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Electric Hook-Up (EHU)

cronkle

Joined: May 01, 2005

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MH: Kommodacar 500

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Electric Hook-Up (EHU) (Author = Cronkle)

To connect a motorhome to the mains electricity supply whilst on a site most people will use the orange cables that can be bought from camping and caravanning accessory shops. They are available in a variety of lengths and many people carry two cables, one of about 10 metres and the other about 25 metres in length; the shorter lead being less of a trip hazard an easier to handle when the hook-up post is nearby. In the UK these would normally suffice.

Remember to plug the cable into your van before plugging it into the power supply and it is good practice to unwind the cable fully to avoid any chance of a heat build-up. A little quirk of the Caravan Club hook-up posts is that you have to turn the plug a quarter turn clockwise before you are connected to the electricity. It is the other end, with the hinged cap on it, that plugs into the motorhome.

Female socket.

This is achieved by opening the flap enough to plug into the socket on the van and then releasing so that it closes onto the outside of the socket. The cap is moulded so that it hooks over a ridge on the outside of the socket and prevents the two accidentally sliding apart.

If travelling abroad you may come across the 'continental' socket which will not accept the normal 'UK' plug. To overcome this an adaptor can be purchased from accessory shops which consists of a short length of cable with the standard 'female' socket on one end and the 'continental' plug on the other. Your cable is plugged into this and it is then plugged into the power supply.

Continental adaptor

Some sites in Switzerland have a third, different socket type. You will usually be able to rent or borrow the appropriate adaptor from the site office.

There is another adaptor with an ordinary three pin plug on the end which can be used to connect your van to your domestic supply at home so that your vehicle batteries can be kept on charge or your fridge can be brought to its correct operating temperature before you start a journey.

UK adaptor for use at home

A situation that you will regularly come across on a continental site is 'reverse polarity'. This is where the live and the neutral (brown and blue wires) are connected up the wrong way round. This has the effect of putting the switch on the wire coming 'out' of an appliance and so when you switch it off the switch is stopping power from going 'out' rather than 'in'. This could mean that if the piece of equipment develops a fault it is still live and could 'earth' itself through anyone who touches it.

To check for this fault you would use a polarity tester which is a device that conects like a standard three pin plug that has three lights on it. Once you have connected to the hook-up you plug it into a convenient socket within the van. The instructions with it will tell you which combination of lights indicates which fault. (These devices will also tell you if there is an 'earth' present.)

Polarity tester

To overcome this problem (reverse polarity) it is possible to use another adaptor that has the same ends as your main leads but with the blue and the brown wires connected in such a way as to reverse the flow of the electricity. It is unlikely that you will be able to purchase this item and if you have any doubts about how to make one a qualified electrician should be asked to wire one up for you. For more detailed information on this subject go to: http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-61543.html

Alternatively switches can be obtained that will do the same job for you but it may be that a qualified electrician would be required to 'hard wire' it into your vehicle

Last edited by cronkle on Wed May 13, 2009 11:02 am; edited 7 times in total

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