electric hookup abroad
last time i was caravaning abroad (30 odd years ago) electric on site was unknown
do the sites use the same blue 3 pin plugs as we do or do i need an adapter
(going spain and portugal)
Comments
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And (waits for storm of protest) you will find many will be reverse polarity or even worse a few have poor earths.
If this is an issue to you you need to consider making up a reverse connected adaptor but in any case I would recommend a polarity / earth tester like the picture below (available from Amazon and elsewhere).
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depends what van you have....we had two Swifts that recognised 'reverse polarity' (and i used a switcher cable to 'correct' it) but our two German vans (and most all continental ones) dont even recognise it, so we havent a clue if RP is a feature of the bollard, nor consider doing anything about it....
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Nor do we,we just make sure we don't 'muck about' trying to repair electrical equipment in the van without unplugging at the bollard.
And yes, as Iansoady says, there are usually two very opposing camps on this - those who do, and those who don't............ but whichever camp you might fall into, take the above advice anyway!
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When I started my overseas trips in 2015 I think I bought a complete kit on Ebay which had polarity checker, continental camping plug and reverse polarity lead. Agree a bit health and safety but I always check and use appropriate lead. In my travels for the last 3 years I have come across reverse polarity at least once each trip.
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I'll only comment (for now) on the purchase of the tester, I love a good earth return for my tin box and the tester is invaluable for helping me out with that.
Regarding the plug, I do carry a 2 pin also. One site had a mix of the two in the bollard box and all the 3 pin blues were used up, so I had to make use of the 2 pin adaptor.
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Buy a 'Two-pin and earth' to CEE17 Trailing socket (that's the blue one) from your local caravan dealer before you go. Don't make up your own unless you know what you're doing.
Two pin plugs, as found on small domestic devices, do not have an earth and shouldn't be used for this purpose.
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Although most Caravan sites in France use the blue three pin connector you do still occasionally find the two pin on older sites that haven’t been upgraded. You can buy an adapter in the UK (there is an earth built in to the plug so don’t worry about using it).
Reverse polarity is very common and there have been many posts on the subject. RP is not relevant on continental vans so sites don’t always bother to arrange the wiring to suit the Brits. If you want to fix this then the advice is given in the previous posts above.
In over 30 years of caravanning and motorhoming on the continent I have yet to find a site with no earth connection but I still use the checker.
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Hitchglich
I've identified two incidents of serious earth fault over the years. One at La Foret [Normandy] around five years ago - much head shaking by the electrician when he stripped the bollard down - corrosion and poor maintenance causing I think. We had complained about being unable to fix [cross wired lead] a reverse polarity and he [electrician] was called out by "Madam" to shut us up. The electrician insisted on showing us the problem with much pointing and clucking of tongue. Bollard was condemned and then replaced a few days later. A number of years before this we were a long way south - can't remember exactly where - but somewhere close to the Med I think - similar problem with reversed polarity but the mains tester also showed an earth fault. We hooked up to another bollard which checked out ok and reported "it" to the site office. At the time of leaving this site to the best of my knowledge no action had been taken to investigate the issue. Very relaxed are some site owners in foreign parts about elektrikery issues.
Me - I like it all right and proper. First thing we do on hooking up to a bollard is plug in the mains tester - got the wife well trained - she has a thumbs up for all ok or thumbs down if there's an issue that needs checking. Not that I am a pedant you understand.
Ian
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Yes, always good to check. My tester is permanently plugged in and has been like it for about 10 years (although the instructions say not to leave it connected). No earth is bad news; RP less so.
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We leave our tester plugged in when travelling...it's immediately noticeable when we go inside to switch on the fridge.....Once checked by SHMBO it's unplugged and placed in drawer ready for when we move on!! Why risk spoiling a holiday (and a life?) for not checking for '3 lights' ?
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