Cable news - Dec 2022 magazine
I know this matter has been raised before, but I'm confused.
p92 of Dec 2022 magazine states conductors of minimum 2.5mm must be used. Last time I checked a 1.5mm cable was rated at up to 20 amp in open air. As we (are supposed to and I trust we do) unroll our cable and the feed to the post is rated at 16 amp then 1.5mm is easily up to the job and safe.
The one continuous length of cable requirement is also questionable. If you have a BSI approved/rated connector that is up to the job, I cannot see how legally the club can enforce a higher standard.
I suppose all this goes out of the window as they are assuming members are devoid of any common sense.
Colin
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2.5mm is the accepted standard throughout the industry for this use.
As for connectors, legality doesn't come in to it as, if a site owner says "no", that's all there is to it.
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Well I'm breaking another 'rule'! The EHU cable that came with our van - along with a 2 tonne trolley jack (Knaus) is at least half as thick again as a standard cable - it's made of rubber rather than plastic so it much easier to coil up - but it's BLACK. Whilst I always point it out to wardens hovering nearby with a lawnmower, I suppose it's only a matter of time before someone cuts through it.
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Wrap some bright yellow duct tape round at 2 metre intervals
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When in France a few years ago the staff at the site at Guines ran over and cut a black cable whilst they were mowing the grass. This caused a spark which was thrown out of the side of the mower into a stand of bamboo, setting it on fire. At the side of the bamboo was a caravan with an awning attached and immediately behind the bamboo was a LPG storage rack with about a dozen bottles on it ! The staff seemed at a loss what to do. They did try to remove the gas bottles but had no hosepipe to try to extinguish the flames, just a small extinguisher. It was up to caravanners on site to try to move the caravan, with awning still attached, and get water in buckets from the nearest standpipe which ran painfully slow. Eventually the local? fire service arrived.
Whilst not killing their clients, this continental site was trying its best to do so.
Continuing on the subject of the magazine article, why is it 'illegal' for me to use my shorter 15 metre cable when the EHU bollard is very close to my caravan?
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Continuing on the subject of the magazine article, why is it 'illegal' for me to use my shorter 15 metre cable when the EHU bollard is very close to my caravan?
It's not, it is just a poorly worded article, the Club wants a continuous cable and if it's 6 metres to the bollard and you have a 15m one then that satisfied their silly ruling.
I use this in the photo below, a 25m white cable on an extension reel with a reverse polarity socket for 'overthere' and the other socket for 'overhere'. It's put under the caravan with a short 2m cable into the battery box. Never had a negative comment from any site staff.
Last time I visited Lake Bled I had to join my 25m and a 20m (with a bucket over the reel) to even get to the closest available bollard, and that was across the site road also, think with volt drop I was lucky if I ended up with 200v
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I understand that the style of blue connector commonly used in the caravan industry is actually rated at 32 amperes, which is where the specification of a thicker cable comes from. The thin "caravan" cables will do very badly over about 20 amperes of load.
While we are at it, we should also consider that the plain push-in connectors are an inferior version only suited to use indoors in dry and dustless conditions. The correct version of these blue connectors has a screw locking ring that makes them virtually watertight. It is to be wondered at the Club trying to prohibit the use of waterproof joining connectors while promoting non-waterproof connectors on bollards exposed to rain and wind.
At least new installations where there is a mechanical switch-off required to extract the connector will help protect the user, and the Club (and the caravan industry in general) must have saved a tidy sum over the decades by using the cheaper connector outdoors.
P.S. The correct type of outdoor connector with the locking ring will mate electrically with the indoor version.
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Many club sites have the push in and turn clockwise till it locks type, then a red button has to be pressed to release it and it rotates back in order to pull it out . Others do just have push in type but both are facing slightly downwards but not fully I recall? I don't really give them much notice once I've plugged in.
I've certainly used both this year but can't remember which type was at what site.
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Agree Cy - it's one of those jobs I've been meaning to get round to - but it never seems to happen! I'll get some tape ordered now
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I must admit to using a 2.5mm x 25m cable in the UK, just to avoid any argument .
Abroad my approach is totally different. For over 20 years I have used a similar drum/reel method to above comments. As we know the bollards can often be a considerable distance away and frequently 6 or 10 amp is the norm. So then its a blue 1.5mm x 45m drum/reel. This sits in a waterproof stacker box in the awning or under the van. From there a 3m cable connects to the van hook up. If reverse polarity exists a short correction lead can be fitted. From the drum I have in the past plugged in a circuit breaker than fed a cable to a second fridge etc in the awning.
Colin
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I’ve stopped bothering with that one. Supposedly the way the Hymer is wired it’s not supposed to matter. However, just occasionally we still come across the old style French bollards, so a short converter is required for that. In the past with our caravans, I have had that followed by the reverse polarity one, so two joints in less than a metre. The CC would have a fit.
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I also have a thick black EHU lead that came with my Benimar.
I use red/white tape to highlight it's visibility (or lack of)..... but given the mowers are generally out on a daily basis on club sites the grass doesn't really get long enough to hide it anyway....
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One of the social media sites was giving out as advice that one should wrap tape at various points on one's EHU lead so that nefarious characters who might contemplate theft would be led to believe it had been damaged and repaired. So tape might lead Caravan Club wardens into a similar train of thought and bring up yet another rule being broken.
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True, just a brush & pan🤣🤣
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We could ban all cables😁 Eco pitches I think they are called🤣
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Not sure about humerus. Some would seem to have a bone to pick.
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Or to loup over the fence for that matter.
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