hookup in europe

DPH

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Forgive my ignorance (proper newbie to al this)...
Is it the same three pin connection for hookup in France or do you need an adaptor?

Cheers
Damien
 
DPH said:
Forgive my ignorance (proper newbie to al this)...
Is it the same three pin connection for hookup in France or do you need an adaptor?

Cheers
Damien
Click to expand...

Damien

Most hookups in France do use the same connection - but a significant minority still use two pin old-style French connectors, so you might want to get an adaptor.
(And of course that's before any discussion of reverse polarity!;))
 
Reverse Polarity

You must also check for reverse polarity as some camp sites may have the live and negative reversed around.... Worth buying a tester for a few quid......
 
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live ,positive wrong way round .nice one. live n neutral i think you mean . hee heee .never use hook up .got two leads in case but they are still in the wrappers. only time i used hook up was when building the inside. thought it was a good idea but alas never used when away.
who wants to explain why,s and where for of reverse polarity then .go on .
 
Basil said:
You must also check for reverse polarity as some camp sites may have the live and positive reversed around.... Worth buying a tester for a few quid......
Click to expand...


Made me smile that :D :D

So as A/C current swaps polarity 50 times a second one has to wonder why this is a problem :) yeah I know fused and switched in the uk on the positive side only, but is it really a big issue, I sent 3 days on a site in belgium with reversed polarity and did not explode in a shower of electrical sparks :)

BTW this is what you need DPH
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/european-hook...vr_id=&cguid=a97cc6a81290a0aad406ea46fdfb85f7
 
Whilst touring in France and Italy during May and June I noticed that all Duch managed site had reverse polarity. Coincidence? I suffered no detrimental effects apart from my camera batteries not fully charging.
 
Reverse Polarity in Europe

As some others have mentioned reverse polarity refers to the fact that in UK & Ireland the mains supply (230v) has the Neutral (Blue wire) connected to Earth at the Power Station. Hence the Live wire (Brown) is at 230v with respect to the Neutral and it is the Live that is fused in our 13A Plugs.

In the rest of Europe (or at least the bits I know of) the Neutral is NOT connected to Earth - hence the voltage across the Live and Neutral is 230v - just the same as we find in UK & Ireland. They do NOT fuse the appliance - rather they use circuit breakers at the distribution board to protect the circuit. Having the appliance plug fused as in UK & Ireland was particularly relevant before the advent of highly sensitive MCBs and RCCDs and when our Consumer Units used old fashioned wired fuses - which take some time to rupture. By having lower rated fuses (eg 3A) in portable appliances like Standard Lamps, TVs and Computers that lower rated fuse should ideally rupture before the 30A fuse in the Consumer Unit.

The reference to "Reverse Polarity" in these circumstances is technically incorrect - rather it should say "Neutral Not Earhed" - but in the absence of the Neutral being strapped to Earth the "Reverse Polarity" Lamp on Motorhome Electrical Control Units will light-up. This same Lamp will also light-up if you use a portable generator which I have done and I am unaware of any problems ensuing. I also had the same in France when connected to the local mains supply and again I am unaware of any problems resulting from the apparent "reverse polarity".
 
I think my German-built motorhome has all switches and circuit breakers double pole so both active and neutral are switched together. Australia has similar regulations re two pole switching so "reverse polarity" doesn't matter.

BTW If you get off the beaten track you will find the occasional place that doesn't have an earth connection at all. Morocco has them. They have campgrounds with 50 outlets all hooked up to a massive circuit breaker so effectively no protection at all. Others have 2 and 4 amp supplies so not much use for running the microwave.
 
i remember being in zagora in morocco and all the site was wired with what i would call bell wire. its connections were al just twisted together and wrapped in seolapr. the owner said it didnt matter as it never rained there so there wasnt the need to use insulation tape. it ran all over the place feeding hook ups and the few lights at night. glad i dont use camp sites there anymore. sights we see on our travels could write a book .but noone would believe me. once on the aires near biarritz saw about 8 french vans with a lead going from one to the other ,i said who pays for the leccy .no one its free .they all had to ask who was using what so the trip didnt blow. cheers alan.
 
Have seen many dodgy electrics in France even with the earth & posative changed.....:eek:
 
Thanks everyone,
Have acquired tester and a cable from ebay seller that should switch back back to normal if polarity is reversed.
Very useful info - thanks.
Damien
 
no need for two adaptors for two pin just turn your two pin adaptor upside down and plug it in to change the polarity
 
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