Precautions when plugging in to mains electricity

[popotla]

I feel a bit dumb about this but here goes ................

For many years we (wife and I) travelled in our Land Rover Defender but now have our first motorhome. We have never used electrical plug-in for on-site electricity and although we have one of these

https://kalledaskabel.de/CEE-Verlaengerung-KALLE-Blue-SIGNAL-25mm-Winkel-25-Meter

don't know something key - super-important, I believe - about plugging it in. It's necessary, isn't it, in order to protect the vehicle electrical system, to first switch something in the vehicle OFF before plugging into the mains?

What are the precautions to be aware of? We expect to be using sites in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, Scandinavia.

 

[iandsm]

I always stand on only one leg when connecting up,
It works for me.
Never known anyone being electrocuted like that!

Good plan. You would only get half electrocuted I suppose.

 

[tonyidle]

I bet if you checked a dozen British houses you would find at least one reversed polarity socket which has been in use constantly and nobody has ever been the wiser, or electrocuted. Frankly it doesn't matter where a fuse is in a circuit, it will work just the same.

No it won't. In the case of an appliance L to E short the fuse would normally blow. If there's a L / N reversal there is no plug fuse to blow in the case of a N (which is now live) to E short.
Not that I care - I have never checked for L / E reversal on any EHU. I simply keep my fingers out of the toaster .

 

[two]

Good plan. You would only get half electrocuted I suppose.

Could well explain why I sometimes feel "half-dead"!

 

[The Wino]

I wonder if there is any evidence of reversed polarity actually causing any injury? if its so common around europe with so many motorhomes. As ours is French I've never bothered but I suppose it keeps someone in business selling testers and reversal leads a bit like breathalysers for France .

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[two]

I imagine that you may find some evidence, if you look hard enough.
Murphy says, "If something is possible, sooner or later, it will happen"
but you may have a better chance of being struck by lightening.

 

[Nasher]

I always stand on only one leg when connecting up,
It works for me.
Never known anyone being electrocuted like that!

If you wear Marigolds and wellies you would be even safer.

I going to start wearing pink frilly knickers (and nothing else) when connecting EHU in the future

I've never heard or read of anyone that stated: "I was wearing just my pink frilly knickers when connecting my van to EHU when I got electrocuted "

 

[two]

I've never read of anyone that stated: "I was wearing just my pink frilly knickers when connecting my van to EHU when I got electrocuted "

Well, some are going to read it now...

 

[Puddleduck]

Yep, just plug it in - van first then bollard

And the other way round when disconnecting

Makes sense really as you never want to be messing around with a live cable even with "protection"

 

[Reallyretired]

The cmc advice also assume that you will always stay on one of their sites. The majority of Hook up bollards do not need twisting to connect, though a few do.

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[gus-lopez]

Our motorhome is a Burow Oman, as shown in the photo below

So I take it that would have been you & your van parked up in Aldi's ,Lorca 2 or 3 saturdays back? Can't be too many 'Oman's on German plates about.

The amount of seasoned caravanners and motorhomers that totally disregard this is amazing. I was on a site at Devizes recently and every caravan that pulled in on my side plugged onto the mains first and also 2motorhomes opposite me did the same And these were not newbies

I cannot tell lie

in a European house, all the circuit breakers and switches are double-pole,

No, they should be. Never believe it.

whereas Europeans use double pole switches

apart from the ones who don't + any house a Brit has lived in.
Additionally the older the house , especially any out in the sticks which do not have electricity/ or do now but were never originally built with it, you will often find co-ax used for light or socket cables when the proper stuff wasn't available.

 

[hilldweller]

>>> Precautions when plugging in to mains electricity

Keep your penis dry and well clear of the connectors.

 

[Grandchildren escapee]

I too always turn the heating unit off for a few minutes before unplugging now. Didnt once and it cost a very expensive trip to the dealers to have a fuse changed in the heating unit. Also I always check for reverse polarity abroad. 50% of the time I then have to turn the plug around.

 

[tonysuvla]

On our boat, we always plugged in the boat end first before connecting to the bollard and assumed we will need to do the same with a MH when we get one.

 

[Beemobile]

Yep, into van first then Bollard, reverse order when leaving, this was my first lesson, my second lesson was to have a tyre check on the first van I bought, wish it had been my first lesson as although it had a current MOT I had a blow out on my first trip, there's a lot to learn!

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[Keith E]

Slightly off topic but, personally, I'd ditch the mains lead you have and get one that's built with 1.5 mm flex.
That 2.5 you have will weigh a tonne and will be a bugger to coil up again, especially in cold weather.

 

[thebriars]

No it won't. In the case of an appliance L to E short the fuse would normally blow. If there's a L / N reversal there is no plug fuse to blow in the case of a N (which is now live) to E short.
Not that I care - I have never checked for L / E reversal on any EHU. I simply keep my fingers out of the toaster .

The only real use for the fuse these days is to protect the appliance from too high a current which would damage the lead or internals. In this case it does not matter at all where it is placed in the circuit. In the above example the RCD would trip long before a fuse blew.

