Request for help... no hook-up

[Rich Purdy]

At home I can hook-up my Beach with a 13A plug adapter and the mains socket inside works, with correct continuity (tested).

Unfortunately we have been to 3 different sites in the U.K. (all Caravan & Motorhome club - still finding our feet with our Cali), and on each occasion the circuit breaker on the Van mains hook-up (rear left under access panel) has tripped immediately, with no load. It is really puzzling me, and stopping us considering items like a fridge etc (slightly limiting with our family and expectations).

Can anyone help diagnose the problem? (It is also annoying as we can only recreate the problem through a site hook-up, all well at home). What am I missing?? Thanks.

 

[sidepod]

are you using the same hook up cable on site as you are at home?

 

[Rich Purdy]

Yep exactly the same cable, with the exception of that an adapter is required for normal plug socket at home.

 

[briwy]

Can you borrow a cable from someone to try. Can't think why it should make a difference but worth a try.

 

[Robowagen]

Questions....

Did the hook-up cable & the converter for 13amp socket your using accompany the vehicle when you purchased it?

Did you get any other cables with it?

Just a thought but did the previous owner do a lot of euro trips?

What I'm thinking is that maybe they have had the hook-up cable wired to allow for connecting into the euro & then the converter for 13amp has the wires swapped so they can plug in at home.

If there is a short version of your hook up cable that came with it they may have used that for converting back when using hook up in UK?


Other to this I believe you will need to swap the live & neutral in one of the plugs in your main hook-up cable if this sorts it for onsite then you will need to do the same in the 13amp style converter for use at home but all this said if your not confident then an electrician should be able to help sort this all out for you.

 

[sidepod]

Polarity won't affect it.

There is no reason your onboard RCBO should trip without any load connected.
It can't see faults up wind of itself.

Are you sure you have nothing plugged in inside the van?

 

[Robowagen]

Wouldn't the polarity do this? Does it not effect equipment plugged in if polarity was different?

Sorry for the questions, I recall a girl I was dating who insisted on wiring her own socket on a lamp which she got the polarity wrong on even tho I could clearly see she'd got it wrong she insisted that my assistance was not required. She plugged it in and it blew the bulb!

So my logic was that the built in leisure battery charger would pull enough load to trip the circuit if there was an issue but the OP said it works fine at home but not on the 3 sites they had visited, this would point towards polarity would it not?

After a quick google my money is on polarity issue, I believe the RCD will trip when it detects too much current on the wrong cable going into it. It would be the first thing I'd check for sure.

 

[GrannyJen]

Wouldn't the polarity do this? Does it not effect equipment plugged in if polarity was different?

Sorry for the questions, I recall a girl I was dating who insisted on wiring her own socket on a lamp which she got the polarity wrong on even tho I could clearly see she'd got it wrong she insisted that my assistance was not required. She plugged it in and it blew the bulb!

So my logic was that the built in leisure battery charger would pull enough load to trip the circuit if there was an issue but the OP said it works fine at home but not on the 3 sites they had visited, this would point towards polarity would it not?

My first thought but generally speaking reverse polarity makes no difference without anything plugged in.

I was going to ask had he plugged into the bollard properly, as a lot of CC sites need a twist once plug is inserted to switch the bollard on but then that would not trip the circuit breakers.

 

[sidepod]

My money is on us not having all the facts.

 

[GrannyJen]

My money hovers around the plug into the bollard not being given a twist. Three CC sites in succession? Quite how that relates to the circuit breakers is another question but having got the dunces cap before, rushing off to the warden to tell him his electricity set-up is a load of bollards and does not work, I know how easy it is to miss that twist

 

[briwy]

Twist??

 

[GrannyJen]

Twist??

A safety feature on a lot of the bollards on quite a few CC sites: having inserted the plug into the bollard as normal it then needs a slight clockwise twist to switch on the current. A little red light glows, which is ever so useful if you know there should be a glowing red light but not much use if you don't.

 

[briwy]

Ah, OK thanks Jen, not come across that yet, handy to know.

 

[sidepod]

Ah, OK thanks Jen, not come across that yet, handy to know.

Yeah only a complete tw@t would make that mistake

 

[mccp]

It can't see faults up wind of itself.

An RCBO may trip with an upstream fault. See this: http://electrical.theiet.org/wiring-matters/19/understand-rcds.cfm?type=pdf

You need to have a complete circuit so that there is a current across the RCBO, but presumably current is drawn by the battery charger the moment you plug the cable into the van.

A dodgy hook-up cable is the most likely culprit. The fact that the fault hasn't appeared at home could just be luck, if there is a loose connection, or broken conductor in the hook-up cable.

