What have you been doing today?

[Highway Man]

I'm no sparky, but I'd just like to say brown is live.

Or is it blue?, I think it works either way from something I read recently.

Reported

 

[securespark]

I'm no sparky, but I'd just like to say brown is live.

Or is it blue?, I think it works either way from something I read recently.

Nooo!

I went back to a house where I did a maintenance job and noticed RP on the lighting circuit that I'd worked on a few days prior.

Did a Zs at a socket, that was RP too.

Looked at the meter, I saw it was a new swap.

I checked polarity on the consumer's side of the isolation switch. That was RP.

I had the job of ringing it in to the DNO.

Unfortunately, the person lost their job.

 

[pete01]

Nooo!

I went back to a house where I did a maintenance job and noticed RP on the lighting circuit that I'd worked on a few days prior.

Did a Zs at a socket, that was RP too.

Looked at the meter, I saw it was a new swap.

I checked polarity on the consumer's side of the isolation switch. That was RP.

I had the job of ringing it in to the DNO.

Unfortunately, the person lost their job.

Yes but it does still work though.

 

[securespark]

Diyers are happy that their bodged electrics work, but they're not safe!

 

[fillyboy]

Nooo!

I went back to a house where I did a maintenance job and noticed RP on the lighting circuit that I'd worked on a few days prior.

Did a Zs at a socket, that was RP too.

Looked at the meter, I saw it was a new swap.

I checked polarity on the consumer's side of the isolation switch. That was RP.

I had the job of ringing it in to the DNO.

Unfortunately, the person lost their job.

I did the 12v electrics on my camper, quite involved but with the help of wiring diagrams and youtube it turned out well. On the 240 v side I fitted a socket on the exterior for campsite plug in and ran a cable back to the electric area, also fitted an inverter for connecting to to a double socket I'd wired in. I was nervous about connecting the consumer unit so I got a sparky mate to come and connect the mains consumer unit and the inverter.
He wired them up and said all good. The consumer unit was from a supplier who rated it as suitable for a campervan, it had a rcd and two single pole mcb's. After that, I read online that the mcb's should be double pole, never single pole.
I did quite a lot of digging and the reason is that apparently, on camp sites, it's not unusual for the live and neutral to be wrongly connected at the site end, more so in places like Spain. Apparently the danger is that if you swich off an mcb to work on the circuit, if it's cross wired at the site end, you may only be switching off the neutral and still have a live present. I can't imagine doing any work without pulling the socket off outside so everything is dead).
I mentioned it to the sparks when I saw him asking if I should be concerned and he just sort of glazed over and said don't worry.
What intrigued me was several things, firstly, how things would still work if the L & N were the wrong way round, and what exactly does the N do?
The sparks is well qualified and certified and all that but of course his main work is domestic or industrial electrics as opposed to campervans.

boxer electrics.jpg

• fillyboy
• 8 Jul 2026

 

[Highway Man]

Reversed polarity is dangerous from the point of view of exposed metal parts that should be on the neutral side would be live and would shock you if you touch them, also fuses wired into plug tops wouldn't be fused at all on the live side.

 

[fillyboy]

Reversed polarity is dangerous from the point of view of exposed metal parts that should be on the neutral side would be live and would shock you if you touch them, also fuses wired into plug tops wouldn't be fused at all on the live side.

I get that, but the risk of reverse polarity is from the campsite supply if that makes sense.

 

[Highway Man]

I get that, but the risk of reverse polarity is from the campsite supply if that makes sense.

yes for camp site supplies and for campervans it is sensible to use double pole breakers in your board.

 

[Highway Man]

finished off my mates rewire this weekend, just his kitchen left and outdoor buildings, borrowing a digger from work next weeked to trench from the house to the outbuildings. Finished off unday afternoon. Never again this has been a nightmare of a job.

 

[pete01]

 

[pete01]

finished off my mates rewire this weekend, just his kitchen left and outdoor buildings, borrowing a digger from work next weeked to trench from the house to the outbuildings. Finished off unday afternoon. Never again this has been a nightmare of a job.

Nearly all domestic electrical work is a nightmare.

 

[Highway Man]

Nearly all domestic electrical work is a nightmare.

I hate it, I couldn't do it for a living nowadays. I am spoilt by getting to the top of my game with highways

 

[fillyboy]

Nearly all domestic electrical work is a nightmare.

Geddouttahere, sparkys love a nice warm loft with a bit of rockwool insulation.

 

[Highway Man]

Geddouttahere, sparkys love a nice warm loft with a bit of rockwool insulation.

Reported