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Eriba stuff ......FOR THE NEXT 5 CATEGORIES PLEASE BE PRECISE BY GIVING FULL DETAILS OF THE TYPE OF ERIBA/TOW CAR/AWNING YOU HAVE TO HELP US ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. � Anything Eriba-related �

Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:42 pm
by Randa france •

| 13.163 Posts

Sort of Eriba related but sort of not because I think I'm right in saying that the Eriba electrics is dual polarity. Therefore if a camp site EHU gets it all wrong and puts the little blue wire where the little brown wire should go and vice versa then the Eriba is not going to go up in smoke.

However.....because we use electricity in the awning/sun shade, we have a "splitter" connected in line between the EHU and the Eriba and run our old camping mains supply unit from the splitter to the awning. This unit has a red warning light which, if on, indicates that the camp site EHU polarity is the wrong way round. No problem because I've carried a "reverse polarity" lead with me for years so if the light is on, rather than re-wire my plug-in, I just add this short extension cable.

But the question is "Does anyone know which appliances if any, will be damaged by running reverse polarity through them or can most electrical goods withstand this problem?" I'm talking not only lighting but an induction hob and a camping fridge.
Randa

1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:51 pm
by Steamdrivenandy (deleted)

If you're talking about the white box next to the Elgin Marbles in your boot Rog that's not a camping fridge, it's a commercial walk-in chill room.

Surely if you're using the reversing extension polarity is put back to normal for anything you run off it?

Amber a Lunar Quasar 464 Sussex Amberley Sussex Caravans dealer special pushing a '59 reg. Kia Cee'd 3 SW 1.6 CRDi Automatic, a rough towing ratio of 86%.

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:01 pm
by Randa france •

| 13.163 Posts

Yes, but I'm trying to find out what would happen to those who don't know that the polarity is a**e backwards. I'm not sure if new camping mains electrics have this warning light? We bought one for our son and daughter-in-law before we came away and had it sent to their address so weren't able to inspect it.
In our case, we noticed that on this camp site the red warning light came on so we used our reversing extension lead. Your right by the way, that's not the camping fridge, that our crawl in freezer. The Electrolux 3 way camping fridge is out of sight behind it and is full with beer...
R

1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match

Last edited Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:22 pm | Scroll up

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:15 pm
by Steamdrivenandy (deleted)

I believe Unilever are selling off some of their Birds Eye chiller van fleet, they'd work well with a tow bar for the Troll Rog.. We inherited a polarity tester with one of our Trolls and I've kept it as part of my kit ever since.

Amber a Lunar Quasar 464 Sussex Amberley Sussex Caravans dealer special pushing a '59 reg. Kia Cee'd 3 SW 1.6 CRDi Automatic, a rough towing ratio of 86%.

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:23 pm
by Agger (deleted)

All i can say is we had our Burstner for nearly 18 years, we've had the Eriba for 8, and before both of those we had an Autohomes Kameo and an Auto Sleeper Trident, i have a Martindale tester but i may have used it twice, and i have never worried about polarity We had the Burstner in northern Germany wherewe bought it new for 6 years, and then in the UK. The 2 kampers were new UK sourced vehicles but used extensivley on the continent.

Never ever had a problem or a worry.

I know its not the answer to your question but i hope it helps somewhat

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:29 pm
by Ribski •

| 1.467 Posts

Someone , will I'm sure say I'm wrong - but, as I see it you will do no damage to electrical equipment, mains current is A/C therefore the POLARITY (positive/negative) changes at 50 cycles per second.

However it could be the case that, if reversed polarity is in use, the switches in the appliance and/or your switches will operate only on the NEUTRAL and not on the POSITIVE as it should. So could prove a risk electric shock to the user etc

Disclaimer - just my understanding I AM NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN .

Better to be safe and use reverse polarity lead

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:30 pm
by Pop540 (deleted)

as I understand the induction hob works by a magnetic force to heat the contents of the pan, if the polarity was reversed would the pan hover??? or freeze the contents of the pan
I really don't know but had a few cartoon moments imagining what may happen

Eriba troll 540 likes constant hugs, and buffs and the odd cuppa.

