Connecting to house power
Submitted: Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 11:46
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travellingblooms
Can anyone tell me how to connect my caravan (15amp) to mains (10amp) in my house.
We have just bought our new caravan and the dealer said it is very difficult to do this. I would have thought you could by an adaptor?
Thanks
Travellingblooms
Reply By: Tim HJ61 (WA) - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 12:03
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 12:03
Travellingblooms,
Short extension leads with a 15A female and 10A male is fine, but make sure you use suitable heavy duty cabling to be on the safe side. They put a 15A plug on there for a reason and the earth pin is larger to carry the extra load.
The safest way is to get an electrician in to install a dedicated 15A socket and switch near were you are going to park your van. This way you know you are electrically perfect and can run all the equipment in the van safely. In reality a 15A socket on your house is simply a single circuit on the power board with no extra outlets on it, as I understand.
I've found some caravan park outlets need a 15A male to go into their powerboards, so don't chop off the only 15A male you have.
Tim
AnswerID:
166638
Follow Up By: Chucky - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 12:44
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 12:44
A 10 amp male will plug into a 15amp female no worries.
The reason the caravan has a 15amp plug is that with everything running it caravan can draw upto 15amps no worries. If you are using a 10amp power socket it is easy to draw more than the 10amps from it and either trip the supply breaker, or if that dosn't happen, you could overheat the supply circuit starting fires, melted insulation etc. The reason the earth is larger is because if you have a full phase short from either the active or neutral phases to earth, it can handle the full current and not burn out the socket which can leave you with a active housing on equipment was
well as a fire.
Using a 10amp plug attached to a 15amp cable to power you caravan is illegal and will void insurance if caught. As
well as receiving a fine from the states elec. board.
Just get a sparky to put a 15amp extrnal power point in. You will be able to run normal household equipment from it when not powering the caravan. Or fit a 10 amp power socket in the caravan to power just the fridge from.
FollowupID:
421564
Follow Up By: V8troopie - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:06
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:06
Not quite right Chucky. if the socket is wired correctly then you cannot have a "full phase short??" from neutral to earth since neutral and earth are conneted together already at the switch board in single phase supplies. There is no such thing as a "neutral phase".
Look at it this way: the power comes from the active lead and returns on the neutral lead. The extra earth lead adds a safety factor as it connects to exposed metal parts and makes the fuse blow if the active wire should come in contact with those parts.
Klaus
FollowupID:
421600
Follow Up By: techie - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:40
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:40
Caravan parks are now being fitted with 15A sockets with an internal switch which will not allow power until a 15A plug is inserted. The switch is operated by the earth prong on the plug.
During normal operation the earth wire carries no current. It is only there for safety ie a short.
earth pin is designed to carry a short until the fuse/ CB blows.
Placing 10A plug is reducing the current carrying capability of the earth lead, reducing the effectiveness of the lead coping with a short cct- result cct braeker/fuse does not blow and results in fire or DEATH of individual. (read rcd device).
Expensive Van - Play safe - have a 15A outlet fitted to house or inside fuse box and run Extension lead.
Anything less is dangerous! (and illegal).
Regards
Techie.
FollowupID:
421628
Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 17:27
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 17:27
I think maybe the lead will fail first rather than a cut down 15A earth pin, the bigger deal here is the size of the lead to run the caravan, 15A leads are bigger, and have less volt drop
FollowupID:
422038
Reply By: seqfisho - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 14:24
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 14:24
As an Electrician by trade for the last 25 years I think there should be some mistruths staightened out here.
The earth pin carries no load until there is a fault of some description.
The reason the earth pin is bigger than a standard 10 amp plug top is to STOP you pluging in a high load to a standard 10 amp circuit
Yes you can go the other way and plug a 10 amp plug top into a 15 amp outlet
Technically, reducing the earth pin size on a HD 15 amp lead will not cause any performance or safety issues as the current carrying conductors (active and neutral) should be be large enough to support maximum demand and as already stated the earth pin doesn't carry any load, it is however illegale and if inspected would be made inoperable by the relavant authority, and given insurance these days I would not like to have a fire or some one get a shock in a van park and be using a lead with ground down earth pin.
As stated most people usuall only want to run the fridge etc before they go and these are usually plugged into a gpo (powerpoint) in the adjacent cupboard, so if you dont want to go down the path of a seperate 15 amp gpo at
home or aren't able too, then just run a standard 10 amp lead to the fridge lead and you will be perfectly inside the law and comply with all the regulations.
Regards Glen.
AnswerID:
166670
Follow Up By: Member - Brian (Gold Coast) - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:11
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:11
Yes!
