240v Hook up in France

[Paul_374308620]

Going to France in 2 weeks. Question is, can you use a standard UK hook up cable. And also the site is 6amp will the water heater be Ok on 6amp. What on average can you run in the van on such a low voltage.

 

[rayc]

Paul, I think you are mixing up your volts and amps. The voltage is nominally 230v and the Amps ( current) can be 4 ,6, 10 or 16Amps. On some sites I have been to they put a different fuse (MCB) in the pitch supply depending on what you want and you pay accordingly. The UK type connector is becoming more common but a lot a sites will be the French standard. You can buy an adaptor before you go at most caravan shops, Towsure have one in their catalogue no C59 at

 

[Paul_374308620]

Paul, I think you are mixing up your volts and amps. The voltage is nominally 230v and the Amps ( current) can be 4 ,6, 10 or 16Amps. On some sites I have been to they put a different fuse (MCB) in the pitch supply depending on what you want and you pay accordingly. The UK type connector is becoming more common but a lot a sites will be the French standard. You can buy an adaptor before you go at most caravan shops, Towsure have one in their catalogue no C59 at

 

[rayc]

Paul, If the heater is 2kw then as you say 6A will not be adequate and you need 10A.

What heater is it? I thought Truuma ultra store were 850W or so on electric and Cascade about the same. I do not remember having any problems on 6A hook up and have kept the water heater on for days at a time.

ray

 

[Paul_374308620]

I will look at the water heater tomorrow and get back to you for advive. 99% sure it has two settings 1000w & 2000w or gas. It is a 2004 van, so fairly new.

 

[rayc]

Paul, I think you have a Truma fitted. It only holds 14 litres of water and the element is 850W. The 1kw and 2kw settings you refer to are the space heater and I hope you will not need that!

Ray

 

[Happy-Lappy]

Paul, I think you have a Truma fitted. It only holds 14 litres of water and the element is 850W. The 1kw and 2kw settings you refer to are the space heater and I hope you will not need that!

Ray

Paul,

Trust me, what Ray(C) is saying is correct. The Waterheater is set at 850w, where as the Space Heater gives you (mine does anyway) the choice of 500w, 1000w and 2000w and as ray says if you need the heater on 1000w in France, then you will have to be very unlucky with the weather,

best regards, Martin

 

[Happy-Lappy]

oops, clicked wrong button.

Paul, what ray(c) says is correct, the Waterheater is set at 850w, but the Space Heater has three settings 500w,1000w and 2000w. We have never felt the need to use the heater in France and would be very suprised if you would need it above 1000w.

We only have the Fridge,Kettle,Waterheater and medium George Foreman on in France and even then when we use the GF, the kettle and waterheater will be off, so 6a should not be of too much concern,

best regards, Martin

 

[Le Chant]

Easy way to work out your ehu needs - wattage divided by voltage = amps.

So, a 2000watt kettle divided by 230volts supply = 8.7amps. A no-no.

We're constantly trying to 'educate' campers & caravanners who come here that they cannot use their domestic electrical equipment AND run a water heater on 6amp supply! We've even now gone to the lengths of printing off small 'reminder' cards with the above conversion on it, and much, much more. We've laminated them and handed them out. We're still having to constantly re-set the leccy. Then people say to us..."I only used the kettle..." 2200 watts was the latest culprit! 9.6amps on a 6amp bollard!

Please, leave your domestic stuff at home. Kettles should be of the low wattage camping type (1000watts or less). Use your gas. If you start your 2 or 3 week holidays with 2 full bottles, you'll have plenty to spare when you return home. Use the 6amp site supply for your fridge and lights only!

Thanks.

 

[Robert_374242026]

I usually leave the heater on the 1000watt position all the time and as the water is hot all the time you do not get a surge if you put the kettle on. Breakfast time i do turn off the heater for a while when using the toaster and kettle.

 

[BarryB_5039906]

Thanks for that. But the water heater is 2 KW (8 amp ).

hi there Paul.....

I think you will find that the water heater is only about 750 watts or possibly 800 watts...so it takes about 3 to 3.5 amps. It is the main room heater which is about 2kw......and we hope you will NOT need to use that.

Happy hols BarryB

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Paul you can use your normal hook up cable if the site has the right socket

Many of them do but a lot still have the French 2 pin plus earth

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Paul have a look at this site

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=97253&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=1&get=last#

 

[Paul_374308620]

Paul have a look at this site

]http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=97253&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=1&get=last#

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter...&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=1&get=last#[/quote
Thanks for that

 

[RayS]

From recent experience you may well get more than 6 amp on a French site, even thought "the book" says otherwise. the problem will be that the warden probably does not know either, since the French generally do not use electics in their vans for other than fridge lights and TV and thus it is not an issue (talking summertime of course).

On other sites you may have trouble as the "mains" may be as low as 180v - e.g. a major open all year site near the Loire, which may just cause problems. Ohms law still applies i.e. volts/amps = ohms and since the ohms (resistance or the heating element, say0 stay constant if the volts are low the amps will rise possibly above the set value of the breaker or fuse. Being somewhat paranoid about such matters I (and lots of others) carry small voltmeters now available for less than a tenner and check if there appears to be a problem e.g. dim mains lights. fridge heaters seem particularly bothered by low voltages and may burn out.