Polarity Tester

[andyelbac]

Starting to do some research around our first overseas trip in the MH next September (France). My first task is to make sure I have all the necessary kit. One thing that I seem to need is a Polarity Tester. Can any funster provide a link to a tester that they have used abroad which they can recommend?
Thanks

 

[MartynShaw]

Well I bought a plug-in tester and tried it out on the van at home and it said I had reverse polarity. It was my ehu lead which I purchased over a year ago from a UK supplier via eBay. When I looked 3 out of 4 wires were not connected up properly and the earth's were looking a bit dodgy as well, so I'm glad I got it! The other half had said that the connectors got warm but I took no notice!

Now to figure out the strangeness when I use the inverter.

 

[mubob]

Starting to do some research around our first overseas trip in the MH next September (France). My first task is to make sure I have all the necessary kit. One thing that I seem to need is a Polarity Tester. Can any funster provide a link to a tester that they have used abroad which they can recommend?
Thanks

B&Q sell them , we ALLWAYS use it

 

[Don Campbell]

Loads of threads on it, something I never worry about. The pitch has an RCD your van has an RCD, nearly everything we use these days is double isolated so no danger with reverse polarity.

Broken Link Removed

First night in Belgium I forgot to check polarity and for some reason it blew my Avtex TV. Avtex asked me to send it to them and fixed it, sent it back by return at no charge. Full marks to Avtex but although nothing else was affected I assume other TV's might also do the same.

 

[The Wino]

First night in Belgium I forgot to check polarity and for some reason it blew my Avtex TV. Avtex asked me to send it to them and fixed it, sent it back by return at no charge. Full marks to Avtex but although nothing else was affected I assume other TV's might also do the same.

What makes you think it was anything to do with polarity? I had a friend who reconned it did for their battery I don't believe it!

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[Don Campbell]

What makes you think it was anything to do with polarity? I had a friend who reconned it did for their battery I don't believe it!

Mystery to me. I'm only reporting facts, but it's strange it was working the previous night in Folkestone and wasn't working after I connected in Belgium.

 

[Pausim]

I can’t see how polarity will damage anything you plug in, a pure sine wave looks the same either way up. I also can’t see that it is an issue in a Continental motorhome which shouldn’t have any single pole switches. I would have thought power surges are far more likely to cause damage.

 

[Richard n Ann]

It used to be reversed half the time in Benidorm, I never bothered changing it, I just looked out of interest

 

[Tigger-Tim]

The issue is:

In the UK, we make sure the live is live, and the neutral is neutral. Because we do that, our switches only need to switch the live off.
In France/Spain, the switches/breakers cut off both live and neutral. So they can be less bothered about which way around the live and neutral are.

Both systems are safe. But there can be a slight risk if using a British van on a French/Spanish connection. Just make sure you unplug the mains lead before you try to fault-find any mains powered equipment - it could still be live, even if you've turned off your incoming mains at the breaker in your (British) van.

Not something that most people need to be concerned about.

 

[Lenny HB]

First night in Belgium I forgot to check polarity and for some reason it blew my Avtex TV. Avtex asked me to send it to them and fixed it, sent it back by return at no charge. Full marks to Avtex but although nothing else was affected I assume other TV's might also do the same.

No watmy reverse polarity could damage a TV.

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[bigtwin]

I'm only reporting facts,

Yes, two facts, your telly failed and you were in Belgium. The question is is whether those two facts are related.

It used to be reversed half the time in Benidorm,

Yes, given that it isn’t a design requirement the wires could be in any orientation so 50% of all bollards will have ‘reverse polarity’.

No watmy reverse polarity could damage a TV.

Agreed, but it doesn’t stop folks believing that they’ve suffered damage as a consequence.

Ian