Electric Hookup Supply at Campsites

[mitzimad]

on our old van the fridge indicator light used to glow when off other than that we never had a problem if i was playing around with my electrics i would always use a meter to check for power everywhere

 

[Clarky]

Years ago, when we were tuggers, I read all these scare stories about the nasty continentals leaving death traps for unwary British travellers with caravans and motorhomes.
I immediately purchased a polarity tester and made up a short lead with the polarity reversed.
Somewhere in a box in the dark depths of a locker they still live but have not been used for many a year.
Here endeth the lesson!

 

[Sapper520]

Electrics (and electronics) are a complete mystery to me.

Having lived in Germany twice, toured in Europe many years ago with a caravan and on motorcycles, and now with our van…….I’ve always just plugged in and its worked fine.

When living in Germany, we had UK plugs on our appliances plugged into a Continental adapter. When using campsites I’ve just plugged in our 25m cable……once we needed the Continental mains adapter plugged into the 25m cable. Our iPads, phones and other gadgets have been plugged in hotel sockets using a Continental adapter……never had a problem.

Is there really a danger?…..1978 was my first experience of Continental electricity.

 

[deleted79651]

You can only test for polarity by referencing earth, by doing so a device would fail an insulation test.

If you show me how to do this, I'll show you how to avoid split infinitives ... God loves a trier

Steve

 

[EML]

Unless you’re going to be working on your electrics then no, it makes no difference at all. Some just like to have something to worry about. If reversed polarity makes so much difference, is so dangerous how come France hasn’t blown up? Isn’t on fire?

Reversed polarity on consumer equipment makes zero difference. This should be obvious because sockets in much of Europe are symmetrical - you can put your plug in the wall either way around, and your coffee maker/etc will still work and won't kill you.

Reversed polarity on your hookup, on the other hand, is potentially fatal, and is worth worrying about, but only if you're going to touch an exposed wire or you have a fault in your equipment.

Holding the wire which connects (indirectly) to the power station will probably kill you, and holding the neutral wire may or may not kill you, so it's worth knowing the difference between them.

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[Despicable]

A few years ago, having tested the electrics on arrival at Campsite le Villeu, in Brittany, I used our self-made reverse-polarity thingy to get the supply the right way round. All sorts of nationals turned up (Germans, Dutch, Brits, even a few French ...) with most having no problems. A notable exception was a Brit van who took the local circuit (about 10 pitches) down each time it was plugged in. After a lot of faffing about, the van owner rewired one of his plugs and all was good. Why? Don't know, he claims he had everything in his van turned off.

 

[PaulC70]

I would advise checking the consumer unit in your MOHO, if it has double pole breakers don't worry at all, if it has single pole breakers, worry a little bit. It is only a problem if it trips and you then start messing about with the electrics without first checking

How do you know if it's single or double though? This is mine and I have no idea!

 

[Richard n Ann]

How do you know if it's single or double though? This is mine and I have no idea!

They look like doubles that move in pairs L+N

 

[PaulC70]

They look like doubles that move in pairs L+N

That would make sense I guess. So, looking back at the discussion, if there was a reversed polarity I'd be ok, but I suspect that only means from a safety point of view, I'd still trip the box and have no ehu I'm assuming?

 

[SpeedyDux]

Years ago, when we were tuggers, I read all these scare stories about the nasty continentals leaving death traps for unwary British travellers with caravans and motorhomes.
I immediately purchased a polarity tester and made up a short lead with the polarity reversed.
Somewhere in a box in the dark depths of a locker they still live but have not been used for many a year.
Here endeth the lesson!

I still use a polarity tester. And a short lead similar to yours. Have used the latter a few times in France and Italy.

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[Richard n Ann]

That would make sense I guess. So, looking back at the discussion, if there was a reversed polarity I'd be ok, but I suspect that only means from a safety point of view, I'd still trip the box and have no ehu I'm assuming?

No nothing trips, ours is reversed now in Benidorm

 

[Odd-no-more]

I still use a polarity tester. And a short lead similar to yours. Have used the latter a few times in France and Italy.

I still have the lead I made up, but now with double mcb's I wouldn't bother to use it, the old van had single ones