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Old 16th October 2019, 13:39   #1
yelnats
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Smile Van electrics.240v

Have a well maintained 1998 Bailey Pageant Moselle.Recently having problems when the van trips the site bollard without tripping the on-board trips.Seems to happen on Caravan Club sites.Have had the van electrics fully tested, using a generator,and everything works without tripping.We have been using sites home and abroad without this problem and are beginning to think whether the on-site bollards are now more sensitive than the on-board trips.However,when the bollard has tripped.but the vans have not, with everything then switched off.the bollard will not reset.Any ideas ??
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Old 16th October 2019, 20:17   #2
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Is the poles MCB/RCD more sensitive then the caravans?
If the caravans mcb/rcd is off will the pole reset?


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Old 16th October 2019, 23:52   #3
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Originally Posted by macafee2 View Post
Is the poles MCB/RCD more sensitive then the caravans?
If the caravans mcb/rcd is off will the pole reset?


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to add to this, when you (OP) said 'with everything switched off, the pole bollard will not reset', do you mean everything switched at plugs and switches, or everything switched off at the consumer unit? If you mean at the plugs (or switches), switch off all the RCDs and then switch on the main providing the bollard has reset. Hopefully the bollard wont trip, then go through each rcd one at a time, to check if one is causing the trip.

A few years ago my father had a strange issue with his 2 year old consumer unit. It was affected by the washing machine in the old outhouse (attached to the house - not exposed to the elements). It had all worked fine until something went wrong with the wiring of the washing machine neutral. Wiring was all intact. My dad was a time served spark, but not had much experience with rcds etc. He called a spark as for him, everything tested ok. According to the spark, the trip was caused by the neutral within the washing machine (the spark found this out). The neutral, as I understood it from my dad explaining what the spark told him, was weakened (sheath?) and somehow was shorting to earth. Additionally, the bus bar where the neutrals attached in the consumer unit, was congested. All the neutrals came onto the one point of the bar. Combined with the failing washing machine wiring, this caused a sensitivity to a short (but it was neutral to earth, which was what my dad couldnt understand). When the wiring was spread across the bus bar, and the washing machine plugged in, it worked as it should have (the washing machine was 8 years old and subsequently replaced rather than repaired).

The spark was not surprised nor confused by it, but my father and I (I know very little to nothing about electrics) were. No failures that we understood at a basic level. Failure was caused by the sensitivity of the rcd on the neutral (I always thought electrics would trip or 'blow' via a live short).

What I am saying is, as Macafee asks, the caravan's rcds could be less sensitive than the bollard, due to changing regs and the caravan site being extra safe.
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Old 17th October 2019, 10:57   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yelnats View Post
Have a well maintained 1998 Bailey Pageant Moselle.Recently having problems when the van trips the site bollard without tripping the on-board trips.Seems to happen on Caravan Club sites.Have had the van electrics fully tested, using a generator,and everything works without tripping.We have been using sites home and abroad without this problem and are beginning to think whether the on-site bollards are now more sensitive than the on-board trips.However,when the bollard has tripped.but the vans have not, with everything then switched off.the bollard will not reset.Any ideas ??
Hi Stanley
I don't pretend to be an electrical expert of any sort but I did work on Holiday/Touring Parks for many years.
By law the trips on parks have to be very sensitive cant remember the milli amps but you only need to look at them sometimes and they will pop
A generator won't show up any little faults in either the van or equipment wiring.
This is the way I would approach the problem..
1/ Unplug everything in the caravan not just switch off but unplug from the socket where possible the aim is to have nothing drawing power.
2/ Remove the caravan hook up lead from the site power supply then reset the the trip on the site power, obviously this should now reset with out issue.
3/ With someone keeping an eye on the site trip and beginning with the caravan hook up lead start to reconnect power to each item in the van one at a time, this way you can check each item in turn to see what trips the power.
Remember to unplug/switch off each item after you have checked it and don't forget to switch on the kettle/toaster/microwave etc briefly when testing them.
I'm guessing at a small earth fault on something but if all else fails a Pat Test on the vans circuits should pin point the fault.
Good luck.
Cheers Ian
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Old 18th October 2019, 13:09   #5
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Hi Ian, one thing you could check out is your power lead itself. If this is worn somewhere or has corroded contacts at the plug connectors, this could be causing your problem. Best of luck checking everything out. Jim
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Old 18th October 2019, 13:37   #6
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Thanks everyone.No power on the storage site, but out next week so will investigate further in accordance with your advice and hope this will reveal the cause of the problem.I will post the outcome. Thanks again.
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Old 18th October 2019, 17:45   #7
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Had this problem with house electrics & that turned out to be neutral to earth issue. Took the local electrician 6 hrs to trace it , they can be a pig to find.
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Old 23rd October 2019, 11:29   #8
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I would second Kingfishers advice - check your supply lead first has it got a cut/been driven over too many times/other?
Maybe even try a replacement before digging too deep in to the van electrics.
If the problem persists with a new mains lead, then following Ian_G's advice would seem sensible, as that narrows it down to either a problem internal to the van, or some equipment you have plugged in.
As mentioned, a short between neutral and earth can cause RCDs to trip, which can be a paint to trace.
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