 

[GrannyJen]

Yeah only a complete tw@t would make that mistake

I'm normally quite relieved to find that at least I've remembered the cable

 

[Robowagen]

My first thought but generally speaking reverse polarity makes no difference without anything plugged in.

I was going to ask had he plugged into the bollard properly, as a lot of CC sites need a twist once plug is inserted to switch the bollard on but then that would not trip the circuit breakers.

Thanks for the heads up as not used a CC site before...

We shall await the OP's findings on this one which I'm interested to see what the outcome is.

 

[sidepod]

We don't know what's tripping, the RCD function of the RCBO or the overload function.

 

[WelshGas]

Firstly, to my knowledge the Beach with Mains Hookup also has a Charger for the Leisure Battery. So when plugged into the Mains there is a load on the circuit - the Battery Charger.
I can see 2 possibilities.
1. Not inconceivable that the Mains Lead is incorrectly wired.
2. Not inconceivable that the Mains Adapter or house Mains Socket is miswired?

Try another House Mains Socket.
Try another Mains Hookup lead.
Try another Mains Adapter lead.

 

[Meoncoast]

We don't know what's tripping, the RCD function of the RCBO

On our t5 SE our unit failed and had to replace it. Started as tripping out here and there and got worse until 90% of the time tripped out. Worked through WC list above but turned out to be the unit so they can fail.

 

[Rich Purdy]

Questions....

Did the hook-up cable & the converter for 13amp socket your using accompany the vehicle when you purchased it?

Did you get any other cables with it?

Just a thought but did the previous owner do a lot of euro trips?

What I'm thinking is that maybe they have had the hook-up cable wired to allow for connecting into the euro & then the converter for 13amp has the wires swapped so they can plug in at home.

If there is a short version of your hook up cable that came with it they may have used that for converting back when using hook up in UK?


Other to this I believe you will need to swap the live & neutral in one of the plugs in your main hook-up cable if this sorts it for onsite then you will need to do the same in the 13amp style converter for use at home but all this said if your not confident then an electrician should be able to help sort this all out for you.

Hi, thank you. I brought the Van new from a VW Dealer in the UK, that said the cable supplied by VW was a short Euro hook-up cable. The hook-up cable & 13A socket converter I am using I inherited from a family member (long since sold caravan).

The Van did have a Euro socket inside, but the dealer arranged for that to be replaced for a 13A socket.

Since I'm using my own cables, I'm wondering as you say in your last paragraph, is the mains hook-up cable to wrong way round, but paired with 13A socket converter - so it works fine at home, but as soon as I'm not using the converter the supply is incorrect to the van - does that sound feasible? Frustrating that I will have to wait until next time to test it!

Thank you for your help though!!

 

[Rich Purdy]

Polarity won't affect it.

There is no reason your onboard RCBO should trip without any load connected.
It can't see faults up wind of itself.

Are you sure you have nothing plugged in inside the van?

Absolutely nothing plugged into the van, it is still quite new and we are finding our feet. If the polarity was the wrong way round i thought the circuit breaker would remain open and that i would see the indication on the polarity checker that i have brought. Unfortunately, on site, as soon as the circuit breaker is made, it immediately trips. But remains made at home with a 13A socket supply.

 

[Rich Purdy]

Firstly, to my knowledge the Beach with Mains Hookup also has a Charger for the Leisure Battery. So when plugged into the Mains there is a load on the circuit - the Battery Charger.
I can see 2 possibilities.
1. Not inconceivable that the Mains Lead is incorrectly wired.
2. Not inconceivable that the Mains Adapter or house Mains Socket is miswired?

Try another House Mains Socket.
Try another Mains Hookup lead.
Try another Mains Adapter lead.

Thank you, good point, Leisure Battery will charging - I would have thought this draw to be low though? I think I will have to get some alternative leads, to at least rule that part out.

 

[Rich Purdy]

My first thought but generally speaking reverse polarity makes no difference without anything plugged in.

I was going to ask had he plugged into the bollard properly, as a lot of CC sites need a twist once plug is inserted to switch the bollard on but then that would not trip the circuit breakers.

Ha! Yeah I did, different sites too, there is clearly something coming though, as the circuit breaker wouldn't stay made even for a nano-second.

 

[B J G]

Absolutely nothing plugged into the van, it is still quite new and we are finding our feet. If the polarity was the wrong way round i thought the circuit breaker would remain open and that i would see the indication on the polarity checker that i have brought. Unfortunately, on site, as soon as the circuit breaker is made, it immediately trips. But remains made at home with a 13A socket supply.

Back to basics - have you tried a polarity checker when plugged in at home?

I'd open up all cable ends to do a visual check on the condition of the wires and security of the wires into the plugs and sockets.

Think that you said that the Dealer replaced the Euro socket with a 13Amp UK one, if so another possible area to suspect.