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Posted By: pauluk Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/16/05 09:15 PM
Here are some hookups below mobile homes at a nearby site. These are not on a residential trailer park, but are small single-unit "caravans" as can be found on caravan sites all over Britain for short holiday stays.

Critique away!

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Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/16/05 11:18 PM
There may be few Electrical 'Codes' as such in France, but one of them is that that British flat grey twin-and-earth (all photos) wire is banned, because the earth wire is bare inside the outer sheath with no color coded sleeve. If EDF (National PoCo) see any of that stuff, even when just reading your meter, they cut you off immediately!!
Is that chewing gum or Electroplasm sealant?
Alan
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/17/05 12:07 AM
Thanks for the pictures Paul!. [Linked Image]
I'm with Alan on the question as to the the make up of that sealing medium in the top picture, could it be Self-Amalgamating tape?.
What sort of a Earth Stake is that?, I've never seen a connection like that before.
Is grey TPS cable UV-protected when exposed to the elements like that?.
How come only one of these supplies has an RCD unit on it, when all the others seem to have only a MCB (?) protecting them?.
Are them feed cables (the black ones) armoured, rubber sheathed type?.
Interesting insulation tape/Bubble wrap mounting technique in the 3rd pic.
Also, I don't like the chances of loosening the screws on that connection box, without lots of CRC. [Linked Image]
Posted By: gideonr Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/17/05 04:28 PM
Inappropriate cable for waterproof (?) cable gland in the top of IP enclosure?

Those rusty enclosures, IP rated (?) and earth continuity from SWA to SWA?

Curling the ground wire will make it near useless in a lightning strike. At least it's got an earth, or maybe it shouldn't?
Posted By: pauluk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/17/05 11:22 PM
You've hit on a lot of the problems.

The junction boxes (or at least some of them) appear to be the regular 3x3 galvanized type, not suitably sealed for outdoor use.

I'm not certain what that "sealing compound" is around the cable glands. I looked at it fairly closely and couldn't decide!

The bubble wrap and tape appears to have been some sort of attempt to provide extra weatherproofing during the winter, as it's on many of the units on the site.

Yes, there is an RCD (GFI) on some posts and just a 16A MCB on others. Each caravan has its own independent TT earth rod, so each most likely has its own main RCD internally. (There are some small distribution cabinets around the site which may house feeder RCD's as well, but as the doors were locked I couldn't tell.)

The hookup pictured above with twin-&-earth cable into a CEE plug is not the only one:

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This one caught my eye as well, with two cables apparently going from breaker to trailer:

[Linked Image]

On closer inspection, I realized that one of the cables is fixed to the frame of the caravan for a few feet but then drops down to the junction box which is behind the pipe (and almost buried in the ground too!):

[Linked Image]


The feeder cables are steel-wire armored, but XLPE jacketed, not rubber.

Unfortunately, the sea air does rather a lot to promote corrosion, especially when the covering boot is not in place properly:

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[Linked Image]

The SWA gland on the bottom of that box is also just the 2-part type, intended for internal use.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 04-17-2005).]
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/18/05 03:06 PM
Am I blind or is that a NEMA 5-15 receptacle below that breaker in the bottom pic???
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/18/05 09:09 PM
quote:
"...some sort of attempt to provide extra weatherproofing during the winter...."
LOL!!! The WINTER!?!?! J.H.C.!! I must inform you, dear readers from sunnier climes, of the weather conditions pertaining in a normal English Summer, ie driving horizonal rain, gale force winds with full ash-cans flying gaily up the seafront at 80mph. Umbrellas torn inside out, saturated old men clinging desperately at 45 degree angles to large and stolid wives, sheets of ice-cold green sea-water full of small creatures being flung hundreds of yards inland. And the stoic, undeafeatable English holidaymakers, determined to enjoy themselves and cowering soaked-but-happy in the little shelters on the Front, saying "Mustn't grumble, it was nice last Wednesday!" I used to love those holidays at Margate or Clacton or Burnham-on-Sea, Dad with a knotted-handkerchief perched on his head, trousers rolled up, smoking a "Woodbine" & day-dreaming of personally castrating Hitler with two bricks. Gran fast-asleep in a deckchair, toothless old mouth gaping and with my sister secretly weaving seaweed into her hair or putting live crabs in her hand-bag, and dear, dear old Ma paddling happy in the surf. All of us anticipating "High Tea" (with "Spam")at the Guest-House. You know the saddest thing about those pictures?, it's the little meter. The site owners will double or treble the price of the electricity for those little 'vans.
Alan
Posted By: pauluk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/18/05 09:55 PM
LOL! Alan is so right! It usually manages to be like that every bank (public) holiday weekend. Those of you who have never been here just don't know what you're missing in the great British weather! [Linked Image] [Linked Image]

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Am I blind or is that a NEMA 5-15 receptacle below that breaker in the bottom pic???
Funny you should say that, because when I looked at the pictures that's exactly what came into my mind too! It's actually just part of the latch mechanism which is supposed to keep the weatherproof cover shut, only the latch part from the cover itself is missing.