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Tue May 06, 2014 2:43 pm
by Randa france •

| 13.163 Posts

Now here's a first (for us anyway) and I'm hoping it's just a coincidence as I am under the impression that Eribas are dual polarity so all things electrical on board (including our broken fridge) will not be affected by reverse polarity.
Many years ago I made up a reverse polarity lead with the wires purposely fixed the wrong way around for those French camp sites that seem to have the problem and as I've mentioned above our old faithful camping extension lead has a red light which illuminates if the polarity on a camp site is wrong.
However, on both the camp sites thus far in Spain, the red light has come on whether I use the normal EHU lead or the reverse polarity lead. How strange is that???
I know we used this camping extension lead before in Atlantic Spain and if we did have the problem, using the alternative lead must have cured it otherwise I would have remembered that.
This time round we've been obliged to use the extension with the red light showing but it doesn't appear to have had any effect on the outside fridge or freezer. Any thoughts?
Randa

1999 Eriba Troll 530 pushing a VW Touran 2L TDi Match

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Tue May 06, 2014 3:18 pm
by Aaron Calder •

| 3.822 Posts

I'm shocked that people are taking the mickey, Roger.

Attached is an article that should answer all your queries.

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Reversed Polarity complete.pdf

Forum Administrator
2003 Triton 420 and Audi A4 2.0Tfsi S-line SE Cabriolet

#10

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Tue May 06, 2014 4:32 pm
by hampshireman (deleted)

I bought one of those indicator things. There again, we have never experienced anything to do with polarity in France, Spain and Italy

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#11

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Fri May 09, 2014 3:55 pm
by john and valerie (deleted)

I'm reckon all Eribas come out of the factory with standard German/Dutch sockets and are changed to Brit 3 pin over here.

When I first read the other place there was a recomendation that we change them back to German/Dutch as you don't get it wrong that way.

But going back to the question; if the appliance is old enough not to be double insulated you could get a shock as the external metal bits could be the 'live'.

Haven't you ever received a shock in the home from an appliance wired the wrong way?

#12

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Fri May 09, 2014 4:18 pm
by hob (deleted)

Quote: Randa france wrote in post #1
I've carried a "reverse polarity" lead with me for years

The thought occurs if you use that lead between the bollard and the splitter on reverse polarity sites everything should then be the correct polarity?

Vauxhall Insignia Sri towing 2006 Triton 430 import

#13

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Fri May 09, 2014 5:06 pm
by Deeps (deleted)

Quote: john and valerie wrote in post #11
Haven't you ever received a shock in the home from an appliance wired the wrong way?

I take it you are referring to the live and return wires being reversed? Please note I say return and not neutral because this blue/black wire is also live when the switch is on. A correctly wired installation will either use two red wires to indicate this, or the blue/black wire should have a sleeve of red on it to indicate the same thing i.e. it carries live current. I think so many mistakes or misunderstandings are made because of this referral to the blue/black wire that has crept in over the years being called neutral when it is anything but.

In fact the return also acts as an earth in most instances with what is recognised as being the earth wire being an additional safety mechanism. In fact if memory serves the earth wire was only added to domestic lighting circuits with the introduction of overhead florescent lighting with their metal outer casing.

If you look at this simple domestic lighting diagram you will see that the live red wire, return black wire and yellow/green earth wires coming in from the left hand side all pass through connecting joints that lead to the next light on the circuit. From one block a live feed is taken off that leads downwards to the switch along with an earth wire but NO black return wire. From this same switch block a black return wire with a red sleeving leads up back through the ceiling rose where an additional red sleeve is added before finally connecting with another block and through this block, directly with a live red cable.

It' should be easy to visualise a connection being made across the switch (C and L1.....switch on) which allows current to flow to and through the bulb.

Simple-lighting-circuit.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

As mentioned earlier, instead of adding red sleeves to the black wire, electricians sometimes use dual core cable which are both red and in this case if you remove the front from a light switch you may well see two red wires.

So returning to the quote once more - then no, it is not possible to get a shock in the instance that the red and black cables are reversed. Neither of these two cables is in contact with any user contactable surface and it would take an instance of a badly connected cable e.g. a lose return cable part of which is in contact with a user contactable conductive surface to make this happen.

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Last edited Fri May 09, 2014 5:29 pm | Scroll up

#14

RE: Polarity

in Anything Eriba-related Mon Sep 15, 2014 12:45 pm
by Dee J (deleted)

If by 'reversed polarity' you mean Live and Neutral reversed... that shouldn't really matter for any equipment designed for continental europe... where domestic mains plugs are reversible (and thus L and N orientation is a matter of luck). But for fixed wiring to uk regulations L and N are observed and any single pole switching (light switches etc) and fuses are in the L wire. Whats the difference between L and N?... N is close to to Earth potential (although some difference can occur) it's L that can reach lethal voltages. But if you're working on wiring be sure to fully isolate L and N - just in case. D

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