Shocking wiring

Press, 27 November 1980, Page 16

Shocking wiring

Caravan season is upon us once again, so a warning about connecting extension cords to caravans is timely. Last year five accidents, one fatal, were reported to the Ministry of Energy and these were generally cuased by incorrectly wired plugs and sockets.

“Extension cords are often joined by using standard domestic plugs and sockets from a house power point,” says Mr J. P. F. Robinson, of the Ministry of Energy. “If any one of the plugs or sockets has been in-

correctly wired, polarity is reversed and the neutral wire becomes alive, with the result that the caravan itself becomes alive. In some cases, the cord lias been reduced to only two wires, providing no earth,’* Mr Robinson said. Where power is supplied from a house to a caravan, a special weatherproof point must be installed on the outside of the house, and the cord connecting this to the caravan must be one piece — joining several cords together is highly dangerous and illegal.