Earth Leak with 240V, 15A Australian Power?

[The Raptor]

I am wondering if there is a reason that when I pull the 240V, 15A Plug from the long Shed/Shore Power lead, it sometimes trips the Earth Leak in the Shed & I noted the Fuse installed next to the 12V, 2'500W Inverter sometimes trips ?


I am Not sure if that is because the Motorhome does Not have a proper Earth !
As when I connect to Shore Power I leave the Main switch on the Main Winnebago Control Board on Inverter, Not AC Power !

[Eagle5]

I would guess that your breakers and/or ground fault interrupters are popping-off because it is 240 VAC. Here in the States, our 15 amp plugs operate with 120 VAC, and that is not enough to jump the air gap from a hot terminal to a ground terminal.
HOWEVER
I would recommend that you buy a Non-Contact Voltage Detector Pen. I would test the neutral terminal in your outlets to see if you can detect voltage. If you do, then unplug appliances to see if something is causing the leak. You can also switch-off circuit breakers to see if you have a leak on a particular circuit.
Eagle5

[The Raptor]

Originally Posted by Eagle5

I would recommend that you buy a Non-Contact Voltage Detector Pen. I would test the neutral terminal in your outlets to see if you can detect voltage. If you do, then unplug appliances to see if something is causing the leak. You can also switch-off circuit breakers to see if you have a leak on a particular circuit.
Eagle5

G'day Eagle,


I have purchased two of eBay Australia & look forward to Testing the plugs.


However, I did notice at one stage, I had an old extension Lead that the Neutral & Live were crossed over on the Tail end.


But since then, I did find that if I did Not have the Main RV Power board on AC when Connected, and had it Switch on Inverter, when I pull the Extension Plug out it Tripped the Shed Power.
So, not sure if the Problem lies in the Power selection, time will tell.

[Eagle5]

It is good that you found the extension cord with the crossed hot-to-neutral wiring.
As an aside, even our twin-50 amp connectors are two 120 VAC feeds that are 180º out-of-phase. So, for the few times a 50 amp service (and they are few) actually needs 240 VAC, the appliance uses both legs of 120 VAC to provide 240 VAC. So you see, we never have a single terminal carrying 240 VAC here in the States. I believe the arcing potential is the reason we do not.
Still, isolate as much as you can, then add things in one-at-a-time.
Good luck, Eagle5