Hi has anyone come across the polarity of the electric hook up being incorrect in France or Switzerland? I've been advised to buy a polarity tester and a converter, but surely you don't need "a kit" for £34. Can you not just test it with let's say for instance martindales?
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Yes. Polarity can be positive or negative in European houses, hotels and campsites. If you lived nearer I would give you my tester. I have given up bothering to check !
Polarity is one of those topics which 'polarises' opinion. There are those who test, and correct, and even those who won't stay on sites with the 'wrong' polarity.
We have a house in France and we certainly don't test before plugging in a hairdryer, or any piece of modern equipment. We don't test or correct on campsites either - but there seems to be a majority who do.
By the end of this thread you may well wish you'd never asked!
If you have double protection MCBs and RCD and the appliances are modern it's extremely difficult to find any situation with reversed polarity that presents a danger unless you do something stupid like try to dismantle something while it is plugged in.
saxo1
We have a simple plug top tester ... once it showed RP ... didn't do anything ... everything still worked ... we are still camping ...
Complete waste of time really ... just amuses me .... and ... the acres of rubbish spewed out about it on previous threads
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Brief answer as to why correct polarity should be observed.
As an advocate of checking and correcting polarity let me say from the outset that the chance coming to harm by connecting to a reversed polarity supply is small. It requires a secondary incident for there to be a significant risk and then there is the possibility that the RCD may prevent electrocution.
Mains electricity is an alternating current (AC). Many people assume that the supply alternates between the live phase and neutral wire. This misconception leads some people to think that polarity is irrelevant. In fact electricity is delivered from the live cable only, in a + / - sine wave at 50 cycles per second. However, this does not mean that it is safe to touch the neutral wire!
When people camp they may take a wide range of electrical equipment, (heaters, toasters hair driers, lights, etc.) It is often said, there is double pole switching (live and neutral) so no problem. I have yet to find double pole switching on a portable appliance. When connected to a reversed polarity supply the element will be live to touch even though it is not switched on. The only appliances I have found with double pole switching are the fridge and water heater in our camper which is hard wired to the consumer unit. Even then the manufacturers state that correct polarity must be observed when installing.
Because of safety issues with reverse polarity the use of double pole consumer units, sockets and light switches in electrical installations on the continent is fairly common or mandatory, but there are still many single pole switches and sockets in use.
Since 1992, because of the possibility of continental touring, UK caravans have been fitted with double pole MCB’s, RCD and may have double pole sockets.
In normal use, the reliability of an RCD tripping is approx. 97%. The odds of it not working are greater than winning the lottery! Its reliability is maximised by using the test button regularly. In addition, the speed and current at which they are set to avoid nuisance tripping may not protect the very young and or those with a weak heart. It is far better to have an RCD but do not depend upon it to save a life!
Although aware of the possibility, I encountered a situation where an RCD would not trip (done by pressing the test button). In brief, a neutral meter tail was unintentionally disconnected during work, rendering two RCD’s useless as safety devices, leaving the live phase on. This scenario could occur with single pole switching when polarity is reversed.
The 13 amp plug (BS 1363), as used in the UK and approx 50 other countries, is unique in that it is the only plug in the world which contains a fuse. The fuse (available as 3, 5, or 13amps) should be slightly larger than the consumption of the appliance or wire size it protects. If there is a fault or short (contact between live and neutral or earth) in either the wire from the plug or the appliance, the fuse will blow, rendering the situation safe. The primary function of a fuse is to prevent fire in the appliance and / or cable. Unlike an RCD it will not protect a person from a fatal electric shock but the wire and appliance are safe once the fuse has blown. If the fuse is on a neutral line, when polarity is reversed, it will not function as a safety device.
On the Continent, the appliance and wiring are dependent on the MCB in the Consumer Board and do not get the same degree of protection as with a plug fuse.
Both caravan clubs give sound advice on the safe use of electricity and BS7671 prohibits the use of reversed polarity electricity in the UK. Why? The reason I check and if necessary correct polarity is so that I have peace of mind knowing I have done everything to minimise the possibility of an incident.
Regards Bob.
The small risk involved fitting a reversing lead, ie putting extra joints in the EHU cable would outway the minute risk of reverse polarity.
Rain could get in the joint.
It could have a weak pin and start a fire.
A child could unplug it and stick it's fingers in it.
Someone could trip over the plugs.
An internal reversing switch would be fitted by manufacturers if it was necessary, otherwise they would be sued out of business in 6 months.
Quote"When people camp they may take a wide range of electrical equipment, (heaters, toasters hair driers, lights, etc.) It is often said, there is double pole switching (live and neutral) so no problem. I have yet to find double pole switching on a portable appliance."
!f that were correct the appliance could not carry the EC approval marking as the same risk would apply to any appliance used on mainland EU whre polarity isn't observed it wouldn't be safe!
Manufacturers don't just make appliances for sale in the UK they make equipment to a set of safety rule so that any appliance is safe for use throughout the EU
I have three toasters all of which are double pole switched,when the toast carriage is in the up position there is no contact with any conductors.
Most portable apliances such as hairdryers are double insulated so the possbility of of a shock is only there if the cable is damaged.
There are only 2 sze fuses recommended 3A and 13A and their sole function is to protect the cable/equipment connected. they offer little or no protection against electrocution unless the earth loop impedance is low enough to allow the fuse to operate quickly enough irrelevant as far as the rev/pol situation is concerned.
The only reason there is a fuse in a plug top is because the UK domestic wiring system, i.e a ring final circuit ,is protected by a 32A MCB or fuse.
This is not the case in mainland EU where they have a radial system where each circuit is protected by it's own MCB,(fuses aren't permitted under their new regs.)
Wthin the context of the reverse polarity question this has no real bearing!
On all approved campsites there is RCD and MCB protection at the hookup post as well as the caravan or proper camping hookup unit this is considerably more than a large proportion of UK homes that dont have RCD protection.
!f an RCD fails then you are reliant upon the Earth fault loop impedance to be low enough to prevent a fatal shock.
saxo1
My take is that if it was a serious problem, and we all ran the risk of electrocution when operating our appliances in Europe, that EU Health and Safety requirements would make it mandatory that Estate Agents, restaurants, WiFi hot spots, hotel chains, and booking websites such as booking.com would be obliged to bring this risk to our attention. Also they would need to make susre that any plug sockets, anywhere, would display a 'Danger of death' notice, in English, in case a visitor from GB plugged something in. The wiring in Europe has the same 'differences' in houses, hotels, and cafes and restaurants.
Never, ever, have I seen such a warning apart from on forums such as this, and via the Caravan Club so I wonder just what it is that makes caravanners at more risk than other holidaymakers or visitors.
However I'm sure that none of us 'non-testers' will ever convince the 'testers' to change their views.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Quote In normal use, the reliability of an RCD tripping is approx. 97%. The odds of it not working are greater than winning the lottery!"
Since the lottery started it has created more than 4600 millionaires, I can't find a report of one single electrocution on a EU touring campsite directly attributed to reverse polarity!
saxo1
Before I moved to Ireland I spent 12 years living on the continent and didn't come across any problems. I have never checked and won't be going forward.
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Topic: Polarity tester
