reversed polarity in Spain

T

Tony50

Joined
May 7, 2017
Posts
2,178
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2,604
Location
Suffolk
Funster No
48,544
MH
Chausson 788
Exp
20 years
One campsite reversed next site was the other way around. Luckily I have a gadget between the mains connection and the mains box so when the box buzzes and a red light comes on all I do is press changeover switch and a green
Light comes on .
 
I suspect you will find a lot of sites that have a reversed polarity in Spain - we did.

Some vans don't mind. Some do.

Our Autotrail used to get the right hump with things like that.

Good help us if we had a site with no earth :(
 
Last edited:
Tony50 said:
One campsite reversed next site was the other way around. Luckily I have a gadget between the mains connection and the mains box so when the box buzzes and a red light comes on all I do is press changeover switch and a green
Light comes on .
Click to expand...
Encountered many sites with reverse polarity, made no difference at all.

Everything worked normally.
 
I just thought it was worth mentioning to somebody travelling aboard for first time
 
All the sockets in our apartment are different, the 2 pin plugs in Spain can plug in anyway round, unlike the ones in france that have a centre earth pin. :LOL:
I was told there is no polarity the way they wire things, and it's double insulated, ;) apparently................. :LOL:

:eek: They also say it's no problem quite a lot. :ROFLMAO: Bob.
 
bobandjanie said:
All the sockets in our apartment are different, the 2 pin plugs in Spain can plug in anyway round, unlike the ones in france that have a centre earth pin. :LOL:
I was told there is no polarity the way they wire things, and it's double insulated, ;) apparently................. :LOL:

:eek: They also say it's no problem quite a lot. :ROFLMAO: Bob.
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France ( also have 2 pin as well as 3 pin plugs) and Spain, and more likely other EU countries have wiring either way round because it doesn’t matter if live and neutral are reversed. The circuit breakers are double pole and all wiring is double insulated.

I’m afraid it’s the UK’s use of flat twin & earth cable - banned in many countries because of its tendency to deliver the worst possible touch voltage, and single pole protection that fails to remove neutral to earth faults, that is the problem

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I would think the lack of an earth is more of a problem, we have found this on quite a few sites.

I use a plug in mains tester with led's, unfortunately this does not show an earth fault until the polarity is correct which is the main reason that I still check.
 
matamoros said:
I would think the lack of an earth is more of a problem, we have found this on quite a few sites.

I use a plug in mains tester with led's, unfortunately this does not show an earth fault until the polarity is correct which is the main reason that I still check.
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Think you need another tester. Mine will declare loss of live/neutral/earth and crossing of any of the three. Most modern equipment does not care polarity. I have in the locker a short length (30cm) of hook up cable with a male on one end and female on the other the live neutral transposed, I made it four years ago, just in case I came across a reversed polarity, it's never come out of the locker. Probably have had reversed polarity, just never known it. I'm too busy to search for perceived problems.
 
I read lots of threads on the subject and my understanding was that I had to buy a properly sealed and electrically approved cable, dismantle it with no electrical knowledge, reassemble it the wrong way round and then believe it when it said that I had something that called itself reverse polarity when loads of people said they ignored it.

So far with both motorhomes, in a variety of countries we have plugged in and switched stuff on and it has worked, seems safer to me.
 
jetlag03 said:
Think you need another tester. Mine will declare loss of live/neutral/earth and crossing of any of the three. Most modern equipment does not care polarity. I have in the locker a short length (30cm) of hook up cable with a male on one end and female on the other the live neutral transposed, I made it four years ago, just in case I came across a reversed polarity, it's never come out of the locker. Probably have had reversed polarity, just never known it. I'm too busy to search for perceived problems.
Click to expand...

What type of tester is yours?

Mine plugs into a UK socket, has 3 led's which light up in different combinations to indicate faults.

As it can only show one combination at a time it seems to prioritise reverse polarity above no earth, someone did explain to me why but I have now forgotten.

I have 2 of these devices and they both do this.