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Follow Up By: Johnny boy - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:55
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 16:55
Listen to this guy !!!!! he is spot on .
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Follow Up By: Kiwi Kia - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 22:02
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 22:02
I also 100% agree with the above.
(registered electrical inspector)
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Reply By: travellingblooms - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:14
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:14
Thanks everyone for your replies.
I work in aviation under a strict safety management system
We deal with risk, likelyhood and consequences that may affect aviation safety.
Weighing up the likelyhood of something going wrong with do it yourself electrical work and the consequences of mistakes, It is obvious to me to leave it to a proffessional. Electric shock, fire, no payout on insurance and overall the safety of my wife and kids. just not worth it.
Thanks,
Travellingblooms
AnswerID:
166690
Reply By: Feral - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:55
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 15:55
..just one of life's little observations.
Isn't it funny how we can have a 'million & one' power boards plugged into our greatest asset (our homes) and run multiple power appliances from these and yet when we want to plug in our van fridge into the garage, we get all sorts of different opinions and theories. In the
home we use logic, fuses and circuit breakers and we trust them, but when we use a modified lead for the van this same logic, fuses and circuit breakers are discarded.
It's illogical to me.
Cheers.
Lyndon.
AnswerID:
166700
Follow Up By: Mike Harding - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 18:16
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 18:16
Not to mention that in Australia (and many other countries) we routinely plug appliances (table lamps etc) with a supply cord rated at 3 amps into an outlet backed up by a 10 amp wire fuse which under low overload conditions of (say) 15 amps will take hours to blow (I'll stand correcting on the time because I can't be bothered to look up the curves - but it will be a long time) long after the 3A cord has set your carpet on fire and burned your house down - but we don't worry about that do we? Because it's legal. It's wrong, but it's legal. This is the reason the UK has an appropriately rated fuse in the plug of each appliance.
Don't become paranoid about electricity people, sure it can be dangerous but it won't stalk you in the night and kill you and far fewer people die from electrical issues worldwide each year than from many other areas we accept without concern - nor is basic electrical knowledge complicated (despite what the electricians union would have you believe) or beyond the average person's capability to understand - just do a (very) little study and you'll be safe enough if you have any sense at all....
Don't you just love electrical threads on this
forum?
Mike Harding
FollowupID:
421661
Reply By: Member - Barry C (NT) - Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 23:49
Wednesday, Apr 12, 2006 at 23:49
It may pay to re read post number 5,,,, it says it all IMHO.
Well stated Glen.
Others also say why spend many thousands of $$$$$$$$$ and baulk at something that WILL void your insurance if a fireetc, and MAY kill (it IS possible) but who wants to risk that.
Another post quite rightly points out IMHO (again) that these safety features are designed to assist those who don't know basic elec safety. By encouraging them to modify you could unwittingly contribute to a sad accident.
I'll probably draw the crabs with this but it has to be said.
Barry
AnswerID:
166811
Reply By: Muzzgit (WA) - Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 at 00:07
Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 at 00:07
I bought a long 15 amp extension lead and cut it in half. On one length I put a 10 amp male and on the other length I put a 10 amp female.
Now I can plug the camper in at
home, or, plug my waeco in at a caravan park, or, join the two together and keep everyone happy.
AnswerID:
166813
Reply By: seqfisho - Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 at 09:09
Thursday, Apr 13, 2006 at 09:09
It is true that more people are killed on the roads getting to and from their perfect holiday destination and apart from always advising people to take it easy and slow down, remember your there for enjoyment not an endurance contest.
It is also a higher number than most realise as electrocution (not always resulting in death) is a very real danger around the household.
The main reason as quite a few people here have demonstrated is the lack of understanding and respect for the danger involved.
You cant see the danger till it bites you!
I've done my share of electrical accident investigations and repairs after the event and believe me you dont want to go anywhere near it ever happening to you.
Also if you value your
home and your family, install a safety switch.
Heed my warning all you people out there playing around with something you are not really sure about, you may get away with doing the wrong thing for years, but one day it will get you unless you treat it with care.
Sorry for the rant and I'll step off the soap box now.
Regards Glen.
AnswerID:
166855
Reply By: Tellem Bugrem - Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 16:11
Friday, Apr 14, 2006 at 16:11
KISS...for about $100 an electrician can install a 15 amp outlet in your power meter box. No more problems.
A 20is Honda Geni will run an Electrolux caravan air con. Turn all other electrical appliances off when starting the air con. Then when it's running steadily, you can turn the essential appliances back on. Make up a short (about 300mm) adapter (10 amp male to 15amp female) using 15amp rated three core cable.
Enjoy your travels...........Rob
AnswerID:
167020