EHU Cable length

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Giles123

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Hi all
We have just ordered a Roller Team T-Line 700 as our first motorhome only having camped before so new to the EHU world. Wondering what people’s views are on what length of cable to get. Have seen a few comments in various places that 10m ones can be on the short side depending on the site layout but one comment suggested 25m which seems a bit belt, braces and piece of string especially as I get that you need to unroll the whole cable to avoid the overheating issue when in use.
As ever thanks in advance for all the comments!
 
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VXman said:
I've seen 200 metres at Le Mans 24 hour campsites (plugged into the mens loos!)
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Same up the road here when they run cables to the boxes in the road from the bmx track
varaizian said:
The motorhome first bit; I understand the logic of unwinding the lead to avoid overheating.
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If you plug in to the power first it is possible to be electrocuted if there is a fault in the cable at the van end .plug in the van first & cable is dead until plugged in to the power.
 
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OttovanKamper said:
How common is it to find you need to use the reverse polarity lead?
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Its quite a few over Europe and Scandinavia I have a built in warning light on the main fuse box so it lets me know as soon as I hook up, you can also buy a small 3 pin plug with a warning light and that will give you heads up. I am not electrically minded so better safe than sorry.
 
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I carry 1x25m and 1x15m but to be honest most of the time I use the 15m cable, my motorhome is 8 meters long
 
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Burge said:
Well if you want to walk about with a LIVE 230V Cable before you connect to your Van then go ahead 🤣🤣
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I thought it might be because of some technical issue that I didn’t know about. We all perceive risks differently and that one still doesn’t bother me. But thanks anyway!
 
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varaizian said:
I thought it might be because of some technical issue that I didn’t know about. We all perceive risks differently and that one still doesn’t bother me. But thanks anyway!
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No probs 👍

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I’ve just used my 25m for the first time in an age. On a camping car park site and why not; save my gas. We used to carry 25m and a 10m, but 10m has been relegated to home use only and 25m relegated to the depths of the boot area.
Bollard close but just flake lead out.
 
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rod_vw said:
No three way splitters and share with the neighