No mains electric!!

nelliethehooker

We've just returned from over 4 weeks away without any problems. Today  I wanted to hoover out the van and connected the mains cable from the house to the van but as soon as I switched the power on the system tripped both at the PDU and the switch in the house. Tried a couple of times from other sockets in the house but the same effect on the PDU switch. The battery is only 4 yrs old and was showing between 12 & 13 amps in the van, and worked the motor mover without any drop either. Anyone had this problem or can think of reason and supply a solution?

Tinwheeler

Are you using the same hook up cable as when you were away, Nellie?

nelliethehooker

No, TW, a household mains lead and a short square to round extension. I did wonder if it it is the extension causing the problem but it looks fine and it has been in the house since we last used it before the last trip. The mains lead was working fine both before I tried it on the van, as I'd hoovered out the car earlier today, and again when I put it through the van's window to carry out the inside hoovering.

EasyT

As TW in the first place.

Turn off all the RCDs in the caravan, unplug any appliances such as fridge and try again. If the van does not trip turn them on one at a time to see which circuit might be faulty

nelliethehooker

ET, there was nothing switched on in the van, apart from the radio, I think, and it usually comes on automatically when we switch the caravan's mains switch on.

Fozzie

I personally do not think its the battery.First could you borrow another hook up cable and try that.If that still doesn't cure it,turn caravan consumer unit off at the main switch and turn all mcb's off,then turn supply on and see what happens,if house supplies stay on,then turn each mcb on until fault appears.At least you know what circuit trips house.

Please do not touch or do anything outside your knowledge of mains electricity.If you do not feel competent please ask someone who is.

Fozzie

ET You beat me to it!

nelliethehooker

'lectrickrery is a complete mystery to me, Fozzie, that's why I asked for help.

EasyT

I suggested that as well for good reason Fozzie.  

EasyT

It does not matter that there was nothing switched on .... as far as you know. There is a fault somewhere and that is a way of narrowing it down.

Tinwheeler

It would seem to me, Nellie, that the fault likely lies in the lead/extension. Is it possible to plug in your on site EHU cable to the house mains as that would prove whether it’s the van electrics or your home cable/extension?

nelliethehooker

Not without stripping down the plug, which I'm reluctant to do. I've no round pin connector on the house.

Tinwheeler

Fortunately for us, we have one outside we use but that doesn’t help you.

Do you know someone with a test meter who could check your cables and connectors?

mylo

Hi had fault like on last van found first owner had fitted mains socket underneath van and this had filled up with water we spent about hour unplugging everything inside before we found socket

DavidKlyne

If your regular mains cable worked fine the last time you were away it would point to an issue with the extension between the van and the house. The first port of call is the check all the connections on the extensions to make sure they have not corroded or broken. Sometimes water ingress can be a problem into supposedly waterproof plugs!!! Problems like this are usually a process of elimination. 

David

Fozzie

NTH

Have you an adaptor between your caravan mains hook up lead and a 3 pin house socket outlet?

If you have, this is the only difference between site and your house.

Extugger

Have you tried hoover in the house? Maybe it's something as simple as a fuse blown on it - they're notorious for having damaged leads?

Amesford

If it's a normal house extension cable have you tried plugging the vacuum direct into that ? 

nelliethehooker

I've done as ET suggested and switched off both of the RCD's and connected the van to the inside house supply using my short connector and the lead that I used when away. Tried each RCD in turn, the fridge & lights one didn't trip the mains supply but as soon as I tried the Charger one the supply tripped!! It definitely looks like the charger/PDU unit is kaput. Have managed to get my local service engineer to come round this afternoon and see what's what, and probably replace the PDU unit....could be a bit costly!!

nelliethehooker

Not the case with me as we've had the van from new and not added any additional electric fittings. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

nelliethehooker

I managed to use the extension lead through the van's window to hoover out the van, so it was neither of them that has caused the problem, 0001.

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I'll update this post once the engineer has been. Fingers crossed that it will all be sorted out today and we can start planning our next trip.

nelliethehooker

Job fixed! It was in fact the Charger unit that needed replacing, and how!! The maims lead into it must have come partially unplugged and was causing a short. It was so bad that it had melted on one side and the charger unit was also burnt. I think that we were very fortunate that it didn't cause a fire in the van. OH had mentioned that she had smelt a burning smell a couple of times, but as we were out in the country, on site, those sort of smells are not unusual. It only took the engineer about 30 mins or so to replace the unit and all fine now, fingers crossed. Thankfully it was not too expensive, as parts & labour goes. I'm just glad that the problem occurred when we were at home and hadn't developed into a blaze while we were asleep in the caravan.

Thanks again for all you suggestions.

 

Tinwheeler

Glad you got it sorted, Nellie, and quickly too.

EasyT

OH had mentioned that she had smelt a burning smell a couple of times

 

I'm surprised that it didn't develop that fishy smell of burning plastic socket where it plugged in Nellie Ah well, glad it's sorted and tis only money. Will you have to stay home an extra week to recoup the funds? 

nelliethehooker

Maybe we didn't notice the "fishy" smell as fish form some of our diet, and we have a dog too so odd aromas are nothing new to us! And no we won't have to stay a home any longer than planned now that the job's sorted....it's probably as cheap being away in the van for us as being at home anyway, not using CC sites in peak season.

Fozzie

Thanks for getting back to us and letting us know the fault.At least you were not on site when this happened.

I have heard of the kettle type plugs coming loose on the chargers before, causing arcing between the contacts.

 

hitchglitch

Glad you got it fixed. A similar thing happened to us years ago in our Swift. The electrics failed whilst we were in France and I discovered  that the lead into the back of the power supply unit had come loose. Subsequently the unit failed anyway. Expensive!