Take your normal ehu lead. Many sites have the large round socket so you can plug in as you would on a UK site. Others, especially France, will have a socket in the style of their domestic oylets. You will therefore need to have an adaptor cable. Search the web or discuss with you caravan dealer.
Research reversed polarity as well. This should not be an issue with a new van however.
As well is two words!
How does a sage know everything about everything? or does he? or does he just think he does?
Remember, if you buy something you bought it, not brought it.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote: Originally posted by Eric Siddle on 30/5/2013
I have been trying to get a definitive answer on campsite hookups but get more confused. Any advice!!
That's the best summation of 'reverse polarity' I've seen ... thanks Octavia!
Though I've never had a problem with rp, and have never, consciously, checked or made any changes to my set up, I know that some are concerned, and it's as well to understand the concept and modify your practices according to your preferences.
You probably wouldn't notice the difference but in the article it says that an RCD will trip in 40 milliseconds,it will only trip in 40milliseconds at 5 times its rated current,it can take 200 milliseconds at its rated trip.
for a 30 mA RCD >150 mA less than 40 milliseconds at 30mA 200 milliseconds,it might not seem a lot but it certainly feels like it!
I must be missing something here. AC stands for "Alternating Current" doesn't it?
In our case in the UK it goes from 0 volts to +240 volts to 0 volts to -240 volts 50 times a second (50 Hz).
In France (for example) it goes from +230 volts to 0 volts to -230 volts
So if the voltage changes between +ve and -ve 50 times a second can someone please tell me what this reverse polarity thing is?
In the old days before double insulation when the neutral lead was connected to earth in the appliance there might have been a problem - particularly for service engineers since the chassis of the equipment would be 'live' if the plug was wired incorrectly. Equipment like this is illegal everywhere these days because it breaches electrical safety legislation almost everywhere.
Reverse polarity is an anathema in that AC mains changes polarity 50 times every second - this is why its called ALTERNATING CURRENT.
Someone please explain what I am missing because I am obviously being dumb on this one.
It is only the live conductor that alternates from +230 t0 - 230 the neutral remains at or about zero volts.In reverse polarity the live and neutral are reversed so that the neutral becomes the live conductor
It doesn't switch from + to - between conductors just on the live conductor.
GThanks for that saxo1 but I still remain confused because:-
I appreciate that the voltage is wrt 0 (with respect to 0) and that the neutral conductor is the reference 0v.
As I said before since electrical equipment these days is double insulated which means the earth is isolated from both conductors in the equipment then anything accidentally wired the other way round would trip the earth leakage trip.
The French and everyone else in europe are governed by the same electrical regulations as we are so for any publically available AC supply to be connected incorrectly would cause it to fail regulatory checks when it was allowed to be connected to the public supply in the first place.
Leading me back to my original question.
Regards
David
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Only class 2 is double insulated and doesn't have an earth conductor,class 1 has an earth conductor.
An RCD won't trip on reverse polarity unless there is leakage to earth on one of the conductors to cause an inbalance on the RCD circuit,irrespective of polarity.
In mainland europe both the neutral and live conductors are switched(double pole) so it doesn't matter whether polarity is reversed or not as both conductors are broken by the switch.
If you are using modern equipment and the caravan/tent electrics are protected by 30mA RCD and MCB protected then the risk is miniscule.
Quote: Originally posted by david8858 on 31/5/2013
In the old days before double insulation when the neutral lead was connected to earth in the appliance there might have been a problem - particularly for service engineers since the chassis of the equipment would be 'live' if the plug was wired incorrectly.
Not all appliances are double insulated. If there is any metal on the casing at all it would be class 1 not 2 and would require an earth connection.
The chassis would also only be live if there wasn't a fused live and a connection to ground (neutral goes in to the earth at the transformer station).
I think the most important thing for people to remember here is that. If you reverse your neutral and live, the switches you use in your house (caravan etc...) will not work as per normal. Most switches work by disconnecting the live to the appliance (light switch is the most obvious one) so if you have polarity reversed (live and neutral), the appliance will still have a live connection to it when you've switched it off. You've simply defeated it's connection with neutral (ground). In my book, that's potentially dangerous.
Much of the equipment we use is live fused so the fuse is in-line on the live cable so if there is a surge, the fuse will blow. If you reverse the polarity you essentially bypassing that fuse.
Ultimately, hook ups are dangerous up until the point we plug stuff in (after the RCD/MCB) as the supply posts that we all use, often don't appear to have any protection at all. So the cable that runs between the post and the RCD/MCB generally unprotected. The advice then would be to meticulously check the cable by eye to make sure it has no breaches. Especially if you have dogs with wet tongues and kids crawling around on top of the cable!
I think the way out is this. There is a polarity tester for sale which has been linked above. It's a few quid and they work. If you find a reversed polarity then you can reverse the polarity in your 16a connector (the blue one). You could also simply buy another euro ---> 16a adapter, swap the live and neutral wires inside (they are easy to work with) and mark it VERY CLEARLY! as polarity reversed. Then we can all get on with our holidays..!!
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Electric Hook Up in Europe