As I said I only do this now to check for an earth which is a common problem on a lot of sites in Spain with old electrical installations.This was important when we toured in our American built 5'er as the chassis became live if there was no earth due, I have been informed, to the 240/120v transformer.

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If no earth i usually clip a jump lead on the chassis and the other end to a tent peg knocked in the ground,,Dont know if it makes it safer,,someone on here will know.BUSBY:):)
 
busby said:
If no earth i usually clip a jump lead on the chassis and the other end to a tent peg knocked in the ground,,Dont know if it makes it safer,,someone on here will know.BUSBY:):)
Click to expand...

When we were touring with the 5'er I made up a couple of metre long earth pegs just in case but never had to use them, don't think they are as effective as a proper earthed system. I seem to remember reading that soaking the ground first made them more effective.
 
busby said:
If no earth i usually clip a jump lead on the chassis and the other end to a tent peg knocked in the ground,,Dont know if it makes it safer,,someone on here will know.BUSBY:):)
Click to expand...


Errrrrr, nope.

A ground stake should be at least 25mm dia and be driven at least 8ft into the ground and fed by at least a 6mm cable, 25mm would be best. With the right equipment then measure the resistance aiming to achieve 21ohm, but you can have, in exceptional circumstances, up to 200ohms.

Don’t cha just love Google. :gum:
 
SuperMike said:
Errrrrr, nope.

A ground stake should be at least 25mm dia and be driven at least 8ft into the ground and fed by at least a 6mm cable, 25mm would be best. With the right equipment then measure the resistance aiming to achieve 21ohm, but you can have, in exceptional circumstances, up to 200ohms.

Don’t cha just love Google. :gum:
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Shall not bother again then,,and i thought i was being very TECHNICAL,,,:LOL::LOL:BUSBY.
 
jetlag03 said:
Most modern equipment does not care polarity
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No equipment of any description ever did. Unfortunately the common use of a term (reversed polarity) that applies only to DC circuits now causes worry when it's applied to AC mains circuitry. AC in this country can have line / neutral reversed. In other countries there may not be a line & neutral supply. I've been to a couple of sites in france where the supply has neither leg earthed anywhere - hence no Neutral.
 
busby said:
If no earth i usually clip a jump lead on the chassis and the other end to a tent peg knocked in the ground,,Dont know if it makes it safer,,someone on here will know.BUSBY:):)
Click to expand...
Nah!

Earth spike is usually copper, 1/2" thick, 4ft long and the cable is 16mmsq and a min distance from the consumer unit.
 
I used to have a xover lead but don't use it now, what worries me is the state of some of the boards, I remember one in Avignon that had 3 out of 4 burnt out sockets - and it was raining very hard. And also some aires with shared sockets, with 3 or 4 or 5 or more sharing, just plugged in haphazardly.

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Dorwyn said:
I used to have a xover lead but don't use it now, what worries me is the state of some of the boards, I remember one in Avignon that had 3 out of 4 burnt out sockets - and it was raining very hard. And also some aires with shared sockets, with 3 or 4 or 5 or more sharing, just plugged in haphazardly.
Click to expand...
It doesn't really matter what's upstream of your van. If your van has the (normal these days) RCD protection then what happens at the supply point is irrelevant. Except of course whilst you are connecting to it :D.
 
tonyidle said:
No equipment of any description ever did.
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Ive mentioned it a few times on these reverse polarity threads.. not because i see it as a safety issue or understand what is going on... but my combitronic control panel has an ecu that is mains supplied to it... if the supply is reversed then i dont get the benefit of mains heating or hot water... and ive proved to my satisfaction thats the case on a few trips..
I phoned the supplier and he said that there will be no lightning strike symbol in the control panel with the polarity reversed and therefore no mai s heating or hot water. I dont understand how but the ecu has to see the correct connection on the mains supply or it doesnt support the mains function..
Andy.
 
Tony50 said:
I just thought it was worth mentioning to somebody travelling aboard for first time
Click to expand...

Yes its mentioning................but pray do tell what it is and where I might get one
 
This is what I use.
1821B1C2-4C2B-486C-8C27-40A92EDB043F.jpeg

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