Reverse Polarity Again!

5173 Views 13 Replies 8 Participants Last post by barryd, May 21, 2009

barryd

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2009

I have read all the posts regarding this but I have a conflict of opinion. We are off to France and beyond hopefully very very soon now. I am just about to order a Euro EHU adaptor but I still dont know if I need a reverse polarity tester and lead. We have a Swift Kontiki and the chaps that service it recently fitted a new power supply and have been auto electricians for 30 years. They told me you dont need it as it wont make a difference. Is this something to do with my van in particular then as the posts on here would say otherwise. I trust these chaps completely and they certainly know there stuff. Do I need an adaptor to reverse polarity and a tester or not? Very confusing! From what I understand you get a 2 pin continental plug and a 3 pin socket for your hookup cable to go into. You wire the live from the 2 pin to the neutral on the socket and vise versa. Is this correct? to test on site you put the reverse polarity tester in your MH socket plug it in and if its reversed you add the adaptor you made and if its not earthed you unplug it and run away. Is that right.

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Mrplodd

· #2 · May 21, 2009

Buy the following items
1. Polarity tester (I have had reversed polarity on a CC UK Site!!)
2. Male hookup lead end (blue type)
3. Female hookup lead end.
4. Short length (200mm ?) of cable.

Wire one end of the cable correctly to one of the blue cable ends.
Wire the OTHER end with the Live and Neutral reversed
Wire the earth correctly.

If your polarity tester shows you have reversed polarity fit the adapator lead you have just made somewhere between the MH socket and the EHU post. Check again with tester that all is OK. If it shows no earth DONT USE THAT EHU post/socket

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BJT

· #3 · May 21, 2009

Unless your van has a device for automatically monitoring and reversing polarity you are spot on!

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BJT

· #4 · May 21, 2009

Oh, and forgot to post = make sure the adaptor with the connections reversed is clearly identified as such. Wrap red pvc tape or something around both ends, something you can see in the twilight, which murphys law says is when you will need it!
If you cant buy a short length of cable, just cut the socket end and about 200mm of your site lead. Put the new socket on the lead and the plug on the bit you chopped off. Shortens your lead by whatever you cut off, but in 25m the reduction is a cheaper.

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SpeedyDux

· #5 · May 21, 2009

I'm confused.

AC changes polarity 50 times per second. How on earth can I change cables that fast? :roll:

SD

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barryd

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 21, 2009

SpeedyDux said:
I'm confused.

AC changes polarity 50 times per second. How on earth can I change cables that fast? :roll:

SD

Im still confused. This is something along the lines of what our auto electrician chap told me that Its changing all the time anyway or something like that. I have got one person (who is a fully qualified auto electrician) telliing me not to bother and then nearly everyone else saying I should. The Kontiki is 12 years old and has a charger box (which they fitted recently) and a bigger box in the wardrobe with lights and trip switches. Is there perhaps something in there that protects it? Is it worth speaking to Swift? I can see the logic with the tester though for no earth as this surely is dangerous.

REgards
BArry

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barryd

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 21, 2009

Just out of interest I just called a couple of dealers and they didnt know what I was talking about!

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loddy

· #8 · May 21, 2009

I don't bother with checking polarity In my opinion it's a waste of time,
what I don't do is fiddle with electrical items when they are plugged in, now that would be silly.

This is the way I do it I am not trying to override any others opinion
Live and let live

Loddy

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spindrifter

· #9 · May 21, 2009

This might of interest.

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/NR/rdo...3-CEFD5A13B134/0/ReversedPolaritycomplete.pdf

Cheers

David

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karlb

· #10 · May 21, 2009

loddy said:
I don't bother with checking polarity In my opinion it's a waste of time,
what I don't do is fiddle with electrical items when they are plugged in, now that would be silly.

This is the way I do it I am not trying to override any others opinion
Live and let live

Loddy

i concur

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chrisjrv

· #11 · May 21, 2009

Hi,
The short answer is that regardless of anything else one wire is LIVE, one is neutral and one is earth. British switches only switch off the live wire, continental switched switch off both, soooo, if they are the wrong way round you switch something off but it is still live. Buy a simple polarity tester which plugs into any mains socket on your van they are about a tenner. If the testers lights tell you something is wrong then the easiest way is to have a short extension cable wired to reverse the live and neutral and plug this into the site supply and your lead into it,
Regards,
Chris
PS imagine pulling the plug out of the socket with it still switched on

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loddy

· #12 · May 21, 2009

Stickey

The tester tells you something is wrong, no it aint polarity is reversed thats all, Earth is connected to nuetral at the grid, whats the problem ?

do you take your POLARITY TESTER with you when you stay in foreign hotels ?
Scaremongering or what

loddy

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chrisjrv

· #13 · May 21, 2009

I GIVE UP :roll:

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barryd

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 21, 2009

HA HA. You boys do make me laugh! Clearly there are mixed opinions on this but the good thing is I have learnt a lot today. I am spending sooo much times on forums I think Michelle thinks Ive got another women. I told her however if that was the case It would be a real one half her age and not some virtual bint. Whats clear is that I think a tester is a good idea as it sounds as if some sockets are not earthed which cant be good. I found someone selling everything on Ebay, the tester, continental adaptor, thing you plug into the EHU to test without plugging it into the van first with a UK socket on the end so I just thought to hell with it, ill buy more stuff for the trip to go with all the other spare bulbs, reflector thingys, hi vis jackets that probably wont fit me, scooter rack chevron sign, plasters and god knows what else!!!!!!! Well its given me something to do as I have pretty much cleared the decks for the last month now just waiting for one last job to come through and we are off!!!

Cheers Chaps

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