Reverse Polarity

[Eam0885]

We have a 46ft Carver witch we took back to the place that we have it put into heated storage at the end of the year anyways I went to plug the boat into the shore power and the reverse polarity light came on and will not go off and wont let any power come to the boat without blowing the breaker in the boat because of the reverse polarity I was wondering if anyone has any information on how to fix this problem or what causes this problem any any information will be greatly appreciated
Thanks

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[bruce]

check the outlet in the building, then check your shore power deck side connector for rot/crud as well as your power cord, did you change a plug on either end of the cord? happy hunting and Holidays...

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[hlb]

This happens alot in france. If there is no other cause. Swap the pos and neg wires round in the plug.

<hr width=100% size=1> No one can force me to come here. I'm a volunteer!!.

Haydn

 

[Budgie]

We use a "gender bender" in France. This is a short lead that switches positive-negative, etc.

HOWEVER, if this is a problem in the UK and is unique to your boat, you need to investigate further.

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[hightech]

If your electricla system has been working normally elsewhere without the reversed polarity lamp coming on, then suspect the socket you are plugging the shore cable in to. If this is in a commercial bulding, then get the owners to get their electrician in to check their socket.

Have you tried plugging into an alternative outlet somewhere else on the site?

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[Anonymous]

It might not be as simple as 'reverse polarity' (i.e. swapping over Line and Neutral). There exists a type of supply usually called 'split phase' which is (?used to be) popular where the risk of shock was high. These supplies are derived from the output of a transformer that has a centre-tap taken to Earth. As you can probably see, if you touch either pole you will only see one half of the supply voltage and your shock will be less severe. However, if you have a device that is detecting high voltage on the Neutral, which disconnects your supply, you are a bit stuck. You would need to inhibit your reverse polarity system or use another isolating transformer between the supply and your boat. We had this problem in French marinas quite a lot in the 1970s but I haven't seen it recently.

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[oldharry]

Your local caravan shop should be able to supply a 'mains checker' device for around a fiver. It looks like an ordinary mains plug with 3 neon lights in the cover. If all three neons come on then the mains supply is correct, and the supply as such is correct. Any fault will cause one or more of the neons not to light up, and a table on the unit tells you which lights show up on what fault - including reverse polarity, earth faults and so on. Invaluable if you are likely to connect to supplies that may be sub-standard.

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[halcyon]

Correct the reverse polarity first, to stop the RCD tripping in future move the reverse polarity warning light to before the RCD i.e. between the input socket and and RCD, also fit a fuse to warning light. There is a neon between Neutral and Earth to provide the reverse polarity warning, this drop a little current to earth, which causes a miss-match between the live and neutral wires. The RCD sees this as a fault and drops the power, fitting the warning light before the RCD means that it does not see the miss-match and all happy with the world.
Except your reverse polarity.

Brian

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://link>www.kddpowercentre.com</A>