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EHU and power failure


costaexpress

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Do not believe I have any issue here, however, just asking if there is anything i should look out for. My van was on EHU yesterday when we had a power cut. The van was pulling around 5 to 6 amps at the time and the power came back on with no obvious ill effect (I was in the house not the van at the time). The handbook states the EHU process is as follows

B) Switch the PSU internal Power

Converter OFF.

C) Connect the Hook-up Lead.

D) Check Residual Current Device

operation.

E) Check Miniature Circuit Breakers

F) Turn the PSU ON.

G) Check correct Polarity.

H) Check operation of equipment.

It is now safe to operate

Obviously non of this was followed, power went off and came back on and truth be told I dont do all that during normal hook ups so not expecting any issues, however!

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I think that you will be very unlucky (based on what you have written) if you have suffered any ill effects at all.

 

The designers of motorhome equipment.must know that all sorts of disconnections must take place in the real world and (hopefully) design their kit to cope. Provided that your disconnection and subsequent reconnection was not accompanied by huge arcs and sparks, such as to overwhelm any protective circuitry there is very little risk of permanent damage,

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Although an older system without too many electronics, I power My home EHU on and off external to the van all the time via a breaker in the house or my external 16A WT switched socket with no ill effects to the van, however if the charger for the batteries is on, I will always turn this off first especially before turning the power back on....
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costaexpress - 2021-01-07 4:39 PM

Thanks, not expecting any issues and when I think about it I have had power failure in the past on sites in Germany and France with no ongoing issues, last nights power failure just got me thinking that's all.

The danger is when reinstatement of the power supply results in surges, or "spikes" in the supply voltage, which can damage the on-board charger. Otherwise, if the power is reinstated cleanly, the effect should be no different to that of switching on, or connecting, the power normally. If concerned, it is possible to obtain surge protectors such as this https://tinyurl.com/y3nbkuyc , one of which I fitted to a Hobby Van we had some years back. It is adjustable for max/min voltage, so if there are specified maximum and/or minimum voltages acceptable to your appliance/s you can set so suit. It needs to be installed in the van before the mains unit.

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The late-Allan Evans’s comany A&N Caravan Services used to offer a mains electricity 230V protector set-up that he called “Power Master”. It’s referred to here

 

http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/powermasterold.php

 

and at the end of this 2018 forum thread

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Surge-protector/48244/

 

For anyone interested, the device Allan used is still marketed

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223679305722

 

The long list in costaexpress’s original posting is the standard guidance given for a Sargent electrical system (hence the “Check correct Polarity” entry). Alll the User Manual for my Rapido advises is (essentially) to use an appropriate hook-up cable, with the caveat “Never start a vehicle while hooked up to a 230V supply”.

 

I plug the hook-up cable into my motorhome before connecting the cable to the 230V supply-point (and vice versa when disconnecting the cable) but that's normally the extent of my hooking-up procedure.The motorhome’s on-board battery-charger’s ON/Off switch is left in its On position and, immediately after hooking up, I confirm from the control-panel that the charger is operating - and that’s it. So far (after 21 years) So good...

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I plug the hook-up cable into my motorhome before connecting the cable to the 230V supply-point (and vice versa when disconnecting the cable) but that's normally the extent of my hooking-up procedure.The motorhome’s on-board battery-charger’s ON/Off switch is left in its On position and, immediately after hooking up, I confirm from the control-panel that the charger is operating - and that’s it. So far (after 21 years) So good...

 

That is almost the same as I have been doing in this van and my previous van and over the last 7 years I have not had any issues either, I think having time to dig the handbook after the recent power failure, and discovering there is a recommended procedure, got me overthinking when there was no need to!

 

Thanks for all the replies

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Derek Uzzell - 2021-01-08 2:32 PM

 

The late-Allan Evans’s comany A&N Caravan Services used to offer a mains electricity 230V protector set-up that he called “Power Master”. It’s referred to here

 

http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/powermasterold.php

 

and at the end of this 2018 forum thread

 

https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Surge-protector/48244/

 

For anyone interested, the device Allan used is still marketed

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223679305722

Or if you are prepared to wait a week or so for delivery the exact same device can be ordered from Ali Express for well under ten pounds, yes under £10 including delivery (and as a first purchase you usually get a good discount). My son ordered one before Christmas and it is the exact same device!

 

I have one of the late Allan Evan's PowerMaster units fitted to our MH as I won it in a competition he ran two years ago before his untimely passing.

 

The above unit can be mounted in a simple DIN rail two way housing from Screwfix or any electrical store and wired into the mains cable between the 16 Amp EHU input and the consumer unit and is very easy to programme for over and under voltage protection and over current protection. I have a revised instruction sheet based on the manufacturers pigeon English instructions if anyone does buy one, PM me.

 

Keith.

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