We are going to France for the first time with our caravan. Something we did not even think about was the electric hook up. Do we need an adapter to hook up in France or do they use the same ones as in the uk?
Electric hook up in France?
- Thread starter mooncry
- Start date
Some sites use the same system as here, some you will need an adapter - easily obtainable here. Electric hook up points are often rather exposed to the weather so I would take a length of polythene sleeving, or even a bag, and sticky tape to cover joins/connections. Also on some sites you may need an extra long cable.
Great. Thanks for that, we wil pop to the shop to get an adapter. Good tip for the polythene sleeve. Not had problems in the UK with that but if the hook ups are sighly different then it may be useful.
Thanks again
P.S. You might also consider taking an adaptor to convert continental two pin plugs to the three pin socket in your 'van. We bought a juice extractor in France this year - my wife likes a drop of freshly squeezed orange juice in her evening champers - so one came in handy.
To be totally prepared and safe you need to be prepared for THREE different senarios when hooking up your van to electricity on French sites.
1. The same Euro socket as the UK, so straight forward.
2. Continental Socket, you need to have a continental adaptor as already mentioned by others.
3. 1 and 2 get you connected but you may have reversed polarity which is very dangerous. This happens because the French have a different system of wiring than we do in the UK. Your caravan should have a red warning light for this on the control panel.
If it glows when you connect up you have reverse polarity.
The best way to correct this is to have another adaptor wire which you can make yourself (You cannot buy them as far as I know)
Buy another continental adaptor and remove the plug( not the socket). Discard the plug. Buy a euro plug from an electrical shop such as T.L.C.( Google for website) Fit this Euro plug to the adaptor but fit the blue wire to the terminal marked L and the brown wire to the terminal marked N. Wire earth wire as normal.
Because this made up reverse polarity adapter can be used in tandem with your continental adaptor or your UK Euro socket you can cope with anything!
Except maybe the few French pitches where your cable is not long enough!!
Good luck in France
1. The same Euro socket as the UK, so straight forward.
2. Continental Socket, you need to have a continental adaptor as already mentioned by others.
3. 1 and 2 get you connected but you may have reversed polarity which is very dangerous. This happens because the French have a different system of wiring than we do in the UK. Your caravan should have a red warning light for this on the control panel.
If it glows when you connect up you have reverse polarity.
The best way to correct this is to have another adaptor wire which you can make yourself (You cannot buy them as far as I know)
Buy another continental adaptor and remove the plug( not the socket). Discard the plug. Buy a euro plug from an electrical shop such as T.L.C.( Google for website) Fit this Euro plug to the adaptor but fit the blue wire to the terminal marked L and the brown wire to the terminal marked N. Wire earth wire as normal.
Because this made up reverse polarity adapter can be used in tandem with your continental adaptor or your UK Euro socket you can cope with anything!
Except maybe the few French pitches where your cable is not long enough!!
Good luck in France
This is my version of the above!!
It depends on whether the French site has the older domestic type of site socket (ie two pins and an earth socket on the plug you put in)
OR if it has the newer and increasingly more common Euro blue type of socket.
SO what you need is one adaptor to cover the first situation that converts the old type French socket to the newer Euro blue socket and thus your existing van lead.
If when you plug in the polarity tester in the van etc you have reversed polarity you then put in your reversed lead (clearly marked) which has a blue Euro plug at one end and a blue Euro socket at the other
When confronted by the Euro socket on the site electrics follow the same procedure but without the first adaptor.!!
A reverse polarity adapter is simply a short lead with the blue Euro plug on one end and a a blue Euro socket on the other ed with the live and neutral reversed at one end
You can make one up by chopping 2 ft of cable off a hook up lead and replacing the plug .You then put a blue socket on the end of the short lead with the live and neutral reversed
Not all or even many caravans have a reverse polarity indicator built in so you need to but a Martindale type of tester
I put the reverse adapter at the van end to avoid having 2 adapters together at the hook up box especially if its one with doors !!
I prefer to make my reverse polarity lead as above because you can make it lomg enough to have the join under the van out of the weather
I hook mine onto the van chassis off the ground with an S hook
Hope that helps
It depends on whether the French site has the older domestic type of site socket (ie two pins and an earth socket on the plug you put in)
OR if it has the newer and increasingly more common Euro blue type of socket.
SO what you need is one adaptor to cover the first situation that converts the old type French socket to the newer Euro blue socket and thus your existing van lead.
If when you plug in the polarity tester in the van etc you have reversed polarity you then put in your reversed lead (clearly marked) which has a blue Euro plug at one end and a blue Euro socket at the other
When confronted by the Euro socket on the site electrics follow the same procedure but without the first adaptor.!!
A reverse polarity adapter is simply a short lead with the blue Euro plug on one end and a a blue Euro socket on the other ed with the live and neutral reversed at one end
You can make one up by chopping 2 ft of cable off a hook up lead and replacing the plug .You then put a blue socket on the end of the short lead with the live and neutral reversed
Not all or even many caravans have a reverse polarity indicator built in so you need to but a Martindale type of tester
I put the reverse adapter at the van end to avoid having 2 adapters together at the hook up box especially if its one with doors !!
I prefer to make my reverse polarity lead as above because you can make it lomg enough to have the join under the van out of the weather
I hook mine onto the van chassis off the ground with an S hook
Hope that helps
Hi John G
Be aware that all French sites MUST have their electric hookups protected by RCCB's (Residual Current Circuit Breakers) by law.
These cut the supply in a few milliseconds if an earth leakage of a few milliamps occur.
Blue Euro hookups are showerproof anyway.
However I understand where you are comming from....
"It is better to be safe than sorry"
Several times on different French sites I have lost my supply to the van when someone plugged into the same post as me, has used domestic fittings and left them subject to the rain.
The RCCB triggers possibly saving their life.
I agree with John and don't use plastic bags.
If connected properly you should not get water in the plug connections.
In 10 years camping I have never had a problem.
Hi Gb
I know what you mean about supply being interrupted and I often run the Sky+box/TV off the inverter if I want to record something without it being cut off
At Blackpoo CC site they unplug the mains leads to mow the grass!!
The site we go to has a hook up that has about 16 sockets in a cabinet so that its easy for leads (especially when fitted with the French connection)to press/touch the test button on the trip etc etc
I know what you mean about supply being interrupted and I often run the Sky+box/TV off the inverter if I want to record something without it being cut off
At Blackpoo CC site they unplug the mains leads to mow the grass!!
The site we go to has a hook up that has about 16 sockets in a cabinet so that its easy for leads (especially when fitted with the French connection)to press/touch the test button on the trip etc etc
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