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

 

[Ex-caravanner]

Basically if you have your Kettle and iron and boiler going at the same time it will trip the breaker on the hook up post so try not to use to many things at once, you’ll soon get the hang of it and don’t worry to much you can always get it switched back on

Iron........don't use one of those at home

 

[cmcardle75]

cmcardle75

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

A modern electronic inverter designed for the European market will probably actually produce 230V. However, the official tolerances allow a wide range of voltages that appliances are required by law to accept in order to be CE approved. The response curves of protection devices take into account that you might be using a resistive load at the maximum permitted input voltage and, thus, will indefinitely allow substantially more than the rated current before blowing at 230V where the current for the same device would be lower. In fact, they shouldn't instanteously blow until the current reaches 3 times the rating (but must blow before reaching 5 times the rating), assuming standard domestic B curves.

 

[pappajohn]

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

There may be three outlets but they aren't covered by one breaker
Each outlet will have its own breaker.
No good having 10a if its shared. At worst case it would only be 3.3amps each.

 

[Spriddler]

There may be three outlets but they aren't covered by one breaker
Each outlet will have its own breaker.
No good having 10a if its shared. At worst case it would only be 3.3amps each.

Indeed so, but don't confuse us when we're happy talking bollards.

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[cmcardle75]

There may be three outlets but they aren't covered by one breaker
Each outlet will have its own breaker.
No good having 10a if its shared. At worst case it would only be 3.3amps each.

That doesn't mean this isn't done. Even with individual 16A breakers for each outlet, the designers of the wider system would allow diversity for the shared parts of the system. For a 100 pitch campsite, they won't multiply 100 by 16A and provision a 1600A supply as that is probably many times the maximum that would ever be encountered and extremely expensive to do (not to say probably refused by the electricity company). They expect only a fraction of each pitch's supply to be used simultaneously. Designing such systems and deciding what diversity is appropriate to use to optimise reliability against cost is a proper engineering exercise in many cases.

Even within houses, this happens. On the UK system, a 32A ring circuit might be supplying 20 double 13A sockets. But you don't run cable for 500A and fit a consumer unit for a warehouse installation. That would be silly, impractical and completely pointless. Instead, you apply diversity and limit the floor area to be covered by a 32A circuit, usually based on the requirement for enough emergency fan heaters to heat the property as the central heating is broken.

 

[pappajohn]

 

[Vipar]

How much would this draw?

 

[Lenny HB]

How much would this draw?View attachment 494868

A lot of current.

 

[Rustyspanners]

Plus the supply to a campsite would 3 phase so the 100 outlets would 30 or so per phase

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[Rustyspanners]

One eccles

 

[cmcardle75]

Plus the supply to a campsite would 3 phase so the 100 outlets would 30 or so per phase

With no experience in calculating diversity for a campsite, I'd guess that a 3 x 100A supply would be enough to cover 100 pitches, particularly if the pitches are metered. I reckon 3A per pitch is a reasonable guess at peak load, unless the campsite is frequently fully booked in winter, where electric heating becomes an issue. If the electricity is metered, people will tend to use gas for heating. If unmetered, they'll tend to electricity and you might need more supply. However, this is offset in the UK because a 100 pitch campsite in January will only have a handful of occupants.

 

[Eggs]

Plus the supply to a campsite would 3 phase so the 100 outlets would 30 or so per phase

There's no 3 phase on the farm CS my mate owns, there's a 3 phase transformer on a 'H' pole but it doesn't supply the farmyard or the CS. I'll grab a picture tomorrow. I don't know if that's because it's in a hamlet of about 50 houses?

When he needs to run the big welder he has to fire a big ol' genny up that was left over on the airfield from WW11.

 

[bigalw35]

You will probably trip the RCD when you put the kettle on, if you also have your hot water boiler or heating on, unless you have a low wattage Kettle, which I am selling if your interested.

Not so about the rcd tripping, rcd’s only trip on fault current exceeding 30ma, not over current, mcb’s trip on over current

 

[Rustyspanners]

I believe there are extra charges if you want 3 phase supply but as this gives 400volts between phases it provides higher power for the same current that 230 volt will.

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[monzer]

 

[bigalw35]

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

sorry to argue but what you are talking about here are RCBO's, rcd's do NOT trip out on over current, only on FAULT current

 

[bigalw35]

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?

I haven't found any that are more than 240 !!

 

[bigalw35]

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.

Because the reason for different ratings that is you're protecting the circuit/appliance it relates to

 

[bigalw35]

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

YES, I will take some piccies later of a unit I've installed in ours so that the wife can easily see what she plugging in

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[bigalw35]

YES, I will take some piccies later of a unit I've installed in ours so that the wife can easily see what she plugging in

this is the unit I've installed, it just goes in line with your supply, just after the plug/socket to get the usage reading, incidentally I brought it from ebay, the biggest problem is mounting it (finding somewhere) wiring it is a doddle, good luck, been installed for a couple of years now, sorry about the reflective flash from the camera

 

[autorouter]

If the hookup post is limited to 10amps, that means the total amps you can use in the motorhome is 10 amps. At 240 volts, that's a maximum of 240 x 10 = 2400 watts. So you have to ensure that the total load of your appliances is kept within that limit.

With small appliances like a phone charger and TV (less than 100 watts each) you don't have to worry. Larger appliances like a coffee maker (1200W), hair dryer (up to 2000W) or fan heater (1000 to 2000W) you have to be careful. Some use a lower-wattage 'travel kettle' (700 to 1000W) and the lower setting of the hairdryer for example.

 

[Pausim]

Worth remembering that a Truma Combi 6E will be using 1800W when on the 2 E or 2 Mix settings.

 

[autorouter]

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.

The RCD main contacts are designed for the current they have to break. 32A contacts are smaller and cheaper than 63A contacts. The breaker may be triggered by a 30mA difference, but it still has to cut off the total current passing through at the time.

 

[Burgo]

That would be interesting to see.
3000w = 13amps
A 6amp hookup is just 1380w
A 10amp hookup is 2300w

Its just not possible to get 13amps (3kw) from a 6amp or 10amp breaker.

He could do 3000w on a 6amp bollard on a 500v supply

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[Themselves]

How much would this draw?View attachment 494868

It stands to raisin this will not work