Which Electric hook-up should I buy?

[GrannyJen]

Thanks all. Unexpected detail and passion in your postings, but all very worthwhile. I don't know my volts from my amps from my elbow but I can see that changing!

Some things are evolutionary and you just cannot predict.

When I first went off with my cali I not only needed EHU but my own mini nuclear reactor with all the high wattage electrical stuff that I carted around. Slowly my needs evolved, more and more I was wild camping, on the move every day, less needing of campsites and more needing of overnight stops, overnight stops then meant often stopping where there was a food source such as pub, chippy over the road etc... less need for wattage, more need to resolve issues of what happens when there is no possibility of EHU, finally no need for EHU 95% of the time.

Sometimes it really is worth waiting to get the van and then slowly add bits and pieces or you end up doing what I did the other week, travel to Scotland in about 15 different stages dropping off unused accessories to various forum members as I went.

I looked like an M6 bag lady at one point.

 

[Larkrise]

Although we have an unresolved issue with our EHU and carry a short and long cable in case in our first year and 20k of use we have never needed it. On campsites there is often a lot more choice of pitches when electric is not required and we have discovered that we rarely stay put for more than two nights in any one place.

 

[acer]

Trouble is, it's either think about this stuff or do some work. For me, the line between both is getting a bit blurry. Computers, research, typing. Sometimes, it even feels like work! And, making the right decision before purchase might save buying twice, so you're kind of making money too. Hmmm! Does it sound like I'm trying to convince myself?

 

[Trailertrash]

I bought the 25m cable and like most of you find it a pain to wind and unwind. The CC state that they do not allow joins. Are they being pedantic? Has anyone been roundly beaten by a warden for joining their cables?

 

[rich-s]

I bought the 25m cable and like most of you find it a pain to wind and unwind. The CC state that they do not allow joins. Are they being pedantic? Has anyone been roundly beaten by a warden for joining their cables?

Maybe worth investing in one of these. That would prevent any concerns of moisture getting in, if that is the CC's concern.

 

[MattBW]

Although I think you can get some form of induction (which can interfere with electronics) from a coiled cable, I believe its the simply the inability for heat to properly dissipate that causes the melting on hookup cables.

 

[sidepod]

Get one made from blue Arctic cable.
Infinitely more flexible when cold than the orange stuff.

 

[sidepod]

A cable is no different to a single bar electric fire in that the filament/element is designed to deliberately overheat (glow red) to achieve its function of heating. It's designed that way.
A hook up cable is no different other than at 220v it's designed to take a certain load which for a standard 2.5mm2 hook up cable is I think in the region of 30amps. You could say overkill bearing in mind that a typical UK camp site will trip at 16amps. They are building in a safety margin for those that want to power everything at once and haven't fully unwound there cable. Go back to the electric fire and the wire is glowing red hot. If you're pulling 16amps and you have a lot of cable wrapped around a drum/cable tidy there is no where for the heat to dissipate and you could get an overheating situation resulting in the cable catching fire.
Likely hood of that happening is probably low because if you're pulling that much load/current then it's probably dam cold outside which works in your favour for dissipating heat. But it's not good practice and you also have to take into account, as has previously been stated, the condition of the cable and the connections in the plugs. Loose connections increase current.
I should also mention length in that the longer a cable, the worse the current draw so from that point of view a shorter cable run should work in your favour.
I run with a 1.5mm2 cable which is of the 'artic type' and is rated to 16amps. I know I'm never pulling anything like that amperage. This has two benefits, first being the smaller section it's a lot lighter/takes less room and being 'artic cable' it's a lot easier to coil in all weathers.

2.5mmsq is good for 24A not 30.
This is at 20 deg ambient from memory (I don't have my copy of BS7671 to hand)
If temp increases then this figure will decrease.

 

[sidepod]

A cable is no different to a single bar electric fire in that the filament/element is designed to deliberately overheat (glow red) to achieve its function of heating. It's designed that way.
A hook up cable is no different other than at 220v it's designed to take a certain load which for a standard 2.5mm2 hook up cable is I think in the region of 30amps. You could say overkill bearing in mind that a typical UK camp site will trip at 16amps. They are building in a safety margin for those that want to power everything at once and haven't fully unwound there cable. Go back to the electric fire and the wire is glowing red hot. If you're pulling 16amps and you have a lot of cable wrapped around a drum/cable tidy there is no where for the heat to dissipate and you could get an overheating situation resulting in the cable catching fire.
Likely hood of that happening is probably low because if you're pulling that much load/current then it's probably dam cold outside which works in your favour for dissipating heat. But it's not good practice and you also have to take into account, as has previously been stated, the condition of the cable and the connections in the plugs. Loose connections increase current.
I should also mention length in that the longer a cable, the worse the current draw so from that point of view a shorter cable run should work in your favour.
I run with a 1.5mm2 cable which is of the 'artic type' and is rated to 16amps. I know I'm never pulling anything like that amperage. This has two benefits, first being the smaller section it's a lot lighter/takes less room and being 'artic cable' it's a lot easier to coil in all weathers.

A cable is not designed to deliberately overheat.
It's designed for the required load.

The current carrying capacity you incorrectly stated as 30A is not "overkill"
The current carrying capacity of a cable is selected according to the front end protective device i.e. It always more than the protective device. This ensures the circuit breaker trips before the cable melts.

You talk of long cables and current draw.
I assume you're talking of volt drop.
This depends on length and load size and type.

So when you're using your 16A 1.5cable with a 16A breaker you're effectively in a dangerous situation.
It's unlikely you'll be pulling close to 16A but your circuit protective device is equal to the current carrying capacity of the cable. It could be a toss up which goes first, your cable (followed by fire) or the circuit breaker.

 

[larrylamb]

I bought the 25m cable and like most of you find it a pain to wind and unwind. The CC state that they do not allow joins. Are they being pedantic? Has anyone been roundly beaten by a warden for joining their cables?

On a CC site you are probably never more than 15m from the hookup point so you could split your cable into a 15m and 10m set and just use one of them, no need to joint them out.

 

[Keith Smith]

When cable is coiled up it's electro magnetic induction between the coils which generates heat rather than its inability to dissipate heat. In use cables shouldn't run warm at all; if you have a cable that is warm then it's being overloaded or something is wrong.
Rather than have a cable reel I find it easier to use a cable bag, it's very quick to coil up and can be stored in the tailgate with the seats. If the cable is wet you can still fit the cable in the bag but leave the connectors poking out so that they are away from the damp interior of the bag.

 

[larrylamb]

Various camping organizations stipulate orange EHU cables so they can easily be seen for grasscutting etc.

Get one made from blue Arctic cable.
Infinitely more flexible when cold than the orange stuff.

 

[briwy]

The standard 3 pin plug/socket on the leads generally have an IP rating of 44. This should be normally proof against rain but probably not leaving it lying on the ground where water could gradually creep in. So if you do connect cables together try to keep the joint off the ground. After all, you don't generally protect plug on the van or at the hook up point from the the weather. Make sure you do the hook up end last when arriving and first when leaving. That makes sure you're not handling a live possibly wet cable.
IP ratings explained here.
http://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/

 

[Trailertrash]

Bought a Safebox for 9squid today. Many thanks Rich.....This thread has caused me more angst. than my large hadron collider. This is my first California and it has been like having a baby but without the awful child after. I do not want its electrics fried by a screeching howler monkey with a tent peg.

 

[Flood51]

I copied John's idea when using an awning to get safe power "under canvas" without have to run a cable out of the window or door.

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/power-to-your-awning.1985/#post-16176

And a 10m standard for short stays when not using an awning.

 

[MattBW]

When cable is coiled up it's electro magnetic induction between the coils which generates heat rather than its inability to dissipate heat. In use cables shouldn't run warm at all; if you have a cable that is warm then it's being overloaded or something is wrong.
Rather than have a cable reel I find it easier to use a cable bag, it's very quick to coil up and can be stored in the tailgate with the seats. If the cable is wet you can still fit the cable in the bag but leave the connectors poking out so that they are away from the damp interior of the bag.

I was always under this impression it was induction too but I spoke to my sparky brother who doesn't believe the induction effect would be significant in these cases as the coil isn't wound that tightly. He also said amp ratings are based upon being in the open air, coiling them or installing in a conduit would change the rating because of the extra insulation. He said generally insufficient amp cable that would cause heat build up and that the cable will have a coiled and uncoiled amp rating which will be slightly different not that I've ever seen the latter personally.

 

[larrylamb]

the cable will have a coiled and uncoiled amp rating which will be slightly different not that I've ever seen the latter personally.

Correct, most reel type extension leads with built in sockets state a max wound and unwound load (amps).

