What size power supply in caravan parks?

It is standard, most of us carry an adapter for when we are camped at a friends house.

There is a legal way to have a 10 amp to 15 amp adapter made up, so have a talk to a Lec lec about that.

Hi zigdog,
Caravan Park outlets are by law required to be 15 Amp. All you need in a caravan park is a lead with a 15 Amp plug and socket.

Bunnings should carry them ready made for a price less than I can buy the cable!

As to hooking your caravan - camper up at home you have two options, install a 15 Amp outlet near where you park the van or use a device thats name escapes me at the moment.

The device has a 10 Amp circuit breaker built into it. If you contact one of the advertisers on this site, RV Powerstream he can point you in the right direction.

Note: Electrical installations in caravan parks, houses etcetera are covered by AS3000, the caravan come camper is covered by I think from memory AS3004 or AS3006. Either way it'll be enshrined in law in the AS3000 range.

Geoff

Yes 15amp is standard across the industry.

While it is illegal to 1..file down the earth pin and 2..make an adapter to go from 15amp to 10amp alot of people do it.

Also a good idea is to carry a couple of different lengths of 15amp power lead. We carry a 5m and a 15m length, this way if you are close to the power pole you can use the 5m or as I have seen at numerous caravan parks the power supply is a fair distance away, so then you can use the longer length.

Cheers Greg

Oh..and happy camping

Thanks everyone - you've all helped settle my worries.

cheers,

Here is the real story!!!!!!!


TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
Within the last 10 years there have been a number of changes in power cord requirements. Generally speaking all RVs require a 15A power cord. A 15A cord is easily distinguishable from the normal rating of 10A by looking at the plug. On the 15A plug, the earth pin is considerably wider than one on a 10A socket. Apart from anything else, this means a 15A cord cannot be used in a normal 10A socket.

We should point out that we are aware that hidden away in many a caravan and motorhome are very short extension cords that have a 10A plug on one end and a 15A socket on the other for occasions when a 15A socket is not available, like at home. Technically these are not legal but do get used for things like charging up the house battery or cooling the fridge prior to a trip. In any event, they should not be used for any current that exceeds 10A.

In case you do not have an ammeter handy, the latter can be from high energy devices like an electric kettle or air-conditioner. Remember the formula, Watts = Volts x Amps, so if you have 10A and 240V and the device (or devices put together) is more than 2400W, you're in trouble.

((((You can use 10A power cords but there are a few restrictions. The length cannot exceed 10m unless a 1.5sq mm conductor is used, and the inlet socket on the RV and the circuit breaker must be rated at 10A only.)))


For 15A power cords, Australian/NZ standard 3001 specifies that four lengths can be used as per the table below.

The reason for the increase in cross-sectional area is to do with the fact that increased length causes voltage drop, and low voltage will result in dimmed lights but more seriously, damage to items like fridge motors.

If you're contemplating a 40m cable, keep in mind that it can be both expensive and heavy to carry!