Electric hook up in France

[onegirlandacampervan]

Hey all

Probably a very silly question but can I use my electric hook up in france?

Thank you

[sooperspur]

am currently in france and everything works on hook up. just remember to get an adaptor to the 2 pin plug. stayed at a site that used this so glad i had one

cheers

ian

[82JEW75]

Yes.

Will either be a "blue plug" or the standard French plug, depending on campsite. Adaptors are available from one to the other, most DIY shops have them (in France, not UK).

[onegirlandacampervan]

oh god, I'm SUCH an idiot...I can't believe this only just occurred to me:

...When I get to the campsite, HOW do I hook it up? I know I need a converter (thank you ) but do I need a cable as well? This is one of the things I should have thought about asking when I bought the van. I've had no call to use the hook up yet so I just didn't think. Silly me!

[82JEW75]

Yes, you need a cable, buy a decently long one, at least 10 metres.

[KylieKamper87]

Went I'm June and got one of these adapter kits of eBay http://bit.ly/Ooh3V8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It contained the adapters plus a reverse polarity checker and switcher for when the positive and negative are the other way round.

There's lots of discussion about reverse polarity out there and I genuinely don't know if it's required but we decided not to take any chances, two sites we went on had the polarity reversed.

Hope you have a great trip!

[onegirlandacampervan]

Thanks guys! I'm buying an adapter tomorrow and picking a cable up from the garage I got my van from as we head out tomorrow so *fingers crossed* we're all set

[keith]

If you can.....get a 25 meter one.......many off the sites will have long distances between hook up points.....10m is often too short.

[onegirlandacampervan]

If you can.....get a 25 meter one.......many off the sites will have long distances between hook up points.....10m is often too short.

Thank you I could only manage to get a 10m one in the end (and then didn't even need it...it's always the way. The things I stress about the most are often the least of my worries) but now I don't NEED one imminently I am going to look for a cheap extension (or snag another free one!)...I assume you can link them up?

[keith]

If you can.....get a 25 meter one.......many off the sites will have long distances between hook up points.....10m is often too short.

Thank you I could only manage to get a 10m one in the end (and then didn't even need it...it's always the way. The things I stress about the most are often the least of my worries) but now I don't NEED one imminently I am going to look for a cheap extension (or snag another free one!)...I assume you can link them up?

I would think you could link them .......glad you enjoyed your trip.

We are off for a Spanish / french road trip very soon.......

[onegirlandacampervan]

How exciting hope it all goes well!

[Ian and Lins]

Enjoy but don't do what we did. Boil the kettle on the gas for ten days and then remember we were paying for hook up...and we had a lecky kettle in the van

[gimpey]

hi anyone got any number for breakdown in Europe, had ima (sure term) when we went to Spain last year but wont cover us this year, some only cover upto a age limit, 15 yrs, my camper is 24,, never had any when we went to Amsterdam twice,

[Ivorblueun]

worth investing in a polarity tester if you intend to do a lot of camping in france, not very expensive on ebay, just plug it into a socket when hooked and check the 3 lights with the table on it. I have found where they use 2 pin sockets the live and neutral are reversed as a rule, at least the majority of campsites I have stayed on are always the wrong way around and so carry a 2 pin to 3 pin adapter with the wiring reversed to compensate.

[Ian Hulley]

hi anyone got any number for breakdown in Europe, had ima (sure term) when we went to Spain last year but wont cover us this year, some only cover upto a age limit, 15 yrs, my camper is 24,, never had any when we went to Amsterdam twice,

Do a search, covered MANY times. The only one I know that really works is Flux Rescue, We were recovered from near Brussels 6 years ago. For £85 you get £2,500 worth of recovery, you have to be insured with Flux and take out the breakdown cover when you renew the insurance.

Ian