I acknowledge that many of you will never have the need to do a modification like this one to your TC. If you only connect to mains power at your home or at an established RV park, you will most likely be connecting to a correctly wired (30A) electrical outlet.
However, in my case, I never-ever stay in RV parks or campgrounds and I get my AC power when and where I can find it. In addition, my TC's mains power cord has been modified and now has a NEMA 5-15 plug on it, rather than a traditional 30A RV plug. For example' A few weeks ago it we stayed at a rustic site at Lake Santa Margarita park (near San Luis Obispo, CA,) and last week we camped at a private summer camp near Guernville, CA... at both locations the electrical outlets ware incorrectly wired with a hot/neutral reverse. As it turns out, about one-third of the places where I choose to use mains power the outlets are incorrectly wired, and my beeping inverter and AC circuit tester are quick to point out the problem to me.
For the past year or so I have been remedying the issue by manually re-wiring a small jumper-cord between the outlets and my mains plug. However I have finally had enough of this wiring and re-wiring and I decided to fix the issue in a way that was easiest for me.... So I installed a 20A double-pole double-pole switch (in place of my previous single-pole-single throw switch) so that I can now correct polarity issues from inside the TC. In addition, I installed an AC polarity tester at the switch location so that I can verify polarity before closing the switch.
Here's a few photos of the install:
Switch is a Hubbel HBL1386I
Drilling switch wall plate to accept neon indicator lamps
Indicator lamps installed
Circuit board assembly
Final switch and polarity indicator assembly. Switch UP is normal polarity and Switch DOWN corrects a hot/neutral reverse condition. The center position is off.
Of course this type of polarity test lamp cannot test for all wiring issues. For example, it cannot detect a bootleg ground (nor a reverse bootleg ground), but that is a much more uncommon situation than a hot/neutral reverse or a floating neutral/ground.
Cheers,
-Mark
However, in my case, I never-ever stay in RV parks or campgrounds and I get my AC power when and where I can find it. In addition, my TC's mains power cord has been modified and now has a NEMA 5-15 plug on it, rather than a traditional 30A RV plug. For example' A few weeks ago it we stayed at a rustic site at Lake Santa Margarita park (near San Luis Obispo, CA,) and last week we camped at a private summer camp near Guernville, CA... at both locations the electrical outlets ware incorrectly wired with a hot/neutral reverse. As it turns out, about one-third of the places where I choose to use mains power the outlets are incorrectly wired, and my beeping inverter and AC circuit tester are quick to point out the problem to me.
For the past year or so I have been remedying the issue by manually re-wiring a small jumper-cord between the outlets and my mains plug. However I have finally had enough of this wiring and re-wiring and I decided to fix the issue in a way that was easiest for me.... So I installed a 20A double-pole double-pole switch (in place of my previous single-pole-single throw switch) so that I can now correct polarity issues from inside the TC. In addition, I installed an AC polarity tester at the switch location so that I can verify polarity before closing the switch.
Here's a few photos of the install:
Switch is a Hubbel HBL1386I
Drilling switch wall plate to accept neon indicator lamps
Indicator lamps installed
Circuit board assembly
Final switch and polarity indicator assembly. Switch UP is normal polarity and Switch DOWN corrects a hot/neutral reverse condition. The center position is off.
Of course this type of polarity test lamp cannot test for all wiring issues. For example, it cannot detect a bootleg ground (nor a reverse bootleg ground), but that is a much more uncommon situation than a hot/neutral reverse or a floating neutral/ground.
Cheers,
-Mark
msiminoff wrote:Gripnriprod wrote:
So, where in the circuitry did you place the DPDT switch?
The DPDT switch is in the mains cord... before the inverter/charger. The circuit tester is wired to the input of the switch, so it will indicate an issue prior to me turning it on.
Yes of course, this does mean that I am responsible for placing the switch in the center (OFF) position prior to plugging in the cord to mains power, but this is still a big improvement over the setup I previously had.
Here's a simplified wiring diagram;
It was not apparent to me at first that your switch had a neutral position, but electrical is not my native language.
A concern I have is the ease of access to your switch. If I were a curious 12 year old, I would flip the switch to see what happened. :E
Another solution might be to carry a well marked reverse polarity extension cord about 1 foot in length. Deploy only when needed.
Gripnriprod wrote:
So, where in the circuitry did you place the DPDT switch?
The DPDT switch is in the mains cord... before the inverter/charger. The circuit tester is wired to the input of the switch, so it will indicate an issue prior to me turning it on.
Yes of course, this does mean that I am responsible for placing the switch in the center (OFF) position prior to plugging in the cord to mains power, but this is still a big improvement over the setup I previously had.
Here's a simplified wiring diagram;
that is why I always use a multi function surge protector.Yep, surge protectors are useful (I do have one, and it is how I have discovered the mains wiring issues in the past), but the best they can do is indicate that there is a problem... unfortunately, they cannot remedy it.
bumpy
The double-pole double-throw switch (when wired as a reversing circuit) can effortlessly correct a hot/neutral reverse wiring condition.
Victory402 wrote:
Great upgrade Mark. Did you simply hack an outlet tester to get your parts for the neon lights to work?
Yes, I used the circuit board from an off the shelf outlet tester... but I changed the neon lamps for ease of installation and because I wanted to use green in place of the amber ones.
