I doubt if Rayne Automotive are electricians or aware of the regulations (especially as it comes under special section within the normal regs) and the risk is on the installer This is why I had to do a 5 year apprenticeship and redo the regs training One of the issues is people are blasé comes electric compared to gas yet most house fires are caused by electrical problems If we stay in the eu I can see us going like most of them and all sockets and switches will be double pole to make it more idiot proof
& I'm going to throw my tuppence worth of doom-mongering in here as well & say that the cable in the ebay link @davidoft put up in post 3 above is rated at 15amp 125v. It's US spec, NOT Euro spec. Doesn't that mean it is only safely rated for half the amount of watts? That means that running a 3kw heater through that plug could overheat it. Is that right @Dicky / @matty ?
I didnt look tbh. Cheap mains inlet, extra if you want a waterproof one or one with a flap. Easy to scoff but if its a diy job then the protection is even more important to ensure against novice diy fook oops.
He could do worse tbh. Possibly matched the mains kit to what others were selling but DP breakers have been a requirement for a while. I have to say if i had an existing install with single pole ones i wouldnt be worried but then again i always test polarity and earth connection when on hook up using a simple socket tester. I only skimmed over the instructions tbh. Looks like its had some involvement from a spark at some point. If yer man does come on here it might be to his benefit not only to review his kits but also to introduce his wares. Of course there would be scrutiny but loads of peeps are after easy hook up and charging solutions. Was totalling my hook up and charging kit and although its basic without any labour it cost less than about 150 quid excluding the leisure battery but it does include a mains unit (compliant?) several sockets, split charge, charging by C Tek. It does the job and its safe.
Just looked. I agree with you on that. Its theoretical rating at 230 volts is around 8 amps. So half what it should be so yes you are correct, at 16 amp it would be overstressed!
I did ask him about his leads not being bs or ce marked and marked for 125v 15amp on earlybay as he sells them on there and this was his reply "Thanks for your input, its an option for people who want to utilise their power socket, these parts are not available for the UK market so cannot be CE marked. As for being dodgy that depends on your knowledge on the subject, if you are not competent then I suggest you don't buy. If anyone would like to discuss their application then PM me and I will be happy to help where I can." personally i would not touch them
The cable and blue plug are rated at 16 amps, it's only the yellow end that isn't, the yellow plug says 5A on it which suggests an even lower 220v rating, but the socket on the van is 40year old son likely to be the weak link, it is as the guy says an option to utilise existing hardware.
A response from James at Rayne Automotive- Hi there Mark, Thanks for getting this over to me. I have had a glance over the thread and there is some very interesting points in there. The regulation to which they are referring is not something which I was aware of, I knew that both circuits had to isolated for residual current, hence the double pole RCD. I will have a serious look into this and revaluate the situation as soon as possible. As I am not a member of the forum you are more than welcome to thank the guys on my behalf for bringing it to our attention. Best regards James James Withams Company Director, Rayne Automotive Ltd. 01245 790 360 www.rayneautomotive.co.uk
My Puck had a polarity switch wired with thin wires that had melted insulation due to overload. Since the switch was before the breakers, all that wiring wasn't protected. I replaced it with a standard consumer unit with 6 slots, so I could fit an MCB and 2 double pole breakers. Our local electrical wholesaler had the breakers in stock.
Absolutely not knocking you davidoft coz. your a bit of a Don , but that's the point we all make again & again. Existing hardware on US spec buses with US spec electrics is potentially unsafe on Euro power supplies. Therefore, why would you want to 'utilise existing hardware'? Rip it out, start again & use the correct stuff rather than give good money to suppliers that can't be bothered to provide us with the correct kit...
Just to add James has asked that I send back the consumer unit in order that he can resuply the correct kit.... so it would appear there will soon be a supplier that is providing reg compliant kits....
Some people are anal about originality, I've just had a customer make that lead up himself so he can, I wouldn't but I do get it, I would just get a socket tested for safety, there's a market for a 230v blue socket fitting into a Westy box I think
I did a few vans that they wanted to keep it looking US original so I fitted all new stuff hidden away A socket under the van and the new consumer unit hidden in a cupboard
They certainly do appear to be Some of these these things appear to be rated for both DC & AC but best to check I'd say.
that's not too dissimilar to the one we have in Gusbus. When we finished our install, we asked our resident sparky to run his meters over everything and check it for being safe!
