Pete-B Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 During our last trip we called in at the CC site in Sandringham, whilst we enjoyed our stay there, on the last evening we somehow tripped the RCD so spent that night without power. I spoke to the warden the following morning, he came over and reset it and said it's usually caused by drawing too much power to which I replied we only had the tele, two LCD lights and the water heater on, he said perhaps the heater is faulty because there's no problems with our lecky. Bessie is barely a year old and we haven't had any problems before and I plugged in the power when I got home (we're on RCDs) and no problems since. Obviously I can't be sure there's no fault with the van and I will mention it when it goes in for it's first habitation service but it got me thinking. Would it be possible to fit an inline RCD with power limit between the van RCD and the campsite one or am I talking rubbish (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 A RCD operates when there are earth faults and is not dependent on the load, a faulty heating element could cause it to trip. As your MH is so new I would return to the dealer and ask them to get an electrician to test the electrics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 It could also be tripped by a fault with your hook up cable. Did anyone drive over your cable as this could have damaged it? Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Pete-B The device advertised here is supposed to allow equipment with a relatively high mains electrical demand to be operated successfully from a relatively low amperage power source. http://www.camparo.nl/index.php?action=extra&extra=A_uitleg_watt_controller&lang=EN However, it's probable that the Sandringham CC campsite pitches have a 16A mains power supply to cope with UK caravanners' expectations http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/1026258/hookinguptothemains.pdf and the total amperage demand of your TV, lights and water heater should be well below that figure. Presumably, after the campsite warden had reset the power supply, you didn't check whether running the TV, lights and heater, would trip it again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Derek, its an RCD that tripped which is not load dependant. Earth faults are what we are looking for ,not load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 sshortcircuit - 2013-07-01 9:19 AM Derek, its an RCD that tripped which is not load dependant. Earth faults are what we are looking for ,not load. I understand that, but I'm not certain that, when Pete-B says "...on the last evening we somehow tripped the RCD so spent that night without power..." he actually KNOWS that mains power was lost due the RCD tripping on his pitch's power-supply, or he's just assuming that this is what happened. As the warden said, it's fairly common for over-demand to trip out a campsite power-supply and it's well known that electrical appliances can 'surge' on start up. Pete-B's stay at the Sandringham was uneventful until power was lost and he has not been able to provoke the problem since. Obviously it makes sense for his motorhome's electrical system to be checked when it's next serviced and (as Keithl advises) for the hook-up cable to be checked too. But (despite the Sandringham warden's confidence) the possibility remains that the cause of the power- supply shutting off lay with the power-supply itself and not the motorhome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sshortcircuit Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 So without knowing what the problem is you have suggested buying a gizmo to reduce the load which may not stop the system tripping. It is essential that the actual reason is determined first before throwing money away on un-necessary gizmos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 Pete-B - 2013-06-30 9:06 PM we only had the tele, two LCD lights and the water heater on, On the face of it maybe 10amp, but then what about battery charger and fridge? In theory you could have been drawing maybe as much as 13amp. we somehow tripped the RCD A common quote, but often misquoted, many times I've heard this when it could be the RCD, MCB, or as I've seem more commonly used recently RCBO. The first answer given by SS would be the most likely, but don't discount a slight surge caused by switching or a circuit breaker that is going a bit sensitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted July 1, 2013 Share Posted July 1, 2013 sshortcircuit - 2013-07-01 10:00 AM So without knowing what the problem is you have suggested buying a gizmo to reduce the load which may not stop the system tripping... If you reread my posting I believe you'll find no suggestion that Pete_B buy the device advertised in the link I provided. I merely mentioned the existence of a product that seemed to provide a capability that (sort of) matched Pete-B's question "Would it be possible to fit an inline RCD with POWER LIMIT between the van RCD and the campsite one...?" As Pete-B's motorhome is near new and its electrical system was apparently functioning fine before and after the Sandringham campsite incident, it's logically more likely that the incident was not due to the motorhome's heater having a "faulty heating element". If the heater has developed a fault, it would be unreasonable to expect that fault to have self-corrected after the Sandringham incident. A faulty hook-up cable is a more persuasive theory and it would certainly be wise to check that the internal connections in the cable's end plug/socket connectors are OK. I don't know what caused the Sandringham campsite's power-supply to trip out, nor does anyone else who has replied to Pete-B's inquiry. It may be that, when the motorhome is checked during its next service, that an electrical fault will be detected, or the 'tripping' behaviour may recur between now and then. If no electrical fault is found during the motorhome service and the problem does not recur, then the cause of the Sandringham incident will never be satisfactorily identified and Pete-B will have to accept that it was one of those infuriating one-off occurrences where the cause (and there plainly was a cause) will never be determined. And, if Pete-B (or any other forum member) feels an overpowering need to run highish-demand mains-powered accessories from a low-amperage mains power-supply, well at least they'll now be aware that a "gizmo" is marketed for this purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 Thanks all for your responses and thoughts to what the problem may have been. Just to clarify, I'm pretty sure that the hook up cable isn't damaged as it would have been very difficult for someone to run over it where it was and I'm pretty sure they hadn't cut the grass so not even mini tractor would have damaged it. I obviously can't be sure a wire hadn't come loose somewhere, (can't check now because vans in storage). But remember I connected it up when I got home and switched on the water heater etc for a good six hours and all was OK. I didn't try it again on site because we were all packed up and ready to go when the warden came over to switch the power back on. But I've listened to your advice and booked the van in for it's first service on Friday and will mention what happened and get them to check the leckies out. Thanks again for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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