Any caravan techies?

justmicky · 8th October 2009, 16:41

Can anyone enlighten me on caravan electrical sytems?
For instance - when hooked up to the 230v mains on site, would there likely be 230v equipment in the caravan - fridge, tv etc, or would it be a case of the 230v supply suppling a charging unit/battery and the 12 v battery supplying the goods?
Or could it be both?
Cheers

actros · 8th October 2009, 16:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by justmicky

Can anyone enlighten me on caravan electrical sytems?
For instance - when hooked up to the 230v mains on site, would there likely be 230v equipment in the caravan - fridge, tv etc, or would it be a case of the 230v supply suppling a charging unit/battery and the 12 v battery supplying the goods?
Or could it be both?
Cheers

Hi micky the 230v provieds feed for the fridge and some lights and sockets alo it charges your 12v battery up.

ragitty · 8th October 2009, 17:08

Yes you can have 240v electrical supply to your caravan providing that the feed goe's through a fuse board initially.

If you have a 3 way fridge i.e Gas, 12v or 240v you can run that on 240v all day long included into your site rental.

You may also have extra wall sockets for your tv, toaster, hair dryer etc but please remember that in a caravan on a site your appliances should be low wattage. i.e if you use a microwave oven then ideally it would need to be approx 750w. also your tv should be low wattage, many people experience tripping the fuses out on the site by using normal household electrical equipement.

Enjoy

justmicky · 8th October 2009, 19:58

The reason I asked is that a guy asked me to look at his electrics as he is was having problems on his hols - tripping the site breaker - but not because of any undue load! I didnt have much more than a quick look today and assumed the following:
A 230v supply cable which looks to be running in to a consumer unit with an RCD. Consumer unit has mcb for lights and sockets. There looks also like a supply to a battery charger from the consumer unit - again it was a very brief look that I had!
On fiddling/moving a few wires about I was tripping the RCD -and the caravan being connected to the mains in the garage I was also tripping the RCD in the house consumer unit!
So, I was just trying to get some pointers as to what does what in the caravan - sounds like there is a bad earth on a circuit or appliance - a case of process by elimination I suspect.

Many thanks so far chaps

Departed · 9th October 2009, 19:13

Not so much a bad earth, as a leak to earth I'd guess.

The earth trip goes if the current coming in on live, doesn't exactly match the current coing out on neutral Usually this is because it's leaking to earth instead.

If moving wires about is causing it, sounds like a wire has worn insulation, though fridges can often be a problem as the heating element can become leaky (as in leaks to earth).

8th October 2009, 16:41	#1
justmicky I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Saloon 1.8 Club SE Join Date: May 2008 Location: north west Posts: 2,160 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Any caravan techies? Can anyone enlighten me on caravan electrical sytems? For instance - when hooked up to the 230v mains on site, would there likely be 230v equipment in the caravan - fridge, tv etc, or would it be a case of the 230v supply suppling a charging unit/battery and the 12 v battery supplying the goods? Or could it be both? Cheers

8th October 2009, 17:08	#3
ragitty I really should get out more....... Jeep Cherokee Orvis Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Leicester Posts: 2,666 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Yes you can have 240v electrical supply to your caravan providing that the feed goe's through a fuse board initially. If you have a 3 way fridge i.e Gas, 12v or 240v you can run that on 240v all day long included into your site rental. You may also have extra wall sockets for your tv, toaster, hair dryer etc but please remember that in a caravan on a site your appliances should be low wattage. i.e if you use a microwave oven then ideally it would need to be approx 750w. also your tv should be low wattage, many people experience tripping the fuses out on the site by using normal household electrical equipement. Enjoy __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]Dance like no-ones watching

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8th October 2009, 19:58	#4
justmicky I really should get out more....... Rover 75 Saloon 1.8 Club SE Join Date: May 2008 Location: north west Posts: 2,160 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	The reason I asked is that a guy asked me to look at his electrics as he is was having problems on his hols - tripping the site breaker - but not because of any undue load! I didnt have much more than a quick look today and assumed the following: A 230v supply cable which looks to be running in to a consumer unit with an RCD. Consumer unit has mcb for lights and sockets. There looks also like a supply to a battery charger from the consumer unit - again it was a very brief look that I had! On fiddling/moving a few wires about I was tripping the RCD -and the caravan being connected to the mains in the garage I was also tripping the RCD in the house consumer unit! So, I was just trying to get some pointers as to what does what in the caravan - sounds like there is a bad earth on a circuit or appliance - a case of process by elimination I suspect. Many thanks so far chaps

9th October 2009, 19:13	#5
Departed Retired -- Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: -- Posts: 3,785 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Not so much a bad earth, as a leak to earth I'd guess. The earth trip goes if the current coming in on live, doesn't exactly match the current coing out on neutral Usually this is because it's leaking to earth instead. If moving wires about is causing it, sounds like a wire has worn insulation, though fridges can often be a problem as the heating element can become leaky (as in leaks to earth).