EHU sometimes trips either shore ore house units or van control units. (4 Viewers)

[Graham Deans]

Firstly, I am useless with electricity. On recent Europe trips I cannot get power to the van as something trips, I had this looked at by a van electrical specialist (not impressed), and then by my friendly local electrician who I have found really reliable. After exhaustive checks and a few socket replacements it seemed to be ok. I have just tried it before I go away and no power, house consumer unit tripped out. Unplugged and repeated and all OK. Has anyone any idea what might be the problem .
Thanks Funsters.

 

[Southend]

If the van has been checked out, could it be your lead?

 

[Landy Andy]

Is your fridge on? Is your boiler on? Is it when the charger cuts in?

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

If the van has been checked out, could it be your lead?

Or socket.

 

[Spriddler]

There's also been a heck of a lot of rain so maybe it has caused a short circuit in the EHU plug/socket if it isn't sufficiently sealed?

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[meanders]

Could be many things, but most likely to be

• Fridge going into defrost mode and the element has got damp.
• Water heater similar thermostat faulty or leaking,
• Battery charger faulty.
• Something else that is plugged in that does not operate the whole time.
• Possibly the lead

Most of those as already suggested..

If you can. turn off everything but leave it plugged in, does the trip drop? Then plug in things one at a time leaving a hour or so between each until it does drop. Even then you cannot be absolutely sure its the last item plugged in unless you unplug everything else again and see if it drops again.

Intermittent faults are the worst to find.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Just make sure that everything that runs from the ehu is switched off in the van before you connect to the ehu. Then start to turn on your 240v items to determine when it trips. Or what causes it to trip.On some sites there is only enough power to run a fridge or charge your batteries (6 amps) anything else will cause can overload and hence a trip.
You may have to juggle what you have on.

 

[pappajohn]

A 2nd vote for the lead.
If it's all been checked by two separate electricians and found ok it can only be the lead.
Corroded or loose wire in either plug or possible damage, either visible or not, along the length of the lead.

 

[Dave and Jen]

I had a similar problem after fitting a socket for a microwave. When I plugged the EHU in the post breaker dropped out. After loads of checks narrowed it down to the brand new socket I had fitted. Replaced it with an old one (I knew I had one but couldn't find it!) everything was ok again.
New socket went back to B&Q for a refund.
Been perfect since.
Cheers, Dave

 

[Stag man]

My experience was the big blue plastic connectors on the EHU lead and on the external power socket
I had assumed (wrongly) that they were waterproof
They filled up with water and tripped out the house and MH
The fix was easy, dry out everything and reassemble with lots of mastic sealant at cable entries and where the plastic bits join together
No more problems
Good luck

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[Graham Deans]

If the van has been checked out, could it be your lead?

If the van has been checked out, could it be your lead?

Thanks, I bought a new lead in France 3 months ago but no change.

Is your fridge on? Is your boiler on? Is it when the charger cuts in?

The boiler is off and the fridge runs off the batteries, which are charged from either solar or shore connection.

 

[Graham Deans]

There's also been a heck of a lot of rain so maybe it has caused a short circuit in the EHU plug/socket if it isn't sufficiently sealed?

This is now a long term (6 months) problem so I don't think so,

 

[Graham Deans]

Could be many things, but most likely to be

• Fridge going into defrost mode and the element has got damp.
• Water heater similar thermostat faulty or leaking,
• Battery charger faulty.
• Something else that is plugged in that does not operate the whole time.
• Possibly the lead

Most of those as already suggested..

If you can. turn off everything but leave it plugged in, does the trip drop? Then plug in things one at a time leaving a hour or so between each until it does drop. Even then you cannot be absolutely sure its the last item plugged in unless you unplug everything else again and see if it drops again.

Intermittent faults are the worst to find.

I have tried this but I might switch off the battery charger as not tried that.

 

[Westbarn1]

Poor power supply on site abroad maybe , had similar on a site at Salamanca recently for 3 nights, power was fine overnight, but as soon as everyone woke up in the morning it was gone for the day and then returned again late evening.

 

[Graham Deans]

A 2nd vote for the lead.
If it's all been checked by two separate electricians and found ok it can only be the lead.
Corroded or loose wire in either plug or possible damage, either visible or not, along the length of the lead.

It is a new lead so should be OK, same problem with the old lead.

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[Graham Deans]

Thanks for all suggestions, I will try a few ideas tomorrow and post findings, Graham

 

[autorouter]

It is possible to narrow down the fault a bit. There are two kinds of trip switch, and they trip for two different reasons. A hookup post, house consumer unit or MH consumer unit will usually have at least one of each type.

An RCD has a 'Test' button, and protects against small leakages to earth, and electric shock. It can trip due to water in a plug or socket, slightly failed heater element etc. It's the most likely one to trip, I think. It doesn't protect against excessive current.

An MCB doesn't have a 'Test' button, and protects against excessively high current, for example if the live and neutral accidentally touch together creating a short circuit. It doesn't protect against earth leakage.

Usually a consumer unit will have one RCD, and one or more MCBs. Usually only one of these will trip. Did the RCD trip, or one of the MCBs?

In the motorhome consumer unit, switch off all the MCBs, and just switch on the RCD. If it trips, then there's leakage on the wire up to or inside the consumer unit. If it doesn't trip, turn on the MCBs one at a time, and see which one causes the RCD to trip. That will tell you which circuit is causing the problem.