For complicated reasons we're moving to a site where the fees include electricity. Any idea where I might buy a cable over here please? We don't usually use it but if we're paying for it anyway. .. Any suggestions gratefully received. We're in Brittany if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance.
------------- Sean
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Get in touch with the site* as they may well have one to lend you or charge you a small rental. They'll also probably know of the nearest supplier if they don't carry them.
Otherwise as above - plus Intersport.
* e-mail the site and use DeepL to translate from English to French (and vice versa for their response) if needed. An attached photo of your connection might help to clarify. Avoid using abbreviations like I've - say I have. We live in France and even though my wife is pretty fluent we use Deepl fairly regularly.
You could use Amazon.fr and get one delivered to your site. Or, bearing in mind Bernie's point, possibly have one shipped to you from the UK (with an EU adapter).
It is difficult to find a proper hookup cable with the required protection and any I have found are ridiculously expensive,3 times the cost of a similar UK one!
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
You might not be able to get an ehu cable as we know it in France. However what the French use is all available at your nearest Eleclerc supermarket or Leroy Merlin. A 25 metre domestic extension cable drum with sockets in the side. An adaptor French 2pin plug to to the blue/white ehu plug but some French sites still use the ordinary 2pin domestic socket so may not be needed.
If you are in a caravan then an adaptor 2pin plug to ehu socket that goes into caravan. You make already have one of these normally used at site socket end but it might not be long enough. It needs to be long enough to go under caravan to cable drum which you put under caravan to keep it dry. You could make one up cheaply enough by buying short extension lead say 1metre cut off socket & attach ehu plug.
Thats how most French caravanners do it. & tent campers as well plugging appliances into cable drum. No RCD protection of course. It is France after all.
The OP uses a tent according to their profile.
In a caravan you don't need another RCD but in a tent you are reliant on the campsite RCD, it depends how safety conscious you are!
saxo1
Pretty well all the LX 'posts' on French campsites have built in RCD's ... so no need to have another in your tent.
Just plug in your French extension lead (reel is easiest), have a 25m one incase: some pitches can be quite a distance from the nearest LX post ... have a ceeform (blue) adaptor in case: many sites use them ... and hey presto!
Be aware that if you buy a French power cable (reel or otherwise), you will need continental to UK adaptors to plug in any UK equipment ... or have an adaptor single continental plug to a bank of multi variable sockets.
A lot of campsites have RCDs that are time delayed to ensure that the downstream RCD will discriminate, these aren't suitable for personal protection.
The vast majority of UK campsites have individual RCDs on the post that do meet the required protection level but even in the UK some of the older sites may still have time delayed RCDs.
It is recommended that hookups for tents have their own RCDs and there are a great many posters that say "dont buy one from Ebay" they don't have the required protection.
As I said it boils down to your attitude to safety.
In case it helps anyone else. We got everything needed from a Super U, where all the necessary bits had the same packaging to make them easy to find. Decathlon appear to sell only the bit for plugging into the borne electrique. Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.
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Topic: Buying an EHU cable in France
via mobile 15/8/2022 at 6:12pm
