Quote:
Originally Posted by moandick
Hi Solitaire
In terms that I can understand - not being an electrician.....
You are already aware that some European sites use two pin plugs rather than three - the third pin being an earth lead.
Each English lead contains three wires - a live, a neutral and an earth - all of which must be located in their proper place in order to make the equipment work properly - and that is done by the shape of the plug - it will only fit into a socket in one particular way.
On a two pin site there is NO earth wire (just a live and a neutral) and that means that it is possible to fit the plug into the socket the 'wrong' way round - hence 'Reverse Polarity' - in theory it could mean that your appliances works backwards.
Seriously - it actually means that the appliance could still be live even when it is switched off.
Go to any caravan dealers where they have a spares shop and they will be able to supply a polarity tester and a specially wired cable which fits between your lead and the socket - and corrects the polarity to that which you need.
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I am very worried that this advice is completely misleading.
I have visited campsites in Europe all (claim to) have an earth.
The so called two pin plug, especially in France, is actually a three pin plug and has three wires just like any other three pin plug.
The three pins are arranged differently. two are on the plug and the other (earth pin) is on the socket.
So when you plug into the socket the live and neutral pins (on the plug) fit into the holes in the socket and the earth pin (on the socket) fits into a hole in the plug - three connections, three pins, no problems.
If you do come across a site with very old wiring and only two pi connectors then avoid it like the plague.