Club 80-90 Forums

Probably a daft question, but I'll be the first to admit I'm not the least bit technical minded, I just enjoy driving the van....

I'm off to Europe soon, driving my Westy Joker - all the usual electrics. I will of course be plugging in whenever I can, and I note that for some powered sites, some say they have 10a others have 6a - will I be able to plug into both kinds of site?

any advice would be much appreciated.

many thanks

Daren

Normally they all use the standard two or three pin plug regardless of the connection power.

I carry a lead which has the two round pin plug and a two pin to three pin converter.

yes...the amps are what you draw from the hookup.so dont take your washing machine from home..

will I be able to plug into both kinds of site?

thanks guys - I said it was a silly question!!

back to planning campsites now...

Daren

Lefty:
just remember this, for every 1KW (thats a 1000 watts) it will be
drawing 4.54 amps in europe, and 4.34 amps here.

so 6 amp connection you can draw 1320 watt
and 10 amp connection you can draw 2200 watts.

So....... look at your appliances and see what you can run
together, i.e. at the same time. travel kettles are typically
1000 watt - 1500 watt for this reason. your one in the house is probably 3000 watt ( 3 KW) hence pulling 13.04 amps.

Ok? any Q's there are loads of helpers on here...

thanks redstar - so my small kettle (not a travel kettle) drawing 1650 watts will not work at a 6amp site then. Is that correct? or will it just not work if I try it, r worse, blow something up!!

there's always the gas, but all I'm worried about is a quick brew when I need one....

Daren

Lefty wrote:or will it just not work if I try it, r worse, blow something up!!

there's always the gas, but all I'm worried about is a quick brew when I need one....

Daren

It (should) just trip the 6A circuit breaker. Stick to gas - whats the point of dragging two kettles around with you? There's not much point using a hook up anyway unless the weather's cold and you want to run a heater in my opinion......

The kettle in question will pull around 7 amp. that is in the 'ideal' world.

Depends on the fusing of the site, and anything else you have got plugged in SHOULD trip it. Without working it out though, you would probably get around 2 - 3 mins of power BEFORE the supply trips.

(only do this if you can see and reset the breaker ) it will look like the one in your house.....

I have a trip switch in the van itself at the plug socket, so presumably, if it does trip it will do so there..

Lefty wrote:I have a trip switch in the van itself at the plug socket, so presumably, if it does trip it will do so there..

not necessarily - depends on it's rating. If the hook up's a 6A and your vans a 10A or 16A then the hook up breaker will go first. If your van's a 6A you could bet a friend......

(this is assuming all the circuit breakers are the same 'type'. There are types 1, 2, 3, B, C, D but that's a different ball game..........)

It would be the site one first (as 1664 touched on) down to 'fusing discrimination'
Your socket circuit is (probably) on a 10 or 16 amp breaker. ( you would not be pulling that at YOUR board )
Because the 6 amp would have 'broken' before that time..... therefore leaving your breakers unaffected in the van.

I am a complete newbie. I have got my first van but not been away yet.
All this talk of electric hookups is confusing me. My last camping was under canvas about 15 years ago. Food was cooked with gas. Light came from torches or a contraption that ran from the cigarette lighter in the car.
We went to bed when it got dark.
What devices would you need an electric hookup for. I presume they also bump up the cost of a camp site.
Just wondered.

Personally speaking, if im on a site and i opt for hook up (not always, depends on locality) you normally pay between £1.50 and £3.00 for hook up.
If you are paying, you may as well make the most of the available energy. (you are paying for it)
So my fridge runs on 230v mains, My kettle is on mains (1000 w travel type), If winter camping, i use a halogen type heater, the GF also has straighteners and a hair drier.
Anything that you use at home, only smaller in power consumption.
My telly is one of those 10" 12v or 230v ones, so versitile

My lights on the last van were mains powered rope lights (loads of light, and cheap)

With the cost of energy, i feel that the most i can get for my money (without using my back up gas) the better it is for me.

I am probably looking real tight now, but we are all different, and have different 'styles' of camping.
If wild camping I obviously would be in the 'standard' image of campervan usage.

(just like my comforts chaps.... )

grumpyoldgit wrote:I am a complete newbie. I have got my first van but not been away yet.
All this talk of electric hookups is confusing me. My last camping was under canvas about 15 years ago. Food was cooked with gas. Light came from torches or a contraption that ran from the cigarette lighter in the car.

I think your best bet is to say where you live (put it in your signature) and a member who could go through it all may just live round the corner. Failing that, pop along to a meet - there'll be loads of folk more than willing to shove in their tuppence worth

English hookups tend to offer higher amperage (anything up to 16 amps is normal) where as it is common for many European hookups to be restricted to a maximum 6amp draw.
As others have said..it just means you have to be careful not to plug in things that may exceed the 6 amp limit! as you might well end up tripping the RCB. This isn't dangerous just embarrassing.
Martin
As a side note* whilst on the subject, I noticed that other motor homes/campers in europe were using much smaller core hookup leads because they are used to these power draw restrictions (they don't need the thick orange leads that we use in the UK)