Caravan 12-volt electrics - risk of short circuit

LeTouriste

When we bought our 2012 special edition Swift, it came with a 13-watt portable solar panel, which we have never used.  Wandering free in a front bunk was the lead for using this solar panel, and the lead consists of a non-reversable twin cable with one connecting
pin exposed.

The other day, carrying out a well needed tidying up of some of the cables, this loose lead happened to swing across the copper gas pipe for the water heater, and a substantial sparking occurred. The exposed pin was the live 12-volt wire.  This has now been
removed and the cable well isolated.

Having served my apprenticeship working on radar, and later building machine tool control panels, the state of the electrics in our van (common to the industry) really dismays me.