Polarity
Comments
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During more than 20 yrs of motoroaming abroad I may well have had a reverse polarity supply but I don't have a tester so carry on in ignorant bliss.
In highly irresponsible bliss, some might say, but as with many things in life I tend to rely on my own experiences, not the neurotic 'what if?' scenarios of well-meaning and highly skilled 'experts' (although this thread has convinced me to buy a tester
).More clutter for the 'hardware locker' I suppose.
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DD, we certainly used to get this with the Thetford in our Bolero, but i didnt get it at all on the Dometic during our touring over there last year...
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Maplins are selling off end of line socket testers for £2.99 today.
Thanks DD, just ordered one.
£2.99 plus £3 for delivery by post, but it would cost me far more than that (probably a tenner or more) in fuel and parking if I drove to my nearest Maplin in Brighton to collect one.
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Perhaps I'm labouring the point, but the earth connection on an elecricity supply connection is there solely for the consumer's protection. It plays no part in the transmission of power. Ignore 'rev pol' if you want, but not a lack of an earth.
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Well, well, well. This morning I decided to plug my new toy into a socket in the MH and the +/- showed as being reversed. The MH is currently on our drive looking forlorn and sad waiting for its next outing. A quick check of the old EHU cable I have been using for at least seven years showed the wires in the socket to be reversed. Two minutes with a screw driver and all is now good. One caravans and two MH's have lived off this cable whilst on the drive and none have come to any harm.
nor you, im glad to say, i hate drinking alone
especially if cycling all that way, lol
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Well, well, well. This morning I decided to plug my new toy into a socket in the MH and the +/- showed as being reversed. The MH is currently on our drive looking forlorn and sad waiting for its next outing. A quick check of the old EHU cable I have been using for at least seven years showed the wires in the socket to be reversed. Two minutes with a screw driver and all is now good. One caravans and two MH's have lived off this cable whilst on the drive and none have come to any harm.
Well, dang me, there's a thing! Ignorance is bliss, so forth.
Have you tried it in a socket in the house as perhaps the tester itself is reversed/faulty. (You know, .....made in China.....£2.99....being sold as a Special Offer......) ?
Maybe your EHU was o.k. and you've now reversed it
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Five minutes with a small screwdriver sorted it (but remember to change the wires back afterwards!).
Would it not be more efficient to leave it the way it is (i.e. reversed) until you know whether the supply on the next site is also reversed?
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It was a post by MSBFH to which I replied, where he was reporting on his rewiring of cables in the field.
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Job on the list for next week is to replace single socket in microwave locker with double (triple actually) so tester can be permanently plugged in (along with stick blender)
A place for everything…
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Job on the list for next week is to replace single socket in microwave locker with double (triple actually) so tester can be permanently plugged in (along with stick blender)
A place for everything…
Are these testers rated for continuous use?
doesn't matter - the socket is dp switched ;-)
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Job on the list for next week is to replace single socket in microwave locker with double (triple actually) so tester can be permanently plugged in (along with stick blender)
A place for everything…
Are these testers rated for continuous use?
Apparently not, but mine has been permanently live for about 10 years!
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Polarity is a big problem! If polarity is reversed then the Nuetral pole becomes the live pole. If this occurs then this now live pole has no fuse protection , this means any fault will result in heating and melting of the cable and possible fire, because
of non fuse protection.obviously if reverse polarity is present and no faults are evident then it will behave as if there isn't any problem. But Do you want to take the Risk?
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But I have plugged a hair drier into a reversed polarity socket outlet in a campsite shower block, I have used a toaster in a reversed polarity socket outlet in a holiday house, I have charged this I pad in a reversed polarity socket outlet in a hotel room
....Reversed polarity is everywhere in Europe, I can live with it, and it's no bigger problem in my caravan than elsewhere.0 -
Polarity is a big problem! If polarity is reversed then the Nuetral pole becomes the live pole. If this occurs then this now live pole has no fuse protection , this means any fault will result in heating and melting of the cable and possible fire, because
of non fuse protection.obviously if reverse polarity is present and no faults are evident then it will behave as if there isn't any problem. But Do you want to take the Risk?
Not true. Overcurrent flows through both conductors and the fuse still blows.
The ONLY potential issue with RP is that if you switch off a plug or an appliance then it may still be live. If you pull the plug out before poking around then it's fully isolated.
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Why are the experts getting so bogged down with this?
Does your caravan / motorhome electrical system have a RCD fitted - IF NOT, FIT ONE! use the test button when you connect up to the EHU. If it trips then the RCD will do its job and operate should a earth fault / single phase overload occur.
