Gents, I must share my experience in the van's DB Board this afternoon and my concerns after I opened the board to add a extra circuit breaker for the aircon... Initially ran it from the fitted plug at the mirror just left of the bed.

1.) The whole Penta is wired with normal soft cabtyre... 1.5 mm

2.) Found several issues , pulled the neutrals out of the earth leakage without even loosening the screws.

3.) The earth in the box is almost non existent as it is a small 3 mm bolt protruding through the back of the DB itself... No sign of a proper earth and is based on the parks earth only but I think too small... Just my opinion

4.) One wire going to the multiplug on the outside of the van direct from the DB but going through the earth leakage... we do plug in high consumption appliances in the sockets like a kettle and an air fryer or the hair dryer

Solution

1.) I crimped proper terminals with a flat surface onto all wiring going into the circuit breakers so it can be properly tightened

2.) Changed the wiring from the outside connection from the park to the Db to 2.5 mm wiring

3.) Pulled a 2.5 mm wire to the indoor unit and the evaporator in the nose cone for the aircon with its own 20 A circuit breaker

4.) Pulled in a new wire to the outside plug... 2.5 mm

5.) Took the DB off and increased the earth to 6mm... gewone sink skroef... Unfortunately still depending on the parks earthing... I always used a tent peg on the chain at the a-frame but Jurgens does not have the option as it is only a break away cable

6.) Added a 12volt cooling fan to the DB... the ventilation grille and space for the small fan is there but no fan fitted

It seems like Jurgens forgot that everything is electric nowadays...   1.5 mm is made for 15 amp max... I know many of the parks only offer 10 amps but not taking any chances therefore the change

I am not a electrician but still think that if an electrician would open that box... No ways to accept the electrical system as is.

Rather safe than sorry

Hi Theo, kan jy dalk n foto van jou nuwe bedraade DB pos? Sal graag wil sien wa t jy daar gedoen het.

Hi, Jy kan nie veel sien nie want alles lyk maar dieselle... net dikker drade... as jy die cover afhaal in die charger box, jy moet kyk na die draad wat inkom van buite af en dan opgaan op die Earth Leakage en dan na die Circuit Breaker langsaan.

Jy sal dadelik sien wat ek bedoel... dun drade in bondels in gedraai en vasgemaak aan die earth leakage kant asook die Circuit Breaker, een 15 amp circuit breaker vir alles in die woonwa maar daar is plek vir nog 'n ekstra een wat ek ingesit het vir die buite prop en die aircon met 2.5 mm draad

ek sal kyk oor die naweek of ek hom weer kan oopmaak, jy kan sien ek het nie werk gehad die week nie so krap maar aan die woonwa.

Just a thought.

Hopefully you connected the Air con after the Earth Leakage. The 20A circuit breaker is probably the same as the site protection, so it may never trip. 

The 12V fan is going to sound like a helicopter coming in to land at 2:30 am. If it is a computer fan I would consider using an old cell phone charger to power. The fan will still move the air, without the helicopter effects.

You can always connect a earth lead from the chassis to a long peg. 

Yes Sir, from the earth leakage to the 2 circuit breakers fitted currently, I bought a small fan for the 3D printers... Probably 5cm in diameter... very quiet... the 2 I installed on the air vent behind the fridge will be more of a trouble as I can hear them running as its big computer fans... Still thinking of another solution

My experience is that the black 8cm computer fan on one of those switchable 3-12V PSU's is the quietest. The PSU with a transformer, at about 6V. The 6cm fan tends to be a bit noisier for the air it moves.

If you want to see a UFO when you go for a walk at night, then you can get a "gaming" fan. 

I must add I placed the brass jumper in on top from the earth leakage to the relevant circuit breakers as it was only 1.5mm wire... forgot to mention it... The way Jurgens did it was wrong in so many aspects.. Real Backyard Job from their side.... we are working on the same system as a home and is just as dangerous

I have seen it many times where people touched the aluminium strips on their vans and it gave a bit of a jolt... this is not always the park but Jurgens factory's wiring setup, as i said I pulled the neutrals out of the earth leakage without even loosening the screw.

I am not an electrician but not stupid as I can see this is not correct for the loads drawn through the wiring installed... MY van is a 2004 but still not acceptable

Probably one previously disadvantaged electrician wiring the DB

KD wrote:

My experience is that the black 8cm computer fan on one of those switchable 3-12V PSU's is the quietest. The PSU with a transformer, at about 6V. The 6cm fan tends to be a bit noisier for the air it moves.

If you want to see a UFO when you go for a walk at night, then you can get a "gaming" fan. 

True that, this is what I have behind the fridge... Going to remove them and look for something much less quiet as I thought big air flow would be nice but the noise is a problem... I usually switch it off at night but sometimes forget... then you wake up at 1 am and think what's the noise

The jolt people get IS the park wiring. The Park Earth is to far away from caravan which gives you a few volts AC. Enough to give you a light shock. Your house has an earth mat. Do the same with your caravan. I have 2 pegs that connect to the chassis.

The N wires that are loose will have resistance which will lead to the terminals burning. 

I am not an electrician, nor do I have great knowledge of installations, but I believe it is not a good idea to have multiple earthing points unless they are bonded!?

Googled confirmed.

I had to open the DB again due to a wiring mistake... Plugged the van in this afternoon and just tripped the earth leakage.... What a hassle to find the issue as I said... backyard electrician.

The neutral of the aircon wired on the bottom of the circuit breaker instead of the top ...

Please note if anyone tries this, there is a plug at the bottom of the charging unit that I forgot to mention , do not remove as it supplies to the rest of the 12V power requirements, water pump and lights.

I had to replace it this afternoon as I lost all power to the lights... Bad mistake but I learn as I go by just unplugging and removing the wire... big mistake , I should have looked where the wiring goes...  its 2 wires from the outside power receptor  to the power box..  Drilled another hole on the side with a gland with the feed wire 2.5mm in the side of the box... jy moet nie donker werk doen nie want dan jaag jy K@k aan... gelukkig nou getoets.

Dries... ek sal more fotos neem

RichardJ wrote:

I am not an electrician, nor do I have great knowledge of installations, but I believe it is not a good idea to have multiple earthing points unless they are bonded!?

 

Googled confirmed.

As I studied electrical many many years ago, I  checked my earthing comments.

1 - Electrical contractor - Connect chassis to a peg. 

2 - Municipal Chief Electrical inspector - Also a caravaner. Connect a wire from the chassis to a few pegs. Mix a solution of salt water and pour it on your pegs for better grounding . He recommended getting one of the plug tops with the 3 indicators on it to indicate that the connections are all correct. Especially if you camp outside the countries borders.

Interesting that that is the opinion of experts.

Our companies first computer use of Fibre optics was on the LAN connection between 2 buildings. Lightning causes LAN boards to 'pop' due to the difference in voltage between the factory and the admin block.

Lightning kills cows due to this difference between voltage of their legs.

Once again Google confirmed:

https://www.caravanparks.com/users/26968/forums/screenshot_20260421_202551_google.jpg

This the second time a link and not a photo has posted, is the link active?

My electrician refused to earth my solar panels separate from the house's earth, saying it defeats the objective and can cause a circuit.??

My concerns above are in relation to using 'shore/resort' power.

Lightning protection is a whole different game as would be solar only.

The ground voltage concept was how Tesla planned to power the world.