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Hello, we are off to France in September in our new second hand VW camper. I,ve been told I need to check for reverse polarity when I hook up, can someone explain this to me, or point me in the right direction to find out? Many thanks in advance, Bill and Tilly
The Microwave will not work the wrong way round.
The Fridge/Freezer will NOT heat up instead of cooling down.
The lights will NOT turn off when you turn them on. etc, etc, etc, etc in ad finitum.
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There is a tester available cost £10-75 or an installed 'tester and changeover switch' at £39-99p.
Peter
It will make a difference . You will be switching the neutral instead of the live for a start .If a fuse blows the appliance will still be live . If an mcb trips the appliance will still be live .Please don't listen to people who say it won't make a difference buy a cross over lead it will only cost you a couple of quid and it could save your life :Angry:
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You are working in a van - all you need to do is pull the plug from the hookup if you want to work on the inside of any appliance - but how often do you need/want to work on the inards of an appliance when camping.your neautral is still live regardless of your cb/mcb etc saying otherwise ???
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Hi all,mabe someone can explain why my polarity tester works fine on hookup,but when genny is running all sorts of strange things happen to it,somtimes it tells me no earth,somtimes pos and neg reversed.
for a tester to show the polarity (with respect to earth) an earth must be connected, if your Genny is not connected to an earth spike you will see variable readings. If it is mounted in the van it must be bonded correctly to earth (the chassis).Hi all,mabe someone can explain why my polarity tester works fine on hookup,but when genny is running all sorts of strange things happen to it,somtimes it tells me no earth,somtimes pos and neg reversed.
Hi John,Its the built in Onan,You had the pleasure of listening to it at Malvern Remember the security visitpossibly not a smooth enough supply.
is it an invertor genny (kipor/honda) or a straightforward 230v AC (builders/B+Q/Aldi genny)
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you are missing the point. pos and neg are the same yes but one side is connected to earth so should you be quoting with respect to earth. now in the event of a fault the fuse is in the wrong line and your chassis/all metalwork in the van will become live. Thereby able to deliver you a shock under fault conditions only. Some electronics are very dependant on polarity with respect to earth so also needs protecting. A/C current is exactly that alternating current current flow in the cable is constantly changing direction. What makes one live and one nuetral is the fact that one side it tied to earth, the other side is fused. Hope that explains it. (City and guilds 224 and HNC (M.elec)You are working in a van - all you need to do is pull the plug from the hookup if you want to work on the inside of any appliance - but how often do you need/want to work on the inards of an appliance when camping.
My reverse lead is somewhere in my shed and will go in the bin when I find it - I have never found a reversed live/neutral (it's NOT bloody polarity!!) in weeks of camping on sites in France.
If it makes you happy get a reversing lead but don't try the nanny state type scaremonger tactics on everyone else.
Hello, we are off to France in September in our new second hand VW camper. I,ve been told I need to check for reverse polarity when I hook up, can someone explain this to me, or point me in the right direction to find out? Many thanks in advance, Bill and Tilly
you are missing the point. pos and neg are the same yes but one side is connected to earth so should you be quoting with respect to earth. now in the event of a fault the fuse is in the wrong line and your chassis/all metalwork in the van will become live. Thereby able to deliver you a shock under fault conditions only. Some electronics are very dependant on polarity with respect to earth so also needs protecting. A/C current is exactly that alternating current current flow in the cable is constantly changing direction. What makes one live and one nuetral is the fact that one side it tied to earth, the other side is fused. Hope that explains it. (City and guilds 224 and HNC (M.elec)
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you are working in a van - all you need to do is pull the plug from the hookup if you want to work on the inside of any appliance - but how often do you need/want to work on the inards of an appliance when camping.
My reverse lead is somewhere in my shed and will go in the bin when i find it - i have never found a reversed live/neutral (it's not bloody polarity!!) in weeks of camping on sites in france.
If it makes you happy get a reversing lead but don't try the nanny state type scaremonger tactics on everyone else.
Wow that's informative.
IS this situation not unique to the UK where it is a left over from our early DC supply?you are missing the point. pos and neg are the same yes but one side is connected to earth so should you be quoting with respect to earth
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Wow that's informative.
IS this situation not unique to the UK where it is a left over from our early DC supply?
Since our van has Shuko outlets then live / neutral has no meaning since the plugs can be inserted any way up. Therefore it is scaremongering to tell everyone to use so called 'polarity' changers.
Alan, HNC & BSc.
Wow that's informative.
Yes as informative as the load of drivle you have just posted . If you don't know what you are talking about and obviously with no electrical knowledge please don't ill advise others especially when it comes to their safety .
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ll systems tie one side to earth, providing you have fuses in BOTH lines what you say is correct, otherwise my observations are valid.
Sorry Roger but I disagree, or maybe I misunderstand your post .. but the neutral is not tied to earth on the consumer side .. if it were the RCD would trip..
First of all overload and earth leakage are two completelly different situations . And RCD is there to protect earth leakage . If you do not have a good earth it is likely the trip won't work , that is one good reason to use your plug tester . An MCB is a modern fuse ,it is there to protect short circuit and overload . One situation , if you had a metal clad appliance i.e. kettle ,toaster and combined with reverse polarity, short circuit and earth fault and no earth then the metal casing of that appliance could become live and fatal .
And Roger is not wrong .On a PME system the earth shares the neutral supplied by your electricity company . Why Jim can't you encourage the safety of newbies on this site . You have been M/Homing for a long time and may be one of the lucky ones.For the cost of £15 for a plug tester and reverse lead it could save someones life .On most new vans a reverse warning alarm is fitted so that must say something in itself .
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And Roger is not wrong .On a PME system the earth shares the neutral supplied by your electricity company .
I am well aware how the PME system works ... what I said
the neutral is not tied to earth on the consumer side .. if it were the RCD would trip..
Why Jim can't you encourage the safety of newbies on this site . You have been M/Homing for a long time and may be one of the lucky ones.For the cost of £15 for a plug tester and reverse lead it could save someones life .On most new vans a reverse warning alarm is fitted so that must say something in itself .
if you are concerned, buy a plug in polarity tester and a reverse polarity connector cable from any decent caravan supplies shop.
When you hook up, plug in the tester, if it shows reverse then use the reverse polarity connector cable.
It is important to test for a good earth and using a reverse polarity tester will do that, if for that reason and no other then it's worth doing ..
This thread is getting too silly!!One situation , if you had a metal clad appliance i.e. kettle ,toaster and combined with reverse polarity, short circuit and earth fault and no earth then the metal casing of that appliance could become live and fatal .
This thread is getting too silly!!
In the above scenario, reverse 'polarity' has nothing to do with the the appliance becoming live and fatal.
Please remember that th IEEE Regulations were instituted to protect Consumers from the electrical contracting industry, not to protect electricians from consumers.
Time to go to work, enjoy!
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