The size and spacing of those holes is much smaller than an NEMA receptacle, but it does look remarkably like one when you can't see the scale, doesn't it? [Linked Image]
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/18/05 10:44 PM
Crikey Ragnar,
You've obviously got good eyesight.
I wouldn't have picked that up in a million years. [Linked Image]
Paul,
What would the usual loading be on one of these branch circuits? (ie, per caravan).
I'm sort of guessing a light or two and a socket for a kettle?.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 04-18-2005).]
Posted By: pauluk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/20/05 12:07 PM
Yes, the typical holiday caravan uses LPG for cooking, hot water, and heating.

There will be the ubiquitous electric kettle, plus maybe a small microwave oven in many these days. Some people might also use a portable heater as a booster. Other than that, just the lights, radio, TV, and other negligible laods.

Each caravan on this site seems to be on a 16A circuit.
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/20/05 02:14 PM
Paul,
Quote
Yes, the typical holiday caravan uses LPG for cooking, hot water, and heating.
Gas heating in a caravan?. [Linked Image]
That sounds rather dangerous, I'm merely thinking about the chances of a person being asphyxiated in such a small "room", should they go to bed with the heater still running.
Mind you, it wouldn't be any more dangerous than cooking with it (gas) I suppose.
Posted By: SvenNYC Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/20/05 02:56 PM
There are some caravans that use propane-gas stoves and refrigerators. Yup...not kidding.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/20/05 04:38 PM
I should think that after a week spent 'on vacation' in a small, damp and rusty tin box, that asphyxiation by Carbon Monoxide poisoning would come as a blessed relief. At least they're not on the flipping road: Nothing is more guaranteed to cause both ones' jugular veins to explode violently from end to end, than to come up behind one of these monstrous wobbling behemoths, crawling along at 20mph in the middle of our dear Queen's Highway- unless it's an octagenarian myopic old fool doing 15mph in a BL 'Metro' with only the crown of his flat-hat visible just below the top of steering wheel.
Alan
Posted By: pauluk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/21/05 09:08 PM
Quote
Nothing is more guaranteed to cause both ones' jugular veins to explode violently from end to end, than to come up behind one of these monstrous wobbling behemoths,
Can we take it you're not a fan of caravans then Alan? [Linked Image] It doesn't bother me to come upon them on the road, but then I've been the one towing the things sometimes.

Quote
Gas heating in a caravan?
Yep, it's been common for decades. So long as the proper ventilation is maintained, there's no problem.

Many later models (mostly tourers rather than statics) have blown air heating with burner unit which is sealed and exhausts to the outside.

As Sven says, LPG fridges are also pretty common. The small versions for touring trailers are often 3-way types: 240V AC for on-site where a hookup is available, LPG for on-site with no mains hookup, and 12V DC for when actually on the move.
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/23/05 08:50 AM
An interseting permutation. You are wobbling along at 20mph, centre-stage as it were, C/W behemoth, when you encounter Metro-Man, his flat-cap set at a jaunty angle. He is in turn following, at 10mph, a 50 year old smoke-spewing tractor towing, with no registration plate, indicators, lights or brakes, a vast trailer full of ripe chicken-s**t. Both his jugulars just exploded!
Alan
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/24/05 10:17 PM
My favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons are the one with Tom flying round the garden with Cook's corsets as wings, the one where Tom takes a 'cool chick' to the beach, with Jerry in the pic-nic basket eating their lunch, and the gut-wrenchingly funny Zoot-Suit that Tom makes from a roller blind. Who could ever forget Tom lifting Butch's eyelid after 'slipping him a mickey', and seeing "Out Cold" written on the eyeball!
I couldn't breathe. Magic!
Alan
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 04/26/05 06:20 PM
Quote
The size and spacing of those holes is much smaller than an NEMA receptacle, but it does look remarkably like one when you can't see the scale, doesn't it?
Sure does!
Posted By: djk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 05/01/05 04:15 PM
Utterly horrifying, all of it.

Does the UK Health and Safety exec not crack down on this kind of thing since these are effectively places of work and not only that but are power connections that are meant for use by members of the public.

I mean kids play around these hook ups!

Surely it's up to the carvan park to ensure that these set ups are safe.

That place should be shut down it's a death trap!
Posted By: pauluk Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 05/05/05 06:17 PM
Notice how close to the ground some of that equipment is located?

A couple of days ago we had a thunderstorm and a downpour early one morning:

[Linked Image]
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 05/05/05 06:45 PM
Now that picture puts a different slant on things!. [Linked Image]
Sort of makes me wonder about connections like the one in the last two pictures above, when they could effectively be underwater. [Linked Image]
Posted By: Big Jim Re: Mobile Home Hookups (UK) - 05/06/05 05:22 AM
It is always interesting to see how things are done elsewhere in the world. I have a smallish (by american standards) motorhome and it is wired with 50a 240/120v service. I guess part of the reason is that air conditioning is common here. Mine has a 15,000 btu refrigeration-type air conditioner on the roof. Propane is very common for heating, cooking, and refrigeration. There are lots of listed appliances for that purpose. What is scary here is to see people using unvented catalytic heaters in these small spaces.
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