Caravan earthing

[BigAl1]

I have wondered about the possibility of connecting an 'earth' lead from caravan chassis to a large peg in the ground. This would I believe make the 'van more safe in the event of an electrical fault where the 'van body became live for any reason. Any comments?

 

[Damian]

The earth leakage trip shoul dprotect you from problems on the 240v side of electrics, eartning the van chassis would not make a lot of difference, as in a lot of cases the stabiliser legs are in contact with the ground

 

[RogerL_5041474]

The van body is already connected to the earth circuit of the 240 installation.

An RCCB is designed to trip at any significant imbalance between live and neutral.

You really don't want power flow through the body/earth circuits which is why the RCCB breaks in milliseconds.

 

[rob_jax]

The van body is already connected to the earth circuit of the 240 installation.

An RCCB is designed to trip at any significant imbalance between live and neutral.

You really don't want power flow through the body/earth circuits which is why the RCCB breaks in milliseconds.

But it would be an interesting way to heat the van. And think of the weight you could save by deleting the Truma S3000 and running with "hot" walls.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Alan,

There would be no harm done to connect an additional earth, rather a belt and braces approach. There should be no need for it especially if the caravan site has the upto date wiring.

If you are using a generator, then it is recomended to put an earth spike into the ground for the gennie.

 

[keith_5081818]

In most cases, the legs won't carry electricity to earth, because they are bolted to the wooden floor, not the chassis or sides.

 

[Jaydug]

Where we spend some of the winter in Spain, the mains outlet adjacent to our favourite pitch always shows a faulty earth connection. Other outlets further along the site show a correct earth, although polarity is sometimes reversed. To correct the earth fault, I connect a jump lead from caravan chassis to a steel peg driven into the ground.