my inverter, then plug into a socket in the motorhome to make all sockets live?
Quote: Originally posted by Compass Castaway on 25/1/2026
Us it possible to take a lead with same plug ends on. Plug into the socket of my inverter, then plug into a socket in the motorhome to make all sockets live?
Possible yes, but safe? NO WAY!! Also, if you did that you would probably flatten your battery very quickly indeed.
As said, HIGHLY dangerous! That's why ONLY sockets with protected terminals are ever powered, NEVER plugs with exposed terminals! - One lapse of memory could result in a lethal shock from inverter output plug, as you will have bypassed the van's safety devices.
Also, devices/users will NOT be protected in the normal way on any equipment plugged into the van's powered sockets as you will have bypassed the van's normal safety devices.
Another issue, and I'm not sure what the outcome would be, but I'd suspect failure! You would be applying power on OUTPUT of the circuit breakers and RCD instead of the normal INPUT side, they may trip as seeing the supply as in a fault state, and/or with some unforeseen consequences like not all sockets being made live, depending on vehicle wiring.
Depending on your inverter, if a square wave or modified sine wave inverter, then many electronic devices don't take kindly to the non-sinusoidal wave form and IF backfed into consumer unit, may also be fed into leisure battery charger, which may malfunction/be damaged.
If you MUST do it, inverter output should be fed into normal EHU input socket. That way all the consumer unit breakers would operate normally (subject to inverter output waveform being satisfactory).
The EHU supply also has to be earthed. Caravans and motor homes have a whole section in the IEE Regs for them because they are a special Location with their unique dangers. They require a specific method of earthing.
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Topic: Electrics.
via mobile 25/1/2026 at 4:30pm
