Caravan Consumer unit - Have i wired correctly?

[bobbleoff]

I do not plan to plug in from home. I want to connect to the electric hookup point at the campsite. This will surely be earthed? I also put the legs on the van down creating an earth. I am considering also adding an earthing spike i can place in the ground for any hard standing pitches.

I am also installing an RCD.

At present i had been connecting the electric hookup cable from the campsite through a window in the van (Only had a few months and wanting to modernise it) to a multi socket adapter. I thought adding a consumer unit, adding additional earthing and an RCD would actually make it safer. Also, there was a fear that with kettle, heater and fridge i may exceed the 10 or 16amp they typically allow at these sites and trip the site power.

So....could I not add a plug to the end of the hookup cable and power from a mains socket at home connecting to my van to test my sockets/setup work etc? My consumer unit at home is also RCD protected and the socket i'm using also earthed.

I don't expect this to be a 30 min job. I plan to do the work in the spring and wanted to do the research now.[/quote]

 

[westie101]

I don't expect this to be a 30 min job. I plan to do the work in the spring and wanted to do the research now.

Check your messages

 

[bobbleoff]

Thank you

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I do not plan to plug in from home. I want to connect to the electric hookup point at the campsite. This will surely be earthed?

Yes, it will be. Should be, at any rate.

I also put the legs on the van down creating an earth.

No it won't - not a useful one.

I am considering also adding an earthing spike i can place in the ground for any hard standing pitches.

That won't be an earth, it will be an extraneous-conductive-part. And you'll never get it out once properly banged in - have you seen one? At least 1.2m long.

I thought adding a consumer unit, adding additional earthing and an RCD would actually make it safer.

If done properly. And you keep talking about adding additional earthing, but I don't think you are - you certainly don't seem to know what earthing is, and I'm pretty sure you don't have the ability to test the efficacy of an earth.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=caravan+equipotential+bonding

http://www.eca.co.uk/filelibrary/download/?FileID=1284

So....could I not add a plug to the end of the hookup cable and power from a mains socket at home connecting to my van to test my sockets/setup work etc?

1) There are tests that you have to do before energising.
2) After energising there are other tests to do beyond just seeing if the lights and sockets work.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/8.1.1.htm

3) You still haven't said whether you have a TN-C-S supply or not. Maybe I'm wrong about it actually not being allowed for a caravan outside your house, but the reasons for it being unsafe on caravan sites apply just as much to your front garden.

I don't expect this to be a 30 min job. I plan to do the work in the spring and wanted to do the research now.

This is a start, but it's not up to date.

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/7.9.2.htm

Try some dedicated caravan websites.

 

[bobbleoff]

Thank you. This is the information i was after. I will read through and if i have any concerns i will just get an electrician to do it.

I take your point, it is earthed through the electric hook up.

In that case, is my diagram connecting the earthing block in the consumer unit to the trailer chassis wrong? Do i just connect the earth from the supply to the earth block in the consumer unit and then to the sockets?

I have more reading to do obviously.

Surely whether the supply is TN-C-S or not very much depends on which camp site i go to? I just hook the cable up and expect to get live, neutral and earth feed.

I imagine it will be as PME supply i thought was usually for larger industrial premises.

 

[westie101]

In that case, is my diagram connecting the earthing block in the consumer unit to the trailer chassis wrong?

No you must make that bonding connection

The site supply will NOT be PME

 

[bobbleoff]

Yes...i don't know why i even thought that.

I'm just doubting what i thought was going to be practical and relatively easy to install myself.

I'll read through more material and decide whether i will bother with any of it.

Thanks

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I'm just doubting what i thought was going to be practical and relatively easy to install myself.

I'll read through more material and decide whether i will bother with any of it.

You've got several months before you're going to actually do it - do you have any reason to think it would be beyond you to learn what you need to know?

 

[bobbleoff]

I've been reading about equipotential bonding. I think I was getting that confused with creating an earth.

Its the bond i am wanting to safely ensure i have right.

Its making more sense now. Plenty more reading between now and then.

Next project: rewire my house.... (jokes)

 

[westie101]

In your planning, do a bit of research and download a manual, it doesn't really matter what make but they do include wiring diagrams to give you an idea.

https://www.bailey-parts.co.uk/HandbookDownload.aspx