hi i have just bought a camper with hook up..when i hook up to campsite do i have to turn the rcd on in my van to get power... thank you..i am new to campervans
I think it must depends on the set-up. We just plug in & power is automatically switched to the hook up from the leisure battery. It's the only system we've known.
Ditto. The previous MH had a circuit breaker switch under the passenger seat, that one was supposed to check. Current MH might have one, no idea where it is.
Plug & go, I’d say
Mains power comes into any vehicle or caravan via a small consumer unit which has an RCD in it, that is the one I was referring to. It is necessary for safety as it will trip if you have a malfunction of any electrical equipment. Whether there are any other switches in camper-vans or motor-homes I have no idea as I've never had one, but I do have some understanding of electrics in general.
If you plug in the EHU and the RCD has tripped or been turned off, none of the mains appliances should work.
I assume most are like ours with a mains switch and circuit breaker, which we just leave switched to on, so power is connected as soon as the cable is.
Have you tried hooking it up at home to see if power comes on? You might need an adaptor for the lead to connect to domestic socket
Can't speak for your camper, but the breakers in my caravan naturally remain 'on' (unless a fault trips them) all the time, not needing resetting after last disconnect from EHU. I just hook up the EHU cable, switch on control unit master switch, heater and charger switches as required and all sorted.
The EHU bollards on sites are another matter, not a lot of standardisation on those it seems! Some are just plug and go, others plug in and rotate to switch on, others plug in then flip breakers on. Sure there will be other types as well!
Most Motorhomes and Caravans have "latching" RCDs that don't trip when power is lost, they only trip when an earth fault is detected so they remain closed when you disconnect the mains.
saxo1
Test it at home, our camper it's always on just plug in and off you go.
If it's turned off it's easy enough to turn it then connected they tend to only trip if you've a fault.
The big thing to remember is always huck the van end up first than the post end.
When removing EHU it's the other way post 1st then van.
Otherwise you're walking round with a live cable.