Club 80-90 Forums

I chopped my 25M into 10M and 15M lengths, bought another pair of hook up conx and carry them both. I use the one that is most appropriate for the hook up distance or if needs be just couple them together to make the 25M. In the summer rolling up leads isn't too bad, but its a bad ass job in the winter when 25M of cable is freezing cold, wet, covered in mud, a pig to coil and always ends up twisted and knotted as hell.

Ben - Get the 25 metre lead. too short and your stuffed too long and it don't matter. If you look in a caravan shop you can get a round bag that your cable will fit nicely into.

I have a really long one fnarr fnarr... Got an empty cable reel from R&S for a tenner or thereabouts, but make sure its 240V. Put it in the bottom of the wardrobe at the back. Cable goes thru a bit of plastic water pipe into the engine bay. Then out thru the number plate flap. Works for me...

For info............ Connecting leads together with blue plugs and laying them on the ground isn`t a good idea, the plugs arn`t sold as being waterproof, OK if they are hooked up to a `van or post and pointing down at the ground as water won`t "track" up them that far, but on the ground water will track in (capilliary action) and could short them.

slobbo wrote:Ben - Get the 25 metre lead. too short and your stuffed too long and it don't matter. If you look in a caravan shop you can get a round bag that your cable will fit nicely into.

Cheers Rob.

I ordered a 25m one and it turned up yesterday.

just thought i would comment on the leaving cables rolled up whilst plugged in, im a welder and use heavy cables and huge amps if you leave the cables coiled you end up with a big melted lump of plastic. in industry they actually rap metal objects in cables to heat them with induction.
wouldnt have thought the camper would use a large amount of power but you never know!

Westy.Club.Joker wrote:For info............ Connecting leads together with blue plugs and laying them on the ground isn`t a good idea, the plugs arn`t sold as being waterproof, OK if they are hooked up to a `van or post and pointing down at the ground as water won`t "track" up them that far, but on the ground water will track in (capilliary action) and could short them.

I have joined 240 cables like that for years in the Army never had a bad un yet!!!!! It would need to be under water to do any damage!! rain will not effect um at all thats why there the design they are !

Mocki wrote:if you leave it rolled up tightly it will resemble a electric fire element if you draw full available amperage......
so yes, it is bad!

most people have a short lead and a long one, or park the right distance!!! lol

I left mine coiled up when we were in Cromer and the socket welded itself into the post. Had to switch the post off and cut the wire's leaving the socket in the post when it was time to go. I did let the site know I had done this of course

Gunslinger wrote:
I left mine coiled up when we were in Cromer and the socket welded itself into the post. Had to switch the post off and cut the wire's leaving the socket in the post when it was time to go. I did let the site know I had done this of course

Cause is bad plug/socket connection. Resistance in connection generated heat which melted plastic.

Here's a overly simple explanation:
Heat buildup in cable is direct result of resistance. Cable wire size is determined by amp load, length of cable and how cable is used. (heat radiation from cable also is part of formula of wire sizing) The bigger the wire and shorter the length, the less the resistance and therefore less heat. If cable or socket are generating heat, you are loosing voltage to resistance. This causes the amp load to go up. (Volts X Amps = Watts) I've seen small cables running too long a distance burn up appliances, saws, sanders, scrubbers, etc.

If socket or cable are generating excessive heat, then there is a problem.

Link to cable size/length/amperage load. This is American wire sizing for 120volt (120v-20amp = 240v-10amp)(Volts X Amps = Watts):
http://www.grnet.com/therhinosuite/y2ka ... resize.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Metric to AWG conversion table:
http://www.rbeelectronics.com/wtable.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wish I could have found a 240v/metric wire size chart. Hope this helped.

14g wire for 50',
Go one size bigger for safety = 12g.
12g = 3.0 mm2.

2.0 mm2 wire in cable could have resistance and generate heat if running heater and kettle on 50 foot lead.
3.0 mm2 wire in cable should be give good margin of safety for 50 foot lead.

Keep in mind this also depends on size wiring used to feed site hookup. If site wiring is on small side, amps go up

Could a real sparky please comment on my statements?

When a cable is used on a drum it forms an inductive coil and will (probably) cause something to melt or catch fire somewhere in the set up. Fact.
25m is the longest hookup legally allowed in Uk according to IEE regs.
Yes I have seen leads joined together. I have also seen a joined together lead with its length under water in frozen over ice and still being used in a marina, on a 70 foot steel boat.
On the continent there are some very dodgy practices mainly because phase reversal is common there as they had double insulated appliances with double pole single throw on off switches which switch both the live and neutral phase off. These were rarer here until recently.
Most european campers used to carry a phase reveersal adapter and a martindale type tester to avoid some of the horrors.
Some of the things in Med marinas were very scary, I think one of the sailing mags did a feature on worst hookup in the med a few years ago.
IEE regs state that for a 16 amp hookup socket 2.5mm2 cable is adequate, only needing to be increased to 4mm2 if going to a 25 amp hookup. although if an individual wishes to use a heavier cable thats up to them.
Here is a link to the caravan regs which also apply if you have an engine. Perhaps the link should be in the Wiki?
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Book/7.9.2.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
However these are the 16th edition regs which were updated to 17th edition last year, I have done the conversion course but not yet gone into the caravan side as I dont wire them professionally now, so things may be slightly different.
HTH Regards

Richard