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zarko avatar image
zarko asked

Multiplus II shore power with inverse polarity

I have installed Multiplus 2 inverter/charger on campervan and I'm going to connect to shore power sometimes. The connection will be made on regular household power outlets so I have no way of knowing what was the phase and neutral wire.

I see that in manual says to not reverse polarity, referring to schematic but this is not well drawn with not a lot of explanation and I cannot figure out is this a big problem and what is the problem of connecting AC with wrong polarity.

Can someone help on this?

Multiplus-II
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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

@zarko Where I live you you can buy little indicator plugs, that plug into a socket, or extension lead to test / indicate whether the socket is wired up correctly. Cheap peace of mind.

Ebay link.

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3 Answers
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Assuming you're using European wiring/connectors.

Get a CEE Reversing cable, or make one up.

Get a Schuko tester, similar to the one suggested by @klim8skeptic

Get a CEE to Schuko female adapter.

Mark the CEE to Schuko adapter so that you know which is the phase.

Use the CEE/Schuko cable and tester to check polarity of the source.

Use reversing cable if needed.


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zarko avatar image
zarko answered ·

Thank you for the suggestions, it will work this way and that will be easy for me, but I'm not the only one connecting this camper to the grid, and of course, someone can disconnect and connect other way around without even knowing that this can be an issue.

What will happen if this happens and Inverter is connected with reverse polarity?

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·

@zarko

Neutral should never be live..... so the reason is safety.

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/116025/polarity-protection-using-multiplus-2-with-schuko.html

The way around it or to create a safer (dis)connection is double pole isolation.

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Kevin Windrem avatar image
Kevin Windrem answered ·

Consider using a RV surge protector or electrical management system between the pedestal and the RV. This will alert you to a reversed hot-neutral condition (among others) and not allow unsafe power to the RV.

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