You probably have a power station or a power generator and what could be more obvious than to use these devices to charge the Grand California via them. Just plug the power station into the shore power and everything is great or? No! It’s not quite that simple, because not only is it strictly speaking forbidden, but it’s also dangerous.
Why is it prohibited / dangerous to use a power station as a shore power source?
For this explanation, we need to get a little technical. You surely know, you can just plug a 230 volt device into the power station and it works, be it a coffee maker or a hair dryer. So why not just supply the car with Landstorm via the same route!!!
This is due to the technology used, because a power station uses a so-called IT network. This means that there is not an L-conductor, an N-conductor and a protective earth conductor as you know it from home. The IT network of the power station consists of only one L and one N conductor, the protective earth conductor is missing.
This is not a problem in normal operation, but if you use a coffee machine at the power station, nothing will happen. The whole thing would behave differently if, for example, you connect a multiple socket to the power station and operate several devices there.
Now, if both connected devices have a fault and you make contact between the devices and your body, you will probably die in the process. The same can happen if you connect your Grand California to shore power via the power station. Not so good or?
Is there a solution to this problem?
The positive thing is, you can solve this problem. We need to convert the IT network of the power station into a TN network. It also sounds worse than it is at first. The CEE shore power cable has to be modified a bit, in order to build a TN network from the IT network, a so-called bridge is used. This jumper connects the protective conductor to the neutral conductor. With the help of the bridge, a circuit breaker can be triggered in the event of a fault, similar to the FI switch, which can be found in the fuse box of houses.
You can find a perfect explanation on this topic at “Friends of Electricity” on YouTube:
Buy Powerstation Cable
Currently, you can buy a Powerstation cable from our colleagues at Mika Caravan. Here you can find the product:
