Hi All, Were off to France and Germany in June for 2 weeks. Could anyone give me advice on ehu in these countries, is it the same connection as the uk/ Were in a tent by the way, thanks
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
Many campsites is France and Germany use the European standard blue plug as we do in the UK. However you will find sites that still have the two pin continental style connectors. You can buy an adaptor for about a fiver in most good camping accessory shop. Don't forget, particularly in France, that ampage is a lot lower than you usually encounter in the UK, 6 amp is average. In Germany 16amp is widespread.
Most use the familiar blue sockets. Some sites use the older type sockets found indoors on the continent. You need a converter for these. Some sites abroad have Live + Neutral reversed (reverse polarity). This in itself isn't a big issue if you have a modern distribution unit with double pole circuit breakers. Where there can be problems is with UK appliances having a fuse in the plug, if the circuit breaker doesen't cut off both L + N. You can get left with a blown fuse & a "live" neutral connected & the possibility of the metal casing on your toaster or worse still the whole caravan being live if there is an earth fault - like a cut wire or loose connection. A tester is useful to check this. They also check for nasties like no earth. If polarity is reversed, it is a simple matter to swap the L + N in your EHU plug - remember to swap them back at the next site!
There is a lot of info on here about this. Do a search for more details.
There is a difference between the French 2 pin and the German 2 pin, known as a Schuko. The French socket has an earth pin which goes into a hole in the plug. The German connector has side earths.
I carry a couple of short leads ( half a metre long ) with the Blue 16A socket on one end and a German plug on one and a French plug on the other. The 'normal EHU cable can then be plugged into the appropriate cable if needed.
To avoid the reverse polarity situation I also made up a 1 metre long lead with the Blue connectors at each end and at one end I reversed the Live and Neutral connections. I marked both connectors with a permanent marker pen saying that it was a reverse polarity lead
Phil.
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
All modern appliances & caravan electrics are made to a common European standard, with switches that switch off all cables, so it matters not which way the polarity is. All you need is the adaptor to 2pin continental plug as in the link. You can buy these in any caravan shop or Halfords.
The toaster as described could well have been made in 1964 & should not be taken camping. Loads of 'reverse polarity' threads on ukcs, do a search.
Quote: Originally posted by Nimrodphil on 28/1/2010
There is a difference between the French 2 pin and the German 2 pin, known as a Schuko. The French socket has an earth pin which goes into a hole in the plug. The German connector has side earths.
Phil.
Phil
The same adaptor will fit either socket as they usually have both types of earth, internal and side straps. The German/Austrian site plug is better because you can just plug in the adaptor upside down to correct polarity.
David
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
As David says, French & German/Dutch plugs are not neccessarily interchangeable, some are dual purpose, some are not. For example you could plug a French plug into a German socket & there might be no earth, a German dual purpose plug could not be plugged into a French socket 'upside down' although it would be ok to use the correct way up.
& this of course is the problem with folk trying to correct reverse polarity when they don't really know what they are doing, they could actually make a safe installation dangerous.
We've found that on some sites some hook-up bollards have the new type connection, and others have the two pin! I suppose this can happen if sites extend into a new area and put in newer type connection bollards. Some of the larger sites may have a two pin adaptor you can borrow, but for the sake of £5 or so it's worth buying one to keep in your 'kit-bag'.
That red lamp is a reverse polarity indicator. If it is on, as said swap the L+N or make a polarity reverse lead. There are 2 pole MCBs in those units that should overcome any issues, but better safe.
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Topic: ehu in France and Germany
