Just been asked today by my caravan service engineer have I been abroad with my caravan because my reverse polarity light is on I presume this on the charger but I have never noticed this before because I have never had a problem with the electric, any ideas about this,
Reverse polarity
- Thread starter camel
- Start date
The reverse polarity indicator should only illuminate if the Phase (Live) and Neutral wiring to the consumer unit have been reversed. The caravan's mains appliances will appear to work normally, but their safety may be compromised if the appliance blows its own fuse, as parts of the appliance cold still have mains voltage present on them.
Because there is a possibility of some (continental) caravan sites having been wired with a reversed supply, the UK's NCC stipulate that caravans should have mains consumer units fitted with double pole MCB's and RCD's, so if either of these safety devices operates the dangers of reversed polarity supplies are mitigated.
It would be wise to have the reason for light showing investigated and corrected.
It could be your EHU cable that might have been wired up incorrectly, Less likely would be your house mains supply
Because there is a possibility of some (continental) caravan sites having been wired with a reversed supply, the UK's NCC stipulate that caravans should have mains consumer units fitted with double pole MCB's and RCD's, so if either of these safety devices operates the dangers of reversed polarity supplies are mitigated.
It would be wise to have the reason for light showing investigated and corrected.
It could be your EHU cable that might have been wired up incorrectly, Less likely would be your house mains supply
Prof, thanks. for that info, today I had the caravan serviced by a very proficient person before going mobile they worked for a main caravan dealer before the service I said everything on the caravan was working, after the service it was pointed out to me that the reverse polarity. light was on which was news to me and also a plug in a upper cupboard which is the TV plug was not working but it was last season, when they get back to me which they have I will get them to sort it out
Actually I do recall seeing one consumer unit back in the 1980's that had a light which showed when the polarity was correct, meaning it was safe to use! - Check your instruction manual for the proper meaning of the light.
I'm bringing the caravan home from the compound tomorrow when I can plug in my EHU cable and check out what's what,
Prof, just one more question if my reverse polarity light is on is it just a question of sopping over live and neutral that go in to the consumer unit, also when I check the 230 plug sockets with my socket tester and all the lights show green then that must be indicating OK,
Camel, what year, and type and model of caravan do you have, ? That might help all. Also out of interest, I paid £200 for a mobile NCC engineer, who I trust.
Miffs me as I can do it all my self.
Miffs me as I can do it all my self.
Hutch, I have a Sterling europa 550 first Reg 2010 now that I've done some research if I do have a problem with the reverse polarityI can get round it with an adaptor but why is this light on the guy before me did not go abroad, like you the mechanic les on the caravan are not a problem but this year I thought I would get a gas and damp check done, glad I did I need anow rubber seal round a front n/s window and a real seal round the battery window is being done next week and I'll whip out the battery ox on Saturday when I get a tube ofsilkofix 512, my service cost £175,00,
Check the instructions to see what the light is supposed to mean before jumping to conclusions.
Mains wiring in the UK has Brown for Phase (Live) Blue for Neutral, and Green with a Yellow stripe for Earth, If the colours of the wires do not match the letters in the fittings, then it needs to corrected.
If you need to ask about this then it suggests you may not have the knowledge or experience to carry out this work to adequate safety levels, and I suggest you call in a professional.
Camel,
What indications do you get if you plug a 13 Amp socket tester into one of the sockets in your caravan?
What indications do you get if you plug a 13 Amp socket tester into one of the sockets in your caravan?
I've yet to come across a device that uses letters to represent wire colours for terminal identification.Device terminals are usually marked "L" for Line,"N" for neutral and "E" for earth
I have not abused anyone's knowledge. I have pointed out the question posed would not trouble anyone who is competent at working with electrics. The fact it was asked raises concerns about the safety of person asking it to work on mains electrics.
As you should know mains wiring has a massive potential to harm so safety must be the highest priority, thus it is unwise to offer a more detailed explanation that might encourage them to make a mistake.
I could not simply confirm it is safe to swap the wires, because the fault has not been established. The fault it needs to found, and confirmed before making ad hoc changes that might endanger life.
This morning I brought the caravan home from storage to put our bits and bobs back in the caravan and to check out the reverse polarity and this 230v plug that was not working, after connecting the caravan up to my EHU at. Home all is working and spot on I will ask my service engineer next week what she was on about, apart from all that it is the first time I had my 150psi Kuga on the caravan and it was the boss I live on a half mile hill at the top and I had to stop for other vehicles when I set off the clutch came in on low revs and just moved us away really pleased, Nissan get your act together when it comes to the qashqai,
I'm pleased to see it seems to have been a false alarm. I wonder how your engineer was testing the system.?
Prof, I don't know what she was doing because she has a really good reputation I have several friends that use her but I think it was something minor, I will ask her next week and more than likely the reverse polarity light will come on
I have to read between the lines to understand this post -
Did the van come back from a service with a report of a reverse polarity caused by the EHU plug having incorrect connections.
Reverse polarity doesn't happen by itself,it's caused by a human making incorrect connections.
I get from the post reverse connection had been detected before van went into storage.
If that's the case reverse polarity will still be there when it comes out of storage .It doesn't sort itself.
What's all this to do with hill starts
Do not. worry about my reverse polarity it is all in hand, what's it got to do with hill starts because I mentioned it,
Camel.......
What power supply was your service engineer using at your storage ?
If she was using a generator to feed 230 volts to the caravan.....then this can cause the reverse polarity warning light to glow giving a false warning.
What power supply was your service engineer using at your storage ?
If she was using a generator to feed 230 volts to the caravan.....then this can cause the reverse polarity warning light to glow giving a false warning.
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