16amp on a 10amp campsite

[Shellie]

Hi

I've just got my van and looking to book a campsite. On the electric hookup it say 16amps. However the campsite say it only has a 10amp connection. Is this going to be an issue?

Thanks

Shellie

 

[Eggs]

Just looking on the Internet and found amps=watts/volts. I know I'm asking a silly question but are the electric hook ups 240v?

Yes, roughly. Your van is 240v and max rated at 16 amps. You will be able to run most things you run at home on a site that's got a 10 amp supply, just not all at once. If you boil a domestic kettle don't have your hairdryer going at the same time. Basically if the appliance that you want to use is providing heat it's one at a time, that heat can be a kettle, electric heater, hairdryer etc. Some of those May trip the bollard on there own but not often.

 

[cmcardle75]

They will trip on overload as well.
If they didn't trip why so many different current rated RCDs....
32a 30ma for ring mains,
45a 30ma for electric shower and instant water heaters.
63a 30ma for consumer unit main switchs.

An RCD does not trip on overload. They will have a current rating that you should not exceed (often 63A), but won't trip just because you exceed it. For that you need an MCB. It is increasingly common to combine the MCB and RCD into a single device. When this is done, it is called an RCBO. That will trip on overload, short circuit and earth leakage.

 

[pappajohn]

I think it is just telling you the maximum current it can safely handle before it melts or burns out. The MCB looks after overload, the RCD detects leakage.

Again, if it doesn't trip why not make them all high amps rated then there's no risk of melting or burning out.
Instead of using a 32a 32ma on a ring main just fit 63a 32ma...or the same 63a 32ma on all circuits.

 

[pappajohn]

For that you need an MCB. It is increasingly common to combine the MCB and RCD into a single device. When this is done, it is called an RCBO. That will trip on overload, short circuit and earth leakage.

Apologies.... Once again mixing RCD and RCBO.
But the question above still applies.
If it won't trip why have 32a, 45, 63a when a 63a will cover all eventualities.
Can't be cost, its the same case, same internal design, internals which may be slightly beefier as the rating increases but not that more expensive.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Shellie]

Is there a way to find out what current my van draws?

 

[knickam]

Again, if it doesn't trip why not make them all high amps rated then there's no risk of melting or burning out.
Instead of using a 32a 32ma on a ring main just fit 63a 32ma...or the same 63a 32ma on all circuits.

An RCD should not be used on its own. It should have 1 or more circuit breakers fed from it which look after the individual trip currents of different circuits
As said above you can get RCBO's which are a combination of RCD and circuit breaker.
These are fine if you want RCD protection for a single circuit but an expensive option for multiple circuits, Normally have a higher current rated RCD supplying multiple circuit breaker protected circuits

 

[pappajohn]

Is there a way to find out what current my van draws?

You can buy meters which tell you the amount your using at any time.
OWL is one such meter.
There is no definate amount of current you use, its always variable.

 

[Rapido925M]

Your van doesn't draw anything: it's the devices which you are using that draw the current!

If it's a 3000W kettle then it will draw "watts/volts" =3000/240 = 12.5A (voltage may be 220V; without a calculator to hand I use V=250V!)
If it's a 50W fan then the current = 50/240 = 0.21A
And so it goes on.

If you use both of them at the same time then the current will be 12.5 + 0.21 = 12.71A
And on and on and on.

Gordon

 

[pappajohn]

An RCD should not be used on its own. It should have 1 or more circuit breakers fed from it which look after the individual trip currents of different circuits
As said above you can get RCBO's which are a combination of RCD and circuit breaker.
These are fine if you want RCD protection for a single circuit but an expensive option for multiple circuits, Normally have a higher current rated RCD supplying multiple circuit breaker protected circuits

Sparky for near 30 years, I was absent mindedly mixing RCD for RCBO

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

Your van doesn't draw anything: it's the devices which you are using that draw the current

That's a bit pedantic.

 

[Spriddler]

Is there a way to find out what current my van draws?

It varies depending upon the cumulative power requirement in Watts which dictates the current draw in Amps of all the items you are using or that are switched 'ON' at any particular moment.
Watts divided by 240 (the EHU supply voltage) = Amps.

 

[donkey]

For sure the OP will soon find out just how much current She can draw from the bollard. Best get a pair of outdoor shoes and dressing gown at the ready for the midnight walk to reset the trip.
Nothing like experience to teach us valuable lessons.

Geoff

 

[cmcardle75]

Technically, it's all at 230V these days. No-one actually changed the voltage down from 240V here or up from 220V there, they just redefined the tolerances. However, you should use 230V in calculations and may assume that those published tolerances are applicable, even if it, in reality, results in currents a bit higher or lower than those that actually occur.

 

[Rob Turner]

Just looking on the Internet and found amps=watts/volts. I know I'm asking a silly question but are the electric hook ups 240v?

