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HOOK-UP FACILITIES on Continental sites are wired differently from those in the UK, but this need not be an issue for UK caravans. Just follow our simple guide to reverse polarity and how to deal with it.
What is reverse polarity?
Reversed polarity describes the situation in which the live and neutral feeds in the hook-up bollard on a Continental caravan site are switched. It makes no difference to Continental tourers which are set up to cope with the different wiring, but it can cause a safety issue for UK caravans.
What can happen?
Appliances connected to the mains supply will still function in most cases. In older caravans, however, there can be a problem. Potentially, appliances and fixtures can remain live, even if the power switch is turned off.
How do I detect it?
You need a mains socket tester. This is plugged into a mains socket in the caravan and it lights up if there is a problem, either with reversed polarity or some other issue, such as a faulty earth.
What can I do about it?
If you have a caravan built after 1993, it’s less of a problem as the main circuit breakers are double-pole units. This means that if the supply remains in place to the appliance and you touched something live, the system would trip out. It’s still not ideal, though.
The best solution is to detect the suspect supply and correct it. To cope with all eventualities, you need a spare Continental adapter.
Open the outer casing of the blue plug. Identify the live and neutral wires. Brown is live (L or +) and neutral is blue (N).
Slacken the screws securing the wires and reverse them. This now means that the blue wire is connected to the L+ terminal and the brown to the N terminal.
Replace the outer cover, taking care that everything is lined up correctly as before. Clearly mark the adapter so it is not used in error on a correctly wired site.
Coping with reversed polarity
In order to be ready for any eventuality, you need to carry three adapters for Continental touring:
1 A two-pin to UK adapter
2 A two-pin to UK adapter converted as below
3 A short (approximately 50cm) blue UK male to blue UK female adapter, with the live/neutral switched over in the male plug.
The third of these three adapters is essentially a very short mains cable. This will allow you to correct supplies on Continental sites which have the blue (UK) sockets that are wired back to front.
5 FACTS ABOUT REVERSE POLARITY
■ It’s practically absent from UK sites.
■ Appliances used in a van with RP work as usual although they may not turn off properly.
■ Both two-pin ‘Euro’ and UK-style blue sockets can be affected. Carry a mains socket tester to check.
■ Post-1993 caravans are safer when coping with RP supplies.
■ Home-made adapters can correct afflicted supplies.
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