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Caravan hook up
Former Community Member
Hi I am fitting a caravan hook up on the wall next to the dno incomer box. No wires exposed. Do I still require an earth rod. The earth bond will be prob 1 ft long inside so not exposed. I know if I fit the box away using swa then yes earth rod would be used.
The problem with TN-C-S supplies (which you have to assume you have unless your DNO guarantees otherwise) is that a rare but possible type of fault in the DNO network causes both the N and E to be severed (since at certain points in the network they are actually the same conductor). At this point all exposed conductive ( i.e. earthed metal) parts effectively become live. Inside a house this doesn't matter too much, since the bonding in place keeps everything at a similar potential. This means that e.g. both the metal case of an electric kettle and the metal sink tap are at a similar potential - both live. So if you touch both of them at the same time, you don't get a fatal electric shock.
Conversely there is isn't good bonding outside your house. So the earthed metal frame of the caravan reaches 230V potential while the ground and any nearby metalwork (e.g. gates) is still at 0V potential. So touching both at the same time could kill you.
The problem with TN-C-S supplies (which you have to assume you have unless your DNO guarantees otherwise) is that a rare but possible type of fault in the DNO network causes both the N and E to be severed (since at certain points in the network they are actually the same conductor). At this point all exposed conductive ( i.e. earthed metal) parts effectively become live. Inside a house this doesn't matter too much, since the bonding in place keeps everything at a similar potential. This means that e.g. both the metal case of an electric kettle and the metal sink tap are at a similar potential - both live. So if you touch both of them at the same time, you don't get a fatal electric shock.
Conversely there is isn't good bonding outside your house. So the earthed metal frame of the caravan reaches 230V potential while the ground and any nearby metalwork (e.g. gates) is still at 0V potential. So touching both at the same time could kill you.
