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Topic: EHU Cable Length - What Do You Recommend?

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Message posted by davie on 01/5/2012 at 9:35am

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I have just bought my first motorhome and it came with three reels of electric hook up cable.
One had a Schuko female end - cant think of any use for that so will dispose.
The other two have BS EN 60309-2 plug/sockets (european standard colour-coded blue). One is 25m; the other 30m - so 55m when daisy-chained.
But I would expect that a shorter cable would be much handier so was thinking about cutting down one of the cables.
Can anybody offer advice on what lengths I need?

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Message posted by gazmister123 on 01/5/2012 at 9:39am View Profile Quote Tell a friend
gazmister123 Diamond Member Outfit: Mooveo C707 Motorhome Location: Redditch Worcestershire Joined: 30/5/2006 Posts: 2443 Site Reviews: 18 Tent Reviews: 1 Gallery Images: 3	Ours is 25metres, It never had to daisy chain it although wouldn't want one any shorter as on occasions it has just been long enough. ------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Message posted by mikecandsarhab on 01/5/2012 at 10:50am View Profile Quote Tell a friend
mikecandsarhab Platinum Member Outfit: Location: Joined: 23/11/2008 Posts: 1422 Site Reviews: 7 Gallery Images: 0	*i 2 had 2 cables both at 25m though, i cut one so i now have a 10m, 15m, and 25m(which i dont use much.*

Message posted by pepe63 on 01/5/2012 at 11:03am

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I did similar to the above poster(Mike?)...

Although I do leave the one short length plugged in the garage,so it can be just dragged out to the van when I want to charge it...this way I don't risk leaving the "van lead" at home by mistake.(..which happend once.. )

Message posted by naebother on 01/5/2012 at 1:07pm View Profile Quote Tell a friend
naebother Platinum Member Outfit: aztec cantera 9 vango tamor500 vango Location: central scotland Joined: 20/10/2008 Posts: 637 Site Reviews: 0 Tent Reviews: 1 Gallery Images: 0	in this country i only carry a 25 metre cable, but when abroad sometimes the power bollards can be scattered quite far away, so i carry two cable when travelling abroad.If you are planning to travel abroad an adaptor is useful as some sites only use the european domestic plugs. I think that is what your extra cable may be for ------------- ......... John

Message posted by evenstephen on 01/5/2012 at 3:27pm

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25m is the norm and 99 times out of a hundred will be more than sufficient though if the 30m one doesn't take up much more room it might be worth taking that instead as even in the UK I have come across one or two situations where we were further than 25m from the bollard. We have a 25m and a 10m one which has allowed us to daisy chain in an emergency but also on many sites where the EHU is right there it's less of a pain to unroll the 10m than the longer one.

Message posted by EJB986 on 01/5/2012 at 4:12pm

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Years ago I bought two 25m cables.

I split one into 10m and 15m lengths.

Perfect wherever we go!

I also have two adaptors one for normal UK plugs and one for Northern European plugs.

It works for us....only ever used all three together....in Belgium last year.

-------------
Ted

Message posted by romany on 01/5/2012 at 5:04pm View Profile Quote Tell a friend
romany Diamond Member Outfit: F. Tnt. R Tnt Elddis Mistral. Quecha. Location: Wallingford Oxfordshire. Joined: 28/4/2003 Posts: 6707 Site Reviews: 7 Gallery Images: 3	I carry a 50 metre dont see any problems with that would not want any shorter as I use farm sites and ehu is sometimes far away I just put the extra under the van for shorter runs ------------- Only dead fish go with the flow

Message posted by davie on 02/5/2012 at 9:33am View Profile Quote Tell a friend
davie Silver Member Outfit: Location: Joined: 30/5/2007 Posts: 103 Site Reviews: 10 Gallery Images: 0	Well, the concensus is that I should leave the 30m as is, and chop the 25m into 10 and 15 metre lengths. thanks everybody

Message posted by JTQU on 02/5/2012 at 9:59am View Profile Quote Tell a friend
JTQU Platinum Member Outfit: Hymer 546 "S" caravan Location: Hampshire Joined: 01/11/2005 Posts: 1164 Site Reviews: 0 Gallery Images: 2	There are IEE limitation on the maximum length of flexible cable that can be used in the UK; for our size wire cores it is 25 metres. "Daisy chaining" is discouraged and not allowed if exceeding the maximum length [in our case 25 m] anyhow. Clearly UK campsites are legally bound to comply with the IEE regulations. This link refers: http://info.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Workshop/elecsafe/FAQ.html#Exleads

Message posted by sasquatch on 02/5/2012 at 12:04pm View Profile Quote Tell a friend
sasquatch Silver Member Outfit: Hymer Exsis Silverline Location: North West England Joined: 04/12/2005 Posts: 181 Site Reviews: 1 Gallery Images: 2	Having had a cable cut by a tractor crossing the area where the bollard was,I now carry a 3mm core armoured cable,it has proved very handy especially on crowded show sites.]It is a swine to coil when cold!

Message posted by davie on 02/5/2012 at 12:14pm

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Quote: Originally posted by JTQU on 02/5/2012
There are IEE limitation on the maximum length of flexible cable that can be used in the UK; for our size wire cores it is 25 metres. "Daisy chaining" is discouraged and not allowed if exceeding the maximum length [in our case 25 m] anyhow.
Clearly UK campsites are legally bound to comply with the IEE regulations.

This link refers:

http://info.ee.surrey.ac.uk/Workshop/elecsafe/FAQ.html#Exleads

Ah, that is interesting. So maybe I should be chopping down my 30m extension; not my 25m extension.
An advantage of chopping one of my extensions is that there will be less voltage drop with a shorter cable and thus equipment and lights might work better? But I think all the equipment and lights are 12v and probably regulated so mains voltage drop would not matter?

Message posted by pepe63 on 02/5/2012 at 1:09pm

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"Voltage drop" was discussed(argued about?)on here recently..

During that "discussion" there was a view expressed that sensitive medical apparatus would/could be affected...but I would suggest than anyone who needed to use such a thing on a campsite should make sure they pitch close to the hookup point..

Any "legalities" aside..on the odd occassion where we've "needed" to use two leads(say our 25m and 15m),it made absolutely no noticable difference to the operation of the lights,TV,kettle etc, or the charging system...

Message posted by davie on 02/5/2012 at 3:06pm View Profile Quote Tell a friend
davie Silver Member Outfit: Location: Joined: 30/5/2007 Posts: 103 Site Reviews: 10 Gallery Images: 0	I've done a bit more research and the safety issue seems not to be associated with voltage drop but with the increased resistance of the earth wire due to its longer length. Thus, in case of a fault, fuses and RCDs may not activate quickly. So if you really have to use a longer lead than is recommended then fit a RCD at the user end of the extension lead.

Message posted by JTQU on 02/5/2012 at 3:13pm View Profile Quote Tell a friend
JTQU Platinum Member Outfit: Hymer 546 "S" caravan Location: Hampshire Joined: 01/11/2005 Posts: 1164 Site Reviews: 0 Gallery Images: 2	Quote: Originally posted by davie on 02/5/2012 So if you really have to use a longer lead than is recommended then fit a RCD at the user end of the extension lead. Thankfully with our Mhs and caravans that comes as standard.

Message posted by saxo1 on 02/5/2012 at 4:07pm

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The length/resistance of the earth wire won't affect the operation of the RCD it doesn't require the existance of an earth wire to operate.

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