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 outThe 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
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
I'm bringing the caravan home from the compound tomorrow when I can plug in my EHU cable and check out what's what,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.
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,I'm bringing the caravan home from the compound tomorrow when I can plug in my EHU cable and check out what's what,
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,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.
Check the instructions to see what the light is supposed to mean before jumping to conclusions.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,
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 earthCheck 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.
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.Prof , please do not abuse peoples Knowledge . People are asking for advice.
I should have pointed out the connections would be marked L, N and EI'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
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 onI'm pleased to see it seems to have been a false alarm. I wonder how your engineer was testing the system.?
I have to read between the lines to understand this post -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
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,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
Bill, this the conclusion I came to because they did have a generator runningCamel.......
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.