# French Electric Hook Up



## 117537 (Oct 18, 2008)

We are off to France ( first time abroad in motorhome) in July.
There has been lots of discussion regarding reverse polarity and i am prepared for possible problems with that. 
My main concern however surrounds a 2 pin adapter lead which i have bought from Towsure. The lead is described thus, "enables you to run your caravan mains lead to 2 pin site sockets"
My son is an electrician and he advised me that unless French hook up points are different to those in the UK, the lead is not weatherproof and is therefore unsuitable for connection to an external hook up point.
Can any seasoned travellers advise me further.


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## CurlyBoy (Jan 13, 2008)

*French hookup*

Hi mobytoo, as I recall your plug should have a rubber seal/o'ring around the outside, this should provide a weather tight seal. Will check mine tomorrow just to make sure.
curlyboy


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

And you may find on some sites that your Blue plug works ok.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The two pin plug is only used on a minority of sites in my experience, I do not believe it is weatherproof, quite often the sites that have this type of connection have the sockets inside a box which does improve the weather resistance or they are obviously not expecting British weather! 

Some sites where we have found these have been festooned with plastic carrier bags wrapped around them. I don't personally think this system is as safe as the "standard" EHU but the site owners don't seem to worry about it.

It is important to remember that UK wiring regulations do not apply outside the UK, they have very different ways of doing things, but it seems to work for them and I have never heard of, or seen any problems.
(As an aside, their houses are not allowed to have the UK ring main system - all of their sockets are direct wired spurs back to the distribution board through corrugated trunking, it's different but it works.)

The point about reversed polarity is also true - some sites do not have consistent wiring with two adjacent sockets wired differently ! This is the French c/w UK wiring regs again. I don't think they are required to connect in the same way that UK regs require. Hence why it is so important to check the circuit with e.g. a plug-in tester which will show up reversed polarity, incorrect earth or whatever - well worth the few pounds they cost!


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## MarkandSue (Feb 13, 2009)

The standard plug is becoming more popular all the time in France, many sites can provide a loan adaptor too if you ask nicely.


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## phil4francoise (Jun 21, 2008)

I have yet to find a campsite in France that does not use the standard "blue" connector.I have come across the reverse polarity problem.The simple solution is to buy yourself a blue male and female socket ( EHU ) and make up a short lead.On one end reverse the brown and blue wires ie brown to neutral and blue to live.Make sure you clearly mark the new lead as reversed.When you get to your campsite ,hook up and test the system using a plug in tester and if it shows as reversed polarity simply put your made up lead in line. We have often found that hooking up to the next available outlet will be the correct polarity.Also the French to pin system does include an earth but not in the form of a third pin and should have an "o" ring to produce a good seal.The only over thing that will differ is that you will most likley have a choice of ampage I believe the choice is 6amps or 10 amps and you will be charged accordingly.Hope this helps


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## phil4francoise (Jun 21, 2008)

Hate to disagree but I am in France as we speak and busy rebuilding our house. Yes it used to be the thing to have no ring main, but it is now ,up to 3 plug sockets per ring,at least that what EDF said when we made the application for the mains electric to be installed and it has been given an installation certificate.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I have a box outside for visiting campers that has 13a. 16a French and 16a blue twin sockets.
It is sheilded from the weather and I also have a switch on the earth line as occaisionally we get some American RVs with a centre tapped earth on their twin 110v systems that create havoc.

I always keep a selection of 16a blue to French, UK and multiple adaptors as well as 110v to 230v transformers and haven't been caught out yet.

Ray.


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## phil4francoise (Jun 21, 2008)

raynipper, where in Normandy are you ?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi Phil,
A little village called St. Lo D'ourville just two miles inland from Portbail on the coast looking out to Jersey.

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?zoom=17&countryCode=FR&lat=49.3426&lon=-1.6564

Ray.


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## phil4francoise (Jun 21, 2008)

Very nice .we are in Basse Normandy on the outskirts of a village called Lonlay le Tesson nr Le Ferte Mace. Which is about 100k north of Le Mans.May be our paths will cross one day.Take care.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yup, as you say Very Nice in more ways than one.

Technically we are trapped here due to financial constraints but in reality I wouldn't like to be any place else.
We are only 30 miles from the ferry when my wife feels the need for a family 'fix'. A very moderate climate and a totally rebuilt stone cottage with all mod cons and plenty of insulation.

I am going to Le-Mans 24 hour in June. The first time in six years. But although I used to go Caen and then down the N158 not far from you but now I find it's easier to take the Avranches and Laval route.

I have the complete French electrical 'norms' if you need them. Send an e to me at [email protected] and I can attatch.

Ray.


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## ThursdaysChild (Aug 2, 2008)

Provided that the Earth is correctly wired, what damage or danger would result from reversed polarity ?


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hello thursdayschild.
No damage unless you had a fault that tripped a breaker. You could then have a circuit not working but still live.

All switches and protection should in reality be in the phase or line 230 volts. As the neutral in theory is at the same potential as an earth.

Ray.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Thanks to phil4francoise, I am VERY happy to be corrected - my information came from a self-builder about 4 - 5 years ago who was complaining about not being allowed to use the ring main system.


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## framptoncottrell (Jan 6, 2006)

My Murvi has a reverse polarity alarm/switch thingy next to the mains input inside the wardrobe.

When connected to reverse polarity an alarm buzzes. Pressing a switch on the unit re-reverses the polarity at the thingy's output and the feed inside the van becomes correct polarity. Until the next campsite where the polarity is correct - and the alarm buzzes again if you have left the switch in the reverse position.

