# "Significant threat to your safety" **Source:** https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/significant-threat-to-your-safety.59557/ **Posts:** 12 --- ### L — 2025-08-26T17:21:13+0200 (Aug 26, 2025) I am one of the owners having issues with my electrics in the van and while I was doing some diagnostics I hooked up to land power and tested my pass through sockets, mainly to make sure they were working, but when I used my socket tester I found the live and neutral wires are reversed on both sockets. I fully tested my cables to make sure the issue wasn't with them, I also asked on FB for someone else to test and they had the same issue on their Cali. According to the EICR website **Is Reverse Polarity Dangerous?**​ ----------------------------------- Reverse polarity is a significant threat to your safety and the integrity of the structure. Live and neutral wires are reversed, and live current can energize parts of appliances that should only be neutral, as is the case in metallic casings. This makes it very dangerous for electric shock even when the appliance is in the off position. Also, reverse polarity bypasses internal safety features like fuses or circuit breakers, which tend to increase the risk of electrical fires. Furthermore, prolonged exposure to reverse polarity damages sensitive electronics due to irregular voltage or short circuits. Regular inspections and the use of such tools as socket testers would create early identification of some issues and then resolve them. Hiring a qualified electrician for repairs guarantees that the problem has been rectified to UK safety regulations. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So I won't be connecting anything until I get this sorted at my dealer! You all might want to get yours checked too. --- ### L — 2025-08-26T18:34:18+0200 (Aug 26, 2025) > [Ch1pbutty said:](/goto/post?id=758340) > > Lots of european campsites used to have reverse polarity, some still do. > > Just get a cheap tester plug to identify, > > > > > > and carry an adapter cable to re-reverse the polarity. > > > ![toughleads.co.uk](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Ftoughleads.co.uk%2Fcdn%2Fshop%2Ffiles%2FPolarotyadaptor_1024x1024.jpg%3Fv%3D1700921734&hash=c869a60dfb61fcf13bd39ffa40b3fb30&return_error=1) > > ### [Camp site polarity reversal adaptor](https://toughleads.co.uk/products/heavy-duty-polarity-reversal-adaptor?srsltid=AfmBOooCG3hZQY-1cidLGNiTTmQiMtq23g4WfMdUsUWHlQeGAfp2F_Dz) > > Heavy duty 16A CEE IEC60309 plug to socket polarity reversal adaptor, caravan, camping, marine, boat, yacht. > > ![toughleads.co.uk](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Ftoughleads.co.uk%2Fcdn%2Fshop%2Ft%2F5%2Fassets%2Ffavicon.ico%3Fv%3D19548003191856330831480351264&hash=3567a01620f59d8a0f9d9df56ff55006&return_error=1) > toughleads.co.uk > > > Then your safety trip will work as intended. > > Click to expand... Thanks for the link, I will certainly get one when I start travelling abroad but I would expect the polarity to be correct in the UK --- ### S — 2025-08-29T14:43:47+0200 (Aug 29, 2025) Yet they sell exactly the same toasters, vacuum cleaners, lamps, iphone chargers, etc etc in Europe where they don't care about polarity than they do in the UK...Most of those sites you get when you google it are for home inspection companies and whilst there is a theoretical risk that a UK domestic plug socket's power switch wouldn't stop the current flow if it it switched off in the home, in a leisure vehicle it's largely irrelevant from what I can tell. If it weren't then there would be issues all over the place on European campsites. --- ### — 2025-08-29T15:35:27+0200 (Aug 29, 2025) The van is perfectly safe. In domestic houses your beakers trip off the live supply. A single mcb. In the van the breaker is double pole and breaks both the live AND neutral side of the circuit. So in a reverse situation with a fault, the live is still tripped. So no need to worry or test thousands of vans --- ### — 2025-09-01T08:44:53+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) There are a lot of sites in Europe that have the opposite polarity to the UK. If your intention is to plug in an extension lead, plug multiple devices into it and leave them all plugged in when you’re not using them , which is typical caravan practice, then you should be careful. Very careful in fact. However plugging a single item into the EHU socket ( which doesn’t have an on/off switch anyway), using it then unplugging it afterwards is all you’re doing then reverse polarity is irrelevant. Personally I would never leave anything plugged in it I wasn’t using it. Unless it’s USB. --- ### — 2025-09-01T08:53:30+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) > [stoobthealien