Connecting caravan to House
Submitted: Friday, Apr 13, 2018 at 23:22
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Member - Smithy
Hi just putting this out there it has frustrated me a little i have friends staying for the weekend and they are going to stay in the caravan,i had the this lead that the guy i bought the van off had he used it to plug into his house and van, so i thought i connect the caravan to the house
well it kept tripping safety switch in the house so today i went and bought a Afibiman box 10amp to 15 amp so i connected it all and it still was tripping the switch but i dident have power in the caravan. so im just thinking its the wiring in the house its a old house so a little disappointing say the least.
Reply By: mountainman - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 01:04
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 01:04
It might pay to put a d curve circuit breaker in the fuse box for in future occasions.
It handles a higher start up load for like air conditioner and air compressors or even welders.
I dont think too many houses are built on over spec ..... standard
Otherwise it just costs more.
Wiring side of things.
Wish it was different but its all about the lowest cost crap these days in what ever you buy.
AnswerID:
618273
Reply By: mountainman - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 01:08
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 01:08
You could also have a faulty lead or a appliance in the van that is making it constantly trip.
Or even worse.. the caravan been wired badly
Or a outside light when it rains can constantly trip the fuse because its not sealed to the elements
All fault finding things to look at before saying the house wiring is no good.
Hope its something super simple and cheap fix
AnswerID:
618274
Reply By: Gbc.. - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:09
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:09
Running the ac off a 20metre 10a lead? Get a 15a gpo installed near the switchboard of the house. Costs stuff all. Ask an old carpenter who runs a compressor about lead length.
AnswerID:
618276
Reply By: RMD - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:50
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:50
Smithy
It is a bit hard to work out exactly what you mean.
Does the safety trip with only the lead into the house and NOT connected to the van???? You did say no power to the van. Was that because it tripped and not connected to the van. Unsure there.
The tripping can either be, TOO MUCH load or a leakage fault.
If the lead was not connected to the van AND you placed an AMPHIBIAN into the house to supply the lead and it tripped, it would strongly indicate the lead has a serious fault.
Either dead shorted Active to Neutral or there is fractures or errant strands of wire allowing current to flow to the earth line,
OR
the lead has water in it and that is doing the earth tripping but no overloading is happening because there is no load connected.
Chuck the lead and try again with a new lead or at least
test the lead to
check it's integrity.
AnswerID:
618278
Reply By: Member - Stephen L (Clare SA) - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:52
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 07:52
Hi Smithy
Before you can jump to any conclusions, this is the easiest way to see if the wiring in the house is faulty, or you have a dead short in the caravan.
With the power point in the house where you are connecting the lead up to, find out what circuit it is in the switchboard.
Isolate everything that is on that circuit and one at a time, switch or plug in an appliance.
If everything is going
well, at the power point where you connect the outside lead, connect say a normal kitchen appliance like a kettle and boil some water. If that power point is faulty, it should then trip the RCD, if it does not trip the RCD, then the fault then is the caravan end.
You always start with the easiest and slowly work your way through to try and isolate the fault. It is the same with the van, make sure that everything is off and anything that is plugged into a power point in the van is unplugged.
Good luck and some times it can be something as simple as a faulty appliance.
Cheers
Stephen
AnswerID:
618279
Reply By: Member - Boobook - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 08:27
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 08:27
Call Jims Tag and
test - get the Caravan checked. It won't cost much, will tell you if the van is really safe, and you can even take it to a worksite as a bonus.
Given the title of the thread, "Connecting caravan to House" If you do take it to that worksite, make sure the towball rating of your house is suitable for your van. You may need a WDH to level up the house if it's old and the foundations are sagging.
At least the first half of my advice was half sensible.... :-)
AnswerID:
618280
Follow Up By: ian.g - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 10:30
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 10:30
I thought it was funny anyhow.
FollowupID:
890220
Reply By: Zippo - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 11:08
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 11:08
You haven't given us any clues about the van's history.
Further to Stephen's suggestion of testing at the house outlet with a kettle (good idea as it doesn't require
test equipment):
Next
test - same outlet and kettle, this time using the extension cord. If that tests OK, the van is the suspect. If introducing the cord causes it to trip, the cord is the issue.
TBH if you haven't used that cord before, I'd expect that to be the problem rather than the van. A tripping fault in the van would have shown up anywhere any time in its previous life, unless something has changed recently. But again, we don't know if and how you have ever used the van connected to the
grid.
AnswerID:
618287
Reply By: Member - Smithy - Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 20:54
Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 at 20:54
Hi all sorry i have been out all day so just got on and i have read all the inputs and thank you very much. The caravan is a 2010 Bluesky 21ft i used the caravan in Feb 2018 in Kyabram for 4 days and it was 41 degs every day and i had the A/C on for 16 hours of the day and everything worked fine i have 2 15amp leads and there all new only if 2 yrold i will run a few
test tomorrow as i said thank you to everyones input
AnswerID:
618292
Follow Up By: Member - johnat - Tuesday, Apr 17, 2018 at 19:55
Tuesday, Apr 17, 2018 at 19:55
If you are getting a
test and tag done, start with the amphibian, then the leads. These are the most likely problem areas. (Leads more likely than the amphibian).
If these are all OK, the van has a problem, and that might end up being a blooming expensive fix!
Good luck!
FollowupID:
890335