Club 80-90 Forums

Splurt wrote:Thanks a million for all the tips everyone. Just about to get of the boat now, fingers crossed all goes smoothly. Will keep ye's informed!

Ryan & Eimear

OXI wrote:I've been going to France every year since about 1990. The last 10 years I've used Irish Ferries Rosslare to Cherbourg or (better IMO) Roscoff. I live in Belfast.

I would say, buy the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet and read them every night to plan the next day or two.

All the above advice on where to go is excellent. Loire and Dordoyne are both lovely.

I hope you enjoy yourselves.

Charlie1950 wrote:One more very important point and hopefully I'm not teaching you to suck eggs! If you intend using electric hook-ups, I would thoroughly recommend taking a polarity tester with you, as quite a few of the French sites have reversed polarity (live & neutral reversed). They cost very little to buy (£5 to £10) and they not only tell you the polarity, but also earth faults etc. If it shows reverse polarity all you need to do is reverse the live and neutral wires in your hook-up lead. Alternatively to save frigging about each time you stop at a different campsite you can make up an adaptor that has been wired up in reverse to take with you.

Regarding the quote above - and without meaning to offend Charlie1950, forget about this issue. It really doesn't matter about reverse polarity unless the fuse goes AND you poke your fingers where they shouldn't be after the fuse blows. It'll work fine with reversed polarity.
I'm an electrical engineer with 30 years experience (and a time-served electrician before that) and I don't check polarity and I don't even care if it's reversed. Just don't poke your fingers into electrical circuits if you don't know what you're doing. Relax and enjoy your holiday.

Frank.

If you weren't already aware I hope this is of use,

Charlie.

Charlie1950 wrote:

OXI wrote:I've been going to France every year since about 1990. The last 10 years I've used Irish Ferries Rosslare to Cherbourg or (better IMO) Roscoff. I live in Belfast.

I would say, buy the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet and read them every night to plan the next day or two.

All the above advice on where to go is excellent. Loire and Dordoyne are both lovely.

I hope you enjoy yourselves.

Charlie1950 wrote:One more very important point and hopefully I'm not teaching you to suck eggs! If you intend using electric hook-ups, I would thoroughly recommend taking a polarity tester with you, as quite a few of the French sites have reversed polarity (live & neutral reversed). They cost very little to buy (£5 to £10) and they not only tell you the polarity, but also earth faults etc. If it shows reverse polarity all you need to do is reverse the live and neutral wires in your hook-up lead. Alternatively to save frigging about each time you stop at a different campsite you can make up an adaptor that has been wired up in reverse to take with you.

Regarding the quote above - and without meaning to offend Charlie1950, forget about this issue. It really doesn't matter about reverse polarity unless the fuse goes AND you poke your fingers where they shouldn't be after the fuse blows. It'll work fine with reversed polarity.
I'm an electrical engineer with 30 years experience (and a time-served electrician before that) and I don't check polarity and I don't even care if it's reversed. Just don't poke your fingers into electrical circuits if you don't know what you're doing. Relax and enjoy your holiday.

Frank.

If you weren't already aware I hope this is of use,

Charlie.

No offence taken, and I don't wish to get embroiled in an ongoing discussion about this subject, all I would say in my defence (perhaps being paranoid about safety) is that it is a recommendation by both the caravan Club, the Camping and caravan club that polarity testers and adaptors are used. Additionally there are literally thousands of threads on the internet about this subject and for the sake of less than £20 for a polarity tester and adapter I feel that safety should always come as a top priority. Unfortunately, unlike OXI a lot of people do not know what they're doing, and I think the most damning part of OXI's reply is the phrase "unless the fuse goes AND you poke your fingers where they shouldn't be after the fuse blows". Unfortunately, people and I include children and grandchildren in that description do poke their fingers where they shouldn't. So as far as I'm concerned it's always safety first and bugger the expense.
Charlie.