 

[tonyidle]

The only real use for the fuse these days is to protect the appliance from too high a current which would damage the lead or internals. In this case it does not matter at all where it is placed in the circuit. In the above example the RCD would trip long before a fuse blew.

Agreed but to protect a circuit with no RCD it must be in the L wire.

 

[autorouter]

The only real use for the fuse these days is to protect the appliance from too high a current which would damage the lead or internals.

No it's not. Yes, a fuse, or fusible wire link, is there to protect against overcurrent faults. But the damage is by no means limited to the wire and internals. At its most extreme, the Grenfell fire was caused by an electrical fault. The fuse/MCB/RCD combination is extremely effective in avoiding this, but in the absence of an RCD and double-pole MCB, the fault described by @tonyidle will cause a fire.

Older motorhomes pre-2008 will not necessarily have an RCD, and may have a single-pole MCB. For these, reverse polarity is a fire risk and shock hazard. There's a lot of motorhomes older than 2008. A modern camp site EHU will have both RCD and double-pole MCB. Some of the more remote camp sites in southern Europe, and aires anywhere, may not.

 

[thebriars]

Basically then, rather that flapping on about reverse polarity and the dire danger we are all in if we meet this, wouldn't it be better to advise those with motorhomes with no MCB and RCD to uprate their electrical systems to be safer. For the majority of us with MCBs and RCDs reverse polarity carries no risk.

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[thebriars]

No it's not. Yes, a fuse, or fusible wire link, is there to protect against overcurrent faults. But the damage is by no means limited to the wire and internals. At its most extreme, the Grenfell fire was caused by an electrical fault. The fuse/MCB/RCD combination is extremely effective in avoiding this, but in the absence of an RCD and double-pole MCB, the fault described by @tonyidle will cause a fire.

Will cause a fire?

MAY cause a fire would be more accurate.

Actually the reported probable cause of the fire at Grenfell was a faulty crimp in a fridge which caused the wire to overheat and to short circuit. In this case the fuse obviously made no difference whatsoever, and the dreadful loss of life was due to the cladding rather than an electrical fault.

 

[Markas]

And beware of reversed polarity.... Live and neutral wired the wrong way round.

Harmless, but always runs to page after page of pointless forum posts to keep the masses entertained.
Almost as entertaining and pointless as Gassing threads

Not the dangers of stopping on aires again!!

 

[Markas]

Working on a French campsite the only problem I've experienced is a hairdryer that had a dodgy connection coupled with an owner who had no idea that his pvc (Westfalia) would have a domestic-type fuse box, or even where it was (under the bed...nearside).
Having rushed around & rewiring EHU cables and bollard finally managed to convince him the fault lay on his side of the circuit.
Don't have any fancy polarity testers and have experienced no problems with either my previous camper (Bongo) or current one (IH Oregon).

 

[Markas]

Good plan. You would only get half electrocuted I suppose.

And hop up and down - should reduce the risk to 25% (where's Carole Vorderman when you need her?!?)

 

[two]

And hop up and down - should reduce the risk to 25% (where's Carole Vorderman when you need her?!?)

Just hopping should do it,
simply hoping might do just as well...

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[autorouter]

Will cause a fire?

MAY cause a fire would be more accurate.

Actually the reported probable cause of the fire at Grenfell was a faulty crimp in a fridge which caused the wire to overheat and to short circuit. In this case the fuse obviously made no difference whatsoever, and the dreadful loss of life was due to the cladding rather than an electrical fault.

There are faults that even an RCD and MCB combined will not prevent. The Grenfell fire was one of these. From the report:
Dr Glover said: “The overheating of the crimp starts the fire. It overheats, it glows, it ignites.
You have glowing electricity flowing through those voids. It creates heat that ignites the insulation on the wires before you have a short circuit that would trip the circuit.”

The point is that reverse polarity bypasses some of the protections, and multiplies the types of faults that can result in a fire. An RCD will catch most of these faults, but it's not magic, and more importantly is has to be (a) fitted and (b) working,

 

[thebriars]

Sigh.

 

[tonyidle]

You have glowing electricity flowing through those voids. It creates heat that ignites the insulation on the wires before you have a short circuit that would trip the circuit.”

I have little faith in an official report that describes the progress of an electrical fire in those terms.

 

[DDJC]

Too many ifs and hopes and "Don't worry about it!" assurances for me. £5 got me a plug in polarity tester and I made up a short polarity reverser lead. Takes ten seconds to check polarity then twenty seconds to put in the reverse lead, then I don't have to worry about the triple pole, 3.5mm, lateral push/pull, ACDC, RCD MCB EHU PCB LSD board tripping out. I'm on holiday, I don't want to be grubbing through the bowels of my van at four in the morning.

 

[Cat53]

Nothing works on our van until the control panel is switched on and all the appropriate buttons pressed!

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[SuperMike]

And so, Uncle PPJ loads the gun, chambers a round, takes off the safety and passes it to someone else to fire.

Well done old chap. I salute you. Score 9.