Using a martindale will give you peace of mind, but any test equipment that you use should be tested and callibrated on a regular basis to prove that it's functioning safely. Getting the vehicle electrically tested on a regular basis isn't a bad idea as
well. It might help to put this worry to bed and let you sleep soundly!0 -
An RCCB does not protect against over load or short circuit current. Only protects on earth leakage so cross polarity is not protected. It could be that EU countries still use the duel fusing system , where both phase and neutral are fused. In this country
now only the live phase is fused , the nuetral being a solid bar ( unfused ) . I still say do what you want, but my earlier post makes sense,believe me !!
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It’s quite simple really, and this is why I always use one.
If polarity is not a safety issue and a RP tester/cable is used then there is no harm done and all remains safe.
If reversed polarity is a safety issue and the RP tester/cable is not used and something happens, then.......
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It’s quite simple really, and this is why I always use one.
If polarity is not a safety issue and a RP tester/cable is used then there is no harm done and all remains safe.
If reversed polarity is a safety issue and the RP tester/cable is not used and something happens, then.......
Quite right Bewick, it is a safety issue., but some people ignore good advice. They think it will never happen to me and sometimes it does.
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An RCCB does not protect against over load or short circuit current. Only protects on earth leakage so cross polarity is not protected. It could be that EU countries still use the duel fusing system , where both phase and neutral are fused. In this country
now only the live phase is fused , the nuetral being a solid bar ( unfused ) . I still say do what you want, but my earlier post makes sense,believe me !!
Sorry to be pedantic but the reason these threads go on for so long is that people post incorrect statements or repeat what has already been said. Current can only flow in a complete circuit of live and neutral. So, if your circuit takes excessive current
the fuse or overload protection (mcb) will trip irrespective of whether it is in the live or neutral. It is not helpful to post technically incorrect information and it makes things even more complicated. I repeat, RP is an isolation issue, nothing else.0 -
An RCCB does not protect against over load or short circuit current. Only protects on earth leakage so cross polarity is not protected. It could be that EU countries still use the duel fusing system , where both phase and neutral are fused. In this country
now only the live phase is fused , the nuetral being a solid bar ( unfused ) . I still say do what you want, but my earlier post makes sense,believe me !!
Sorry to be pedantic but the reason these threads go on for so long is that people post incorrect statements or repeat what has already been said. Current can only flow in a complete circuit of live and neutral. So, if your circuit takes excessive current
the fuse or overload protection (mcb) will trip irrespective of whether it is in the live or neutral. It is not helpful to post technically incorrect information and it makes things even more complicated. I repeat, RP is an isolation issue, nothing else.If you don't believe me then Goggle it . Enough said now so carry on being unsafe.
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An RCCB does not protect against over load or short circuit current. Only protects on earth leakage so cross polarity is not protected. It could be that EU countries still use the duel fusing system , where both phase and neutral are fused. In this country
now only the live phase is fused , the nuetral being a solid bar ( unfused ) . I still say do what you want, but my earlier post makes sense,believe me !!
Sorry to be pedantic but the reason these threads go on for so long is that people post incorrect statements or repeat what has already been said. Current can only flow in a complete circuit of live and neutral. So, if your circuit takes excessive current
the fuse or overload protection (mcb) will trip irrespective of whether it is in the live or neutral. It is not helpful to post technically incorrect information and it makes things even more complicated. I repeat, RP is an isolation issue, nothing else.If you don't believe me then Goggle it . Enough said now so carry on being unsafe.
If you believe the Internet you are seriously misguided. If, like me, you are a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution and have served on the Wiring Regs committee I might take your comment seriously. You are clearly not qualified and have either
misunderstood your research or have just read incorrect information. Please do not make things worse and mislead others by insisting you are correct. By the way, I did not say the RP is safe otherwise all the manuals and Club advice would be wrong. It CAN
be unsafe under certain conditions where you start messing around with appliances. If you fully understand the dangers then it can be perfectly safe, if not, follow the advice and make up a reversing lead.0 -
In all of the multitude of discussions on 'reversed polarity' I have seen little mention of whether the circuit breakers in the 'van are single pole (as normal in a house) or linked-dual-pole.
My 2005 Elddis has dual-pole breakers and I rather assumed that this would be the norm for all new caravans? This removes all concerns related to overcurrent protection in 'reverse polarity' situations.
The only remaining issue is then someone touching a 'live' part of something they think they have switched off. Even then, the RCD should protect them from anything fatal.
I do agree that a greater concern is the possibility of no earth connection via the EHU cable, either because of a cable fault or because there is no earth at the bollard. The risk then is that under a fault condition the caravan chassis could become live.
Even then I would be quite surprised if there was not enough leakage via the tires/steadies/etc for the RCD to trip. (perhaps we should bond the steadies to electrical earth and not use insulated feet?).0