said:](/goto/post?id=758563) > > Yet they sell exactly the same toasters, vacuum cleaners, lamps, iphone chargers, etc etc in Europe where they don't care about polarity than they do in the UK...Most of those sites you get when you google it are for home inspection companies and whilst there is a theoretical risk that a UK domestic plug socket's power switch wouldn't stop the current flow if it it switched off in the home, in a leisure vehicle it's largely irrelevant from what I can tell. If it weren't then there would be issues all over the place on European campsites. > > Click to expand... It's not that they don't care in Europe, there wiring regulations require double pole switches ie cuts live and neutral when switched off. In the UK and in some older UK built camping units will likely have single pole switching which only disconnects the live side and the neutral remains always connected. California comply to European regulation and have double pole isolation. I guess it is possible to rewire a van so brown always goes to live and blue goes to neutral but there is no need. --- ### D — 2025-09-01T09:06:06+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) > [Ch1pbutty said:](/goto/post?id=758340) > > Lots of european campsites used to have reverse polarity, some still do. > > Just get a cheap tester plug to identify, > > > > > > and carry an adapter cable to re-reverse the polarity. > > > ![toughleads.co.uk](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Ftoughleads.co.uk%2Fcdn%2Fshop%2Ffiles%2FPolarotyadaptor_1024x1024.jpg%3Fv%3D1700921734&hash=c869a60dfb61fcf13bd39ffa40b3fb30&return_error=1) > > ### [Camp site polarity reversal adaptor](https://toughleads.co.uk/products/heavy-duty-polarity-reversal-adaptor?srsltid=AfmBOooCG3hZQY-1cidLGNiTTmQiMtq23g4WfMdUsUWHlQeGAfp2F_Dz) > > Heavy duty 16A CEE IEC60309 plug to socket polarity reversal adaptor, caravan, camping, marine, boat, yacht. > > ![toughleads.co.uk](/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Ftoughleads.co.uk%2Fcdn%2Fshop%2Ft%2F5%2Fassets%2Ffavicon.ico%3Fv%3D19548003191856330831480351264&hash=3567a01620f59d8a0f9d9df56ff55006&return_error=1) > toughleads.co.uk > > > Then your safety trip will work as intended. > > Click to expand... Easy and cheap to make a reverse polarity cable to plug in if your tester shows its reversed. A few French campsites still have reverse polarity so always best to check before you plug in your van. --- ### S — 2025-09-01T11:39:22+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) > [Dave Wickham said:](/goto/post?id=758787) > > Easy and cheap to make a reverse polarity cable to plug in if your tester shows its reversed. A few French campsites still have reverse polarity so always best to check before you plug in your van. > > Click to expand... But still no need to as per the comments above --- ### S — 2025-09-01T11:39:43+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) Either way it is correct 50% of the time. The van isolates both live and neutral so who cares, only the uneducated worriers amongst you. --- ### — 2025-09-01T19:32:41+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) Would a (230v) LED bulb on say a plugged in light work with reversed polarity? I assume not. I have one of the polarity testers (and crossover lead) but have yet to come across a campsite with reverse polarity, including the French one I’m typing this from. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk --- ### — 2025-09-01T20:59:53+0200 (Sep 1, 2025) > [owen\_h said:](/goto/post?id=758886) > > Would a (230v) LED bulb on say a plugged in light work with reversed polarity? I assume not. > > I have one of the polarity testers (and crossover lead) but have yet to come across a campsite with reverse polarity, including the French one I’m typing this from. > > > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk > > Click to expand... Yes led light will be fine. Leds don’t work off 240v there’s always a transformer / driver that sorts it out. The only sort of situation that I can think of where there is a risk is if someone was using a 1950s single earthed metal toaster & put a metal knife inside it & made contact with the heating elements which could be live even with the toaster switched off.Even then the breakers are there to protect you. --- ### S — 2025-09-02T09:57:10+0200 (Sep 2, 2025) > [owen\_h said:](/goto/post?id=758886) > > Would a (230v) LED bulb on say a plugged in light work with reversed polarity? I assume not. > > I have one of the polarity testers (and crossover lead) but have yet to come across a campsite with reverse polarity, including the French one I’m typing this from. > > > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk > > Click to expand... They sell the exact same lamps in France ---