I also discovered that it gives an alarm signal if the earth connection at the supply end of the hook-up cable is insecure due to an incompetent electrician (me!  )

It does mean that I don't have to carry an extra bit of cable to cope with reverse polarity. 

The makers name appears to be Olan, but I cannot find that on the Internet. If you are interested you could give Rex Kneebone a call at Murvi to find out where he gets them.

Dr (musical, not medical) Roy


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## 101405 (Oct 15, 2006)

All neutrals or negs are earthed at the substation or main distribution centre
Ring circuits like the english 13amp, are not allowed , you can have 3 16amp on 1 circuit, or three sockets on a 20amp rcd. reverse polarity will not have any effect as long as you don't fiddle and unplug first. the 13amp plug is a crazy english thing?


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

crazy english thing

Funny, we have the same 13A system in Wales too!

Vaguely remember them in Scotland as well.


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## MarkandSue (Feb 13, 2009)

Hi Pipin,

I think it is correctly implied that there is an English Person inside all Welsh and Scottish people just dying to get out. lol.


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## pippin (Nov 15, 2007)

Ah well, doesn't matter what nationality, tongue, ethnicity, faith, sexuality, gender, race, disability, colour, right hand or left hand, AC or DC - electricity can kill us all if we are not careful!


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## dragabed (May 24, 2008)

*french electric hook ups*

if you are worried about the weather resistace you can buy in most french supermarkets a cover that clips around the (internal)conection of the lead and thus makes it weather tight only a few euros


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## oldun (Nov 10, 2005)

phil4francoise said:


> I have yet to find a campsite in France that does not use the standard "blue" connector.


I visit campsites for a campsite guide, just over 80 one year but normally 40 -50, and I can assure you that most sites still have the tradition French socket - two holes for the live and neutral and one pin for the earth.

Quite a few sites have a mixture of both and a minority have the blue European socket.

The number of sites with the blue sockets is increasing year on year.

The French plug and socket, like the blue plug and socket are NOT waterproof though they seem to cope well in the rain.

Do NOT use the cheap plastic French sockets that can be bought in the DIY shops as these are even less waterproof. If you buy the short adaptors sold for the purpose in caravan/motorhome shops then they are usually much better sealed.

As stated previously the French do not seem to care about reversed polarity and you can read many lengthy threads on this topic on this forum. It seems that we are fairly well divided on the dangers or not with reversed polarity.

The one main danger with reversed polarity would be to work on a device with the "fuse" tripped but still plugged into the mains. As the "fuse" is in the neutral line the device would still be live.

However anyone who works on any electrical device plugged into the mains, without really knowing what they are doing, is courting disaster. Unless the mains power is absolutely essential for the repair always unplug the device before opening it up.


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## BJT (Oct 31, 2008)

French camping car owners do not seem to worry about weather protection. I have seen ordinary extension cable reels used as site leads and left under the camping car.
There are two problems with electrical safety, over current and earth fault. Overcurrent, ie excess load is dealt with by either a fuse, or thermal overcurrent device in circuit breakers. Both methods operate through the live/neutral circuit, but you must ensure that the fuse or circuit breaker is suitably rated for the load or appliance. It is no use putting a 13Amp fuse in the plug when the bit of kit is rated at less than 750watts as there is apossibility of overheating before the fuse blows or the circuit trips. Circuit breakers are available in many different ratings and need to be sized and installed by a competent person.
Earth fault protection is achieved by an electrical coil around the live conductor and a second around the neutral, both of which are connected together but in a way that leaves then 'even' when the circuit is healthy. If an earh fault occurs, eg a wire touches the casing of an appliance inside, then the circuit flows to earth, via the earth wire,from one of the conductors and so it is out of balance with the other conductor and trips the circuit. again these are sized, but not in load rating but in milliamps of current 'out of balance'. The lower the number the quicker it reacts to an 'earth fault'. I have had circuits trip at home when 40w candle lamps have 'blown'. A nuisance at times, but it errs on the side of safety.
The really important thing is to make sure that there is a good earth present, otherwise the circuit will not trip, and as you are sitting on rubber tyres may not realise there is problem until you step outside into a puddle while holding onto the side of your van! 
I was on a site in Spain, luckily only overnight, where there was no earth present. I use a circuit tester with 3 neon lights that I have had for many years which gives all sorts of indications. Every outlet I checked on the site indicated 'earth fault', typically Spanish the manager just shrugged his shoulders when I reported it to him. 
'European' plugs have two central circuit prongs, with an offset recess and a metal pad on the opposite side for the earth. It is far better for the plug to go into the socket with the earth socket aligned with the pin on the plug. (If you follow me); which is why a second 'reversed' plug adaptor is useful. Using a circuit checker, and using either the standard or reversed adaptor to introduce positive to the correct side of a van wired with uk sockets ensures that the positive is directed through the fuse on both the primary protection, ie fuse-board, and secondary, ie plug.
The UK plugs with 3 square pins were introduced to ensure that the puse was always in the live side. 
This rambles a bit, like me, but I hope it makes peoples understanding of site electrics a little bit clearer.
PS - PLEASE ensure that you only work on electrics of any sort if you are competent. You cannot smell electricity, or see it, or hear it, but by golly can you feel it!! and for some people with poor or weak hearts only a small belt can be fatal. 8O :angel: 
TTFN


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