can anyone who has used the euro pitches at haven blue dolphin do you need a special connection for electrics or do the nornal blue connector. first time i have used a euro pitch. asked haven and the answer was " ehh i think the blue one fits".
euro connection
- Thread starter shaadow42
- Start date
In the UK I would definitely expect the hook-up to be standard mains lead - abroad you might find some reverse polarity on the same type, or more rarely now the old continental 2 pin. Not sure what is a 'euro pitch' - the website lists 4 types - basic, tent, electric, and super, so maybe the 'euro' is a version of the super pitch where you would expect to have individual drainage and water point as well as electric.
We've been to Blue Dolphin many times and the connections are definitely standard blue ones.
Hope you enjoy the site and the views from the clifftop walk but be careful if you take children as the edge has collapsed in places.
Otherwise it's a great site for exploring Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington etc.
Hope you enjoy the site and the views from the clifftop walk but be careful if you take children as the edge has collapsed in places.
Otherwise it's a great site for exploring Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington etc.
Reverse polarity is only a problem when you want to switch something off to work on something.For normal operation nothing changes.After all alternating current is exactly that - it changes polarity 50 times a second.
The "blue" plug is a euro standard device and polarity shouldn't change whether it's on the continant or the Uk.
Outside the UK it will be pot luck as to whether a mains electric hook-up will provide a UK-norm supply or one with its polarity reversed, and this will be true whether the connection involves a CEE-standard blue plug/socket or a different type of connector. There is advice about this here
https://www.campingandcaravanningcl...ing-in-europe/european-campsites/electricity/
As bertieboy1 says, reversed polarity rarely matters and I’m aware of only one mains-powered heating appliance (not fitted in caravans) that was polarity sensitive and demanded UK-norm polarity to function.
The C&CClub link advises use of a mains polarity tester to check a pitch’s electrical supply. This is worth doing outside the UK, more to check for faults (like no earth) than for polarity reversal.
https://www.campingandcaravanningcl...ing-in-europe/european-campsites/electricity/
As bertieboy1 says, reversed polarity rarely matters and I’m aware of only one mains-powered heating appliance (not fitted in caravans) that was polarity sensitive and demanded UK-norm polarity to function.
The C&CClub link advises use of a mains polarity tester to check a pitch’s electrical supply. This is worth doing outside the UK, more to check for faults (like no earth) than for polarity reversal.
The issue is that the blue plugs we use are physically marked which is live, neutral and earth but polarity doesn't matter to electricians on the continent as (1) they use radial wiring rather than rings like we do and (2) each outlet is protected by a dual pole MCB and all appliances have double pole switching. We only use single pole MCBs and socket switches in the UK to save on cost.
I would suggest checking your caravan sockets to see if they have double pole switching (usually embossed on the back of the switch assembly) in which case incoming polarity doesn't matter. If however they are single pole then it is a good idea to have a polarity reverser to ensure that when the appliance is inactive the unit is dead.
Note that 2-pin Schuko plugs will usually only fit one way round in the outlet, so rotating the plug 180deg is of no use.
I would suggest checking your caravan sockets to see if they have double pole switching (usually embossed on the back of the switch assembly) in which case incoming polarity doesn't matter. If however they are single pole then it is a good idea to have a polarity reverser to ensure that when the appliance is inactive the unit is dead.
Note that 2-pin Schuko plugs will usually only fit one way round in the outlet, so rotating the plug 180deg is of no use.
Wikipedia has a long entry on AC plugs and sockets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets
In principle a German-type "Schuko” CEE 7/4 plug
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko
can be rotated 180° in its socket to change polarity, but the design of the plug itself (eg. if the plug is right-angled) may prevent this.
A CEE 7/5 socket - as still found on plenty of French campsites - has an earthing pin and, although a CEE 7/7 ‘hybrid plug’ is available that will fit German-type or French-type sockets, this plug cannot be rotated 180° in the French-type socket.
Polarity reversal adapters are available on-line (example advert follows)
https://www.toughleads.co.uk/products/heavy-duty-polarity-reversal-adaptor
though it is perhaps worth observing that the adapter’s plug that connects to the hook-up cable and the socket on the cable itself although ‘water resistant’ are not fully waterproof.
For a more technical approach a polarity changeover switch is widely available (image below) that can be installed within the leisure vehicle.
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All UK caravans manufactured in the last 30 or more years ago will have double pole isolation MCB's and RCD inside the caravan. This at least means if and over current or phase or neutral fault to earth occurs the circuits inside the caravan should be fully isolated if either is tripped.
Regarding reverse polarity; our fridge started bleeping on a pitch in France, and i could not fathom it. So i called my service guy in the UK for advice. He ran through just about all i had checked, then threw in...unless its RP on the pitch - that sometimes causes it? I checked (and god knows why i didn't check to start with, as i have the 'light plug'), it was RP, i put my change-piece in, and bingo, no more bleeping.
This 2016 CaravanTalk thread referred to a Dometic fridge starting beeping in France.
https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/115173-dometic-fridge/
Reverse polarity (RP) was suggested as the cause, but the poster said that the fridge had worked OK for 3 previous days and his socket-tester displayed the 3-lights appropriate for UK-norm polarity.
There are plenty of on-line entries relating to Dometic fridges beeping
https://tinyurl.com/uez2c4u
and the occasional comment about Thetford fridges doing it too.
As Dometic and Thetford fridges are widely installed in Continental-European-built caravans and motorhomes that will be used in countries where the polarity of the mains power-supply is completely unpredictable, the fridges OUGHT to be immune to RP.
(I may use a socket-tester before 'hooking-up’, but that will be to check whether or not the outlet is operational. If the supply proves to be RP I don’t care and I have never noticed RP having had any impact on any of my motorhomes’ appliances.)
https://www.caravantalk.co.uk/community/topic/115173-dometic-fridge/
Reverse polarity (RP) was suggested as the cause, but the poster said that the fridge had worked OK for 3 previous days and his socket-tester displayed the 3-lights appropriate for UK-norm polarity.
There are plenty of on-line entries relating to Dometic fridges beeping
https://tinyurl.com/uez2c4u
and the occasional comment about Thetford fridges doing it too.
As Dometic and Thetford fridges are widely installed in Continental-European-built caravans and motorhomes that will be used in countries where the polarity of the mains power-supply is completely unpredictable, the fridges OUGHT to be immune to RP.
(I may use a socket-tester before 'hooking-up’, but that will be to check whether or not the outlet is operational. If the supply proves to be RP I don’t care and I have never noticed RP having had any impact on any of my motorhomes’ appliances.)
The list of 'ought to's' in life is never ending. Whether my particular fridge should have been immune to RP is neither here nor there. It wasn't! And if mine wasn't, i'd hazzard a guess that its not on its own in its lack of said immunity. Therefore, its one more thing worth checking 'just in case', and to hell with received opinion/'experts' etc.
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