mavis Posted August 1, 2007 Share Posted August 1, 2007 Sorry about sign in name,tried so many others without success.Be assured I am a big fat hairy 72 year old male. On page 232 in August MMM I have read with interest advice given for Generator Polarity.I have a similar problem and require advice before I blow up a very expensive piece of equipment. Two years ago I installed a Victron Phoenix Multiplus power unit into my motorcaravan.These units are well known in Marine installations but to date I have not known of others in motorcaravans.In the 43 years I have had many variaties of motorcaravan I have never found a more usefull add on.These inits combine three elements,firstly a charger,a 1.6kw invertor and it contains what is called a power assist unit.the first two are self explanitory,the power assist I find to be the most usefull as it backs up available power from a land line,which on the continent is often only 6amp. At last I am geting to my question.As French sites often have reverse polarity I have installed a RYD Polarity switch, when attached to mains this unit operates in the correct way but when away from mains power the invertor automatically comes into play and the RYD unit shows both a red and green light,indicating no earth. The question is, can I fit a wire linking neutral and earth from the mains outlet of the invertor to solve this problem and if left in situ when the mains are attached will this cause a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel E Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 Joining neutral and earth on a mains socket is NOT recommended. Remember that neutral is only actually neutral back at the substation. The three phase AC alternating current used through Europe (and elsewhere) is actually three sign waves generated at 120 degree points around the AC generator and this is why overhead power lines have 3 or 6 wires. That thin wire that normally goes across the top of the pylons is the 'neutral' return. But it's only neutral because all three sine waves have been added together, cancelling each other out. At your house, camp site, etc., you only get one of the three phases - which is why you can have a power cut whilst they don't across the road - they're on a different phase. So the neutral isn't actually neutral until the phases join up back at the substation! Clive is the man to give you a suggested solution. Hope he reads this post before it slips off the bottom. Mel E ==== Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted August 2, 2007 Share Posted August 2, 2007 IN THE INVERTER its OK to link NEUTRAL, EARTH and NEGATIVE together, indeed some inverters already have these three nodes linked. This should allow any reverse polarity checking features of your van to work normally. These nodes must NEVER be linked when connected to real mains. D.A. Burleigh who hangs about that pay forum (MHF) has a victron settup in his Murvi. Hope that helps C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mavis Posted August 3, 2007 Author Share Posted August 3, 2007 Many thanks Clive The action you suggested is working,glad we have people like you to help. Once again my thanks Mavis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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