Mains hook up Problems

[Cass]

Anyone any ideas been away this weekend and was on mains hook up every thing working fine on day one, day 2 went to put water on nothing, tried heater nothing, plug sockets nothing, checked fuses box in van nothing tripped out, checked mains fuse box on site not tripped out. Didn't really cause a problem as we just used gas instead, but would like to get it sorted.

 

[molly 2]

Have you checked out your cable ,Or maybe the power was down .

 

[Cass]

Power wasn't down as there was only our that went off, don't think it would be the cable, going to plug it in at home and see if by magic its started working again,

 

[sak]

I have seen a circuit breaker stay in the on position when the power has tripped so I now carry a plug in voltage tester so I can check for power.

 

[trevskoda]

One good reason to fit a polarity changer switch before the fuse trip unit as it will show a led green if all is well,£45 ebay.

 

[StevenJ]

Some mcb's need to be switched to the off position first to reset them , they don't all , always trip to the off position , they can appear to be in the on position even when they have tripped !

 

[Deleted member 9849]

First thing to try is a different ehu cable that you know is working.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

These were a great idea but never caught on. The idea was when tripped off the switch goes to the centre position so you know its tripped rather than the OFF, where you don't know if its tripped or been turned Off.

To reset you have to turn OFF then turn On, if you don't you cannot turn on from the tripped position.

Alf

Some mcb's need to be switched to the off position first to reset them , they don't all , always trip to the off position , they can appear to be in the on position even when they have tripped !

 

[trevskoda]

Pay £45 for an entirely useless device because it has a green light?
Would you like to buy a share in the Garden Bridge? I can offer a good discount!

No its the bees knees because if you go and find a site which the polarity is wrong way round it lights red so just flick the switch and it will be reversed and show green,and yes it does mater if ac is fazed properly mr stingy man.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Trev perhaps we ought to buy shares in the Garden Bridge.

Alf

No its the bees knees because if you go and find a site which the polarity is wrong way round it lights red so just flick the switch and it will be reversed and show green,and yes it does mater if ac is fazed properly mr stingy man.

 

[Deleted member 9849]

No its the bees knees because if you go and find a site which the polarity is wrong way round it lights red so just flick the switch and it will be reversed and show green,and yes it does mater if ac is fazed properly mr stingy man.

All mains appliances will work exactly the same if there is a reverse polarity supply from the electric bollard.Providing that no one takes a cover off a 240v appliance and has a poke around then it will work ok and be safe.The only difference with reverse polarity is that one side of the appliance will still be live even with the wall socket switched off,unless the wall socket has a double pole isolator in which case both live and neutral will be isolated.

I do have a reverse polarity indicator and a change over cable for this situation.

 

[Deleted member 34243]

Not unknown for the external socket to have a broken connection inside the housing. Caused by the wiggling when plugging / unplugging the EHU lead.
Easy to check as the whole connector unscrews.

 

[MarkJ]

Not unknown for the external socket to have a broken connection inside the housing. Caused by the wiggling when plugging / unplugging the EHU lead.
.

Or by driving off without unplugging the cable.



Only did it the once though...

 

[trevskoda]

Trev perhaps we ought to buy shares in the Garden Bridge.

Alf

To right alf and lots of money to be made,strange thing how plugs and other things have a colour coding better to be safe than sorry but mister stingy and others think they know better,now for some coffee and a german bicy.

 

[Deleted member 5816]

Alf

Reversing the polarity cannot affect the phase. A 230v supply is single phase.

Reversed polarity means that the live and neutral lines are reversed. This means that instead of going from positive to negative 50 times a second, the voltage goes for negative to positive 50 times a second.

If the polarity is reversed on an AC supply, what possible difference could that make to anything? It's a complete and utter nonsense. An utterly useless snake oil device. It is as stupid and unnecessary at 1p as at £45 or £450. Just more pointless junk to go wrong.

 

[Deleted member 46140]

This is a question not a statement.
If the polarity is reversed, how would that effect the switched 13 amp sockets, and the thermostat on the fridge, as I thought these had the switching on the live side not the negative. Would you still be able to isolate the 13amp sockets ? would the fridge cut out ?
Similarly, the fuses are in the positive line, if the power is going down the negative wire, are the fuses not protecting the system?

Graham.

 

[Deleted member 34243]

This chap normally seems to talk sense
Reverse Polarity - A Reverse View?

 

[Deleted member 9849]

This is a question not a statement.
If the polarity is reversed, how would that effect the switched 13 amp sockets, and the thermostat on the fridge, as I thought these had the switching on the live side not the negative. Would you still be able to isolate the 13amp sockets ? would the fridge cut out ?
Similarly, the fuses are in the positive line, if the power is going down the negative wire, are the fuses not protecting the system?

Graham.

The only safe way to isolate the 13 amp sockets if in reverse polarity is to remove the ehu cable,do not rely on the fitted circuit breaker in the motorhome.

In the event of reverse polarity everything will work the same as it does with correct polarity,a fridge thermostat will still work and inline fuses still function regardless of where they are in the circuit.

I did explain in a previous post the effects of reverse polarity...........

All mains appliances will work exactly the same if there is a reverse polarity supply from the electric bollard.Providing that no one takes a cover off a 240v appliance and has a poke around then it will work ok and be safe.The only difference with reverse polarity is that one side of the appliance will still be live even with the wall socket switched off,unless the wall socket has a double pole isolator in which case both live and neutral will be isolated.

 

[Channa]

RP does seem shrouded in a bit of black magic.

I guarantee if you have camped in France, you don't have to look to far to find RP. It was one of our checks commissioning statics start of season.

The French plugs of live neutral two earths, mean pretty much it can be wired either way, The company I worked for had a lot of UK and Irish visitors using travel adapters which was pretty much the reason we were asked to check and rectify.

What was a bigger problem and more concern was 2007/2008 time IRM were fitting sockets and the earth pins either breaking or squashing so no earth.

A revised socket was sent from Irm and we replaced hundreds literally.

What was more concerning, and I heard the story on one than more occasion is on French properties being renovated by Brits, it wasn't uncommon for them to use Uk electrician pals in exchange for a holiday etc. and all was fine until EDF turned up to set the power live and refused. The reason is in France you cant use rings everything has to be radials.

I think I got the easier gig tbh , gas and aircon ,

Channa

 

[trevskoda]

I know most things will work rev pol but to be safe i fitted a switch over unit,better safe than sorry as i have 2 kids who poke the fingers into every thing and i would rather have the live side fused thank you very much.