Using the three pin plug when ehu is hooked up at home

[AJQ]

Hi - after a small incident this weekend with a twenty five year old travel kettle fusing we forgot to check afterwards that the three pin socket was still working. The 12v socket is still working so my question is, do they share a fuse and can we assume the three pin is ok - we’re back home now so to test it we’d have to plug into the domestic electric system, something we do to charge the batteries sometimes.
Thanks

 

[Sad]

Sounds like the only way to find about...
Don't know about the fuse situ though...

 

[Perfectos]

Hi AjQ,

your profile does not indicate what vehicle you have?

assuming you have an Ocean/ SE / coast the mains voltage circuit is protected by an MCB located in the high level cupboard.

Beach MCB is located in the Jack storage (hidden) above the Jack / behind the trim panel roughly in Line with the hook up socket.

 

[AJQ]

Hi AjQ,

your profile does not indicate what vehicle you have?

assuming you have an Ocean/ SE / coast the mains voltage circuit is protected by an MCB located in the high level cupboard.

Beach MCB is located in the Jack storage (hidden) above the Jack / behind the trim panel roughly in Line with the hook up socket.

Thanks for reminding me, I’ve changed it now, it is an Ocean, and thanks for the advice. We had to reset that switch after the kettle blew up, I’m just a bit nervous about plugging something else in now. The rest of the electrics all still work including the 12v socket next to the three pin.
Thanks

 

[Perfectos]

Thanks for reminding me, I’ve changed it now, it is an Ocean, and thanks for the advice. We had to reset that switch after the kettle blew up, I’m just a bit nervous about plugging something else in now. The rest of the electrics all still work including the 12v socket next to the three pin.
Thanks

The Circuit breaker did the job it is intended to do, once the breaker is reset it should be fine to use.
to check plug in to 240v, then if all is fine try plugging in a lower power item to the three pin socket To test

 

[AJQ]

The Circuit breaker did the job it is intended to do, once the breaker is reset it should be fine to use.
to check plug in to 240v, then if all is fine try plugging in a lower power item to the three pin socket To test

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the helpful advice earlier.
Update:
We’ve now plugged the hookup in to the domestic electricity and we plugged a phone charger into the three pin socket. The charger’s blue light lit up so that seemed promising, but the van control panel then showed the battery symbol not the hook up picture. The trip in the back cupboard hadn't changed position, it still showed as on.
We removed the charger from the three pin socket.
We then switched the trip in the back cupboard off, then on again, and the symbol on the control panel returned to hook up. The van carried on charging.
So presumably the socket is not functioning and maybe the fuse is gone?
We’re off on a longish trip soon. We can manage without the three pin socket, but we’re wondering whether to try and find out where the fuse for that socket is and change it (we are not electrical experts by any means!) As I said before the 12v socket next to it works fine.
Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[Jodalo]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the helpful advice earlier.
Update:
We’ve now plugged the hookup in to the domestic electricity and we plugged a phone charger into the three pin socket. The charger’s blue light lit up so that seemed promising, but the van control panel then showed the battery symbol not the hook up picture. The trip in the back cupboard hadn't changed position, it still showed as on.
We removed the charger from the three pin socket.
We then switched the trip in the back cupboard off, then on again, and the symbol on the control panel returned to hook up. The van carried on charging.
So presumably the socket is not functioning and maybe the fuse is gone?
We’re off on a longish trip soon. We can manage without the three pin socket, but we’re wondering whether to try and find out where the fuse for that socket is and change it (we are not electrical experts by any means!) As I said before the 12v socket next to it works fine.
Thanks for any thoughts.

Why not just plug in another 240v domestic item, such as a table lamp or similar to check if the mains system is working. Ensuring that the mains inlet of the van is in the ON position.

 

[Steve1]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the helpful advice earlier.
Update:
We’ve now plugged the hookup in to the domestic electricity and we plugged a phone charger into the three pin socket. The charger’s blue light lit up so that seemed promising, but the van control panel then showed the battery symbol not the hook up picture. The trip in the back cupboard hadn't changed position, it still showed as on.
We removed the charger from the three pin socket.
We then switched the trip in the back cupboard off, then on again, and the symbol on the control panel returned to hook up. The van carried on charging.
So presumably the socket is not functioning and maybe the fuse is gone?
We’re off on a longish trip soon. We can manage without the three pin socket, but we’re wondering whether to try and find out where the fuse for that socket is and change it (we are not electrical experts by any means!) As I said before the 12v socket next to it works fine.
Thanks for any thoughts.

This doesn't sound like a fuse problem. Did the phone charger remain working while plugged into the 3 pin plug socket even though control panel said battery ?

 

[WelshGas]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the helpful advice earlier.
Update:
We’ve now plugged the hookup in to the domestic electricity and we plugged a phone charger into the three pin socket. The charger’s blue light lit up so that seemed promising, but the van control panel then showed the battery symbol not the hook up picture. The trip in the back cupboard hadn't changed position, it still showed as on.
We removed the charger from the three pin socket.
We then switched the trip in the back cupboard off, then on again, and the symbol on the control panel returned to hook up. The van carried on charging.
So presumably the socket is not functioning and maybe the fuse is gone?
We’re off on a longish trip soon. We can manage without the three pin socket, but we’re wondering whether to try and find out where the fuse for that socket is and change it (we are not electrical experts by any means!) As I said before the 12v socket next to it works fine.
Thanks for any thoughts.

There is No fuse for the Mains 240v socket on the end of the kitchen unit.

 

[AJQ]

Thanks, that’s really helpful, and fits with Steve1s suggestion too. Also I’ve now looked at Loz’s very helpful numbered diagram of the fuses and was about to ask where the 3pin 240v fuse was as it didn’t appear on the diagram - now I know why! Many thanks. It sounds as though the wiring might have been affected?

 

[Steve1]

Thanks, that’s really helpful, and fits with Steve1s suggestion too. Also I’ve now looked at Loz’s very helpful numbered diagram of the fuses and was about to ask where the 3pin 240v fuse was as it didn’t appear on the diagram - now I know why! Many thanks. It sounds as though the wiring might have been affected?

The 3 pin UK power socket on the end of the cupboard should be directly connected to the breaker in the rear cupboard. Which is directly connected to the flappy socket on the outside side of the van. Somewhere long the line the battery charger also connects into the breaker in the rear cupboard or the wire to the socket. Not exactly sure where.
The first test would be to plug in something small to the 3 pin UK socket, plug the hookup wire into the outside of the van and ensure the breaker in the rear cupboard is on. This should show if the socket is working or if the wire is broken or the breaker broken. If this work, the next step is to try something a bit more power hungry like a kettle. If this works too then the breaker and wire from breaker to socket are probably ok so next step is to check the charger. If it doesn't work then there would be a fault with the wire or the breaker perhaps.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks, that’s really helpful, and fits with Steve1s suggestion too. Also I’ve now looked at Loz’s very helpful numbered diagram of the fuses and was about to ask where the 3pin 240v fuse was as it didn’t appear on the diagram - now I know why! Many thanks. It sounds as though the wiring might have been affected?

You said the Blue light came On, on the phone charger. That means the charger was receiving Mains Voltage, so the socket is working and supplying 240v.
Can you take 2 photos of the Control Panel.
1. Just the mains hookup lead plugged in, nothing in the kitchen socket.
2. Mains Hookup lead plugged in and the phone charger plugged into the kitchen socket.

 

[AJQ]

You said the Blue light came On, on the phone charger. That means the charger was receiving Mains Voltage, so the socket is working and supplying 240v.
Can you take 2 photos of the Control Panel.
1. Just the mains hookup lead plugged in, nothing in the kitchen socket.
2. Mains Hookup lead plugged in and the phone charger plugged into the kitchen socket.

Thanks for your help, this time when we did it the control panel stayed showing the hook up connection so now I'm totally confused but slightly hopeful.

This is the mains hookup nothing in kitchen socket

This is the one with the mains connected and now with the phone charger in


We then plugged a phone into the charger and it showed that it was charging.

Thanks for this

 

[B J G]

Always worth having a test plug as a quick check if all OK.

13A UK Socket Tester 240V Test Plug In Socket Safe Fault Earth Live Neutral | eBay

Colour: Orange. UK 3 pin electrical mains sockets are wired correctly. The product tests and indicates faults with earth, neutral, live/earth reversed and live/neutral reversed. A quick and simple way to test that.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Steve1]

Thanks for your help, this time when we did it the control panel stayed showing the hook up connection so now I'm totally confused but slightly hopeful.

This is the mains hookup nothing in kitchen socket View attachment 91529

This is the one with the mains connected and now with the phone charger inView attachment 91530


We then plugged a phone into the cha

Thanks for your help, this time when we did it the control panel stayed showing the hook up connection so now I'm totally confused but slightly hopeful.

This is the mains hookup nothing in kitchen socket View attachment 91529

This is the one with the mains connected and now with the phone charger inView attachment 91530


We then plugged a phone into the charger and it showed that it was charging.

Thanks for this

Seems like it's working

 

[Cali Phillip]

Always worth having a test plug as a quick check if all OK.

13A UK Socket Tester 240V Test Plug In Socket Safe Fault Earth Live Neutral | eBay

Colour: Orange. UK 3 pin electrical mains sockets are wired correctly. The product tests and indicates faults with earth, neutral, live/earth reversed and live/neutral reversed. A quick and simple way to test that.

www.ebay.co.uk

aye we carry one with the hook up leads.

 

[AJQ]

Thanks everyone, I'm really grateful for all the help offered by people on this forum. Hopefully it's all good now, I still don't understand why the first time we tried the 3 pin plug it switched us to battery mode, but I'm just happy it seems to be ok now. And I've learnt lots of useful things including the fact that the three pin plug doesn't have a fuse and that there are several brilliant diagrams here with all the fuses identified. And that there is something we can get that tests a plug socket, I’ve never seen one of those before. Ace, thank you everybody.