230v but could be anywhere between 216.2 and 253

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mr porky]

We have just left a camc site that had 10 amp supply. No problem our internal panel let’s us select 1 or 2 or 3 setting for electric.
we usually have it on 2 which lets us run everything including a standard household kettle whilst the heating and water is power on.
knocked it down to 1 and no problems, no midnight run in dressing gown to reset the power

 

[Realist]

Would an RCD trip? I thought the RCD was tripped by leakage not overload. I would expect the sites 10A circuit breaker to be the first thing to operate.

You can get all in once RCD and breakers all in one and that’s what most sites use.

 

[Rapido925M]

That's a bit pedantic.

Proud to have been a teacher (of physics) across 5 decades

Gordon

 

[Spriddler]

In practice is not a big deal whether you use 230 or 240 for your voltage since 2500 watts at 230v is 10.8 amps and 2500 watts at 240v is 10.4 amps.
If 0.4 amps causes the bollard to trip you've been over the bollard max at either voltage.

 

[Realist]

Don’t worry about voltage it fluctuates anyway 230/240.

Just be careful what electrical devices you use specially the biggest like microwave, kettle and water heater.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[bigwood]

Talking about site hook up our hook up went off last night. We are on a three outlet bollard . At the time we only had the fridge and the lights on.
As it was bed time I put the fridge on gas and left it. After a while there was a rather heated conversation behind our pitch. This morning the hook up was back on and the other two users were packing up and I kept out of the way.

 

[Rustyspanners]

MCB's /RCBO's trip on overload. The time it takes to trip depends on the level of overload.
This is known as the time current characteristics thier are graph curves that can cross referance the current for a particular MCB.
There are different types of MCBs with letters A B C D which are able to tack a surge of currant for short times. RCD looks for an imbalnce of current in the 2 conductors live and neutral. If there is current missing it trips normaly 30mA for personal protection or 100mA for building i.e. fire

MCB - DIYWiki

wiki.diyfaq.org.uk

 

[Eggs]

Rather than get into how electricery works wouldn't it be better to explain to the OP what he/she can use with a 10 amp supply, and how to do it without (hopefully) throwing the bollard out.

 

[Spriddler]

I've been on the Aire at Dieppe where up to 6 m/h have been connected all day via a jumble of splitters and multi-sockets for the two days I was there. There were many heated multi-lingual arguments when it kept tripping as the notice said 'To be used only for battery charging'.
I just used my gas options.

Rather than get into how electricery works wouldn't it be better to explain to the OP what he/she can use with a 10 amp supply, and how to do it without (hopefully) throwing the bollard out.

O.K.
Everything you have which is mains powered from the EHU (the bollard supply) will have its power requirement (in watts) on a sticker somewhere. (You may have to refer to the relevant manual for some fixed/inaccessible items e.g. the water heater and fridge).
Add up the watts on all the equipment you are actually using or intend to have switched on at the same time.
Dividing that total of watts by 230 will tell you how many amps will be drawn.
If it's more than the rating of the bollard the bollard supply will trip (be cut off).

Be aware that you can reset the bollard yourself very simply but some require the warden to do it as it requires a 'key' to access the trip unit to reset it - no fun if out of the warden's office hours.

 

[Rustyspanners]

Rather than get into how electricery works wouldn't it be better to explain to the OP what he/she can use with a 10 amp supply, and how to do it without (hopefully) throwing the bollard out.

I thought that had already been done and poeple had moved on to the types of breakers and what effect that had on the situation.
I now feel suitably chastised by you and won't bother with my 40 years of industial experience unless directly asked.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Eggs]

I thought that had already been done and poeple had moved on to the types of breakers and what effect that had on the situation.
I now feel suitably chastised by you and won't bother with my 40 years of industial experience unless directly asked.

Yes it has been explained but to most people who don't understand the basics it needs explaining when they come back with more questions. I wasn't chastising anyone, I could build a control panel, and fault find it, could I rewire a house, no!

No need to get your knickers in a twist. When someone isn't sure if their van is 240v on EHU things need to be kept simple.

I bow to your vast experience.

 

[Tombola]

cmcardle75

So what should I have coming out the back of my inverter please CMC ?
that i use to plung my appliances in

 

[Rustyspanners]

Jusy saying it takes time and current to trip

 

[Rustyspanners]

cmcardle75

So what should I have coming out the back of my inverter please CMC ?
that i use to plung my appliances in

Pure sine wave if you want to power electronics

 

[Spriddler]

It seems that the OP's allowance divided by their posts has tripped their access.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[pappajohn]

Rather than get into how electricery works wouldn't it be better to explain to the OP what he/she can use with a 10 amp supply, and how to do it without (hopefully) throwing the bollard out.

Agreed, but there is no 'list' of what can and can't be used.
Unless you mean things like a 3kw kettle won't work on a 10a supply but a 2kw will.
Then there's the accumulated wattage of item used at the same time.
I posted how many watts each amp rating can provide and if more than one item the wattage must be accumulated.
Can't make it any plainer.