 

[Keith Smith]

I was always under this impression it was induction too but I spoke to my sparky brother who doesn't believe the induction effect would be significant in these cases as the coil isn't wound that tightly. He also said amp ratings are based upon being in the open air, coiling them or installing in a conduit would change the rating because of the extra insulation. He said generally insufficient amp cable that would cause heat build up and that the cable will have a coiled and uncoiled amp rating which will be slightly different not that I've ever seen the latter personally.

Yes your brother is right, if you run cable in insulation you have to reduce its rating as it can't dissipate heat, but the only time I have seen a hot cable is when there has been a fault or the cable is seriously underrated. Whereas cable reels can get hot very quickly without necessarily overloading them, which makes me think there is an electro-magnetic component to the heating process. Either way it is always good practice to unwind a cable reel before using it, even if it does come with a coiled rating.

 

[Old Sid]

A cable is no different to a single bar electric fire in that the filament/element is designed to deliberately overheat (glow red) to achieve its function of heating. It's designed that way.
A hook up cable is no different other than at 220v it's designed to take a certain load which for a standard 2.5mm2 hook up cable is I think in the region of 30amps. You could say overkill bearing in mind that a typical UK camp site will trip at 16amps. They are building in a safety margin for those that want to power everything at once and haven't fully unwound there cable. Go back to the electric fire and the wire is glowing red hot. If you're pulling 16amps and you have a lot of cable wrapped around a drum/cable tidy there is no where for the heat to dissipate and you could get an overheating situation resulting in the cable catching fire.
Likely hood of that happening is probably low because if you're pulling that much load/current then it's probably dam cold outside which works in your favour for dissipating heat. But it's not good practice and you also have to take into account, as has previously been stated, the condition of the cable and the connections in the plugs. Loose connections increase current.
I should also mention length in that the longer a cable, the worse the current draw so from that point of view a shorter cable run should work in your favour.
I run with a 1.5mm2 cable which is of the 'artic type' and is rated to 16amps. I know I'm never pulling anything like that amperage. This has two benefits, first being the smaller section it's a lot lighter/takes less room and being 'artic cable' it's a lot easier to coil in all weathers.

A lot of sense here. A tightly coiled cable will generate heat and may well melt the cable.
The idea of using 1.5mm2 cable also makes sense to me. The California has one 'mains' socket so it's unlikely you'll ever hang more than 2kw on the hook up cable. That's 8amps plus a bit for the battery charger. So a 16amp length of 1,5mm2 arctic cable makes sense. It's lighter and much easier to coil.

I carry three 10m cables and mostly use just one of them. The third cable has a standard 13a household plug with a flat indoor cable joiner plug/socket close to the 13a plug. This allows me to pass the cable through a letter box when we overnight in friends' gardens.

 

[Skylark2.0]

We have a preferred 10 m cable and an additional 25 m cable.
We oftern use either or both (plus an orange plastic torpedo connecty thing).
Would not risk going without all of these as we have used them all lots.

 

[andyinluton]

If you think you will do as recommended & plug in to charge up the batteries at home its worth making up a lead of the exact required length, Mine is about 6m long but lets me plug in inside the garage whilst parked on the drive, I got fed up uncoiling a 25m lead for that.

 

[GrannyJen]

A lot of sense here. A tightly coiled cable will generate heat and may well melt the cable.
The idea of using 1.5mm2 cable also makes sense to me. The California has one 'mains' socket so it's unlikely you'll ever hang more than 2kw on the hook up cable. That's 8amps plus a bit for the battery charger. So a 16amp length of 1,5mm2 arctic cable makes sense. It's lighter and much easier to coil.

I carry three 10m cables and mostly use just one of them. The third cable has a standard 13a household plug with a flat indoor cable joiner plug/socket close to the 13a plug. This allows me to pass the cable through a letter box when we overnight in friends' gardens.

I carry 2 10m cable.

If I need more than 20m then I just stand there looking at the useless end and cry.

 

[Old Sid]

I carry 2 10m cable.

If I need more than 20m then I just stand there looking at the useless end and cry.

Seems like a good tactic.

 

[Loz]

How come the Cali comes with a Euro>Commando adapter but no actual main EHU cable? Seems a bit odd.

 

[Annik]

We bought the two pack of 10m cables in the forum shop, very heavy duty so far have only over used one of them but nice to know we can connect them together if need be
https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/shop/product/campervan-hook-up-cables-10-metre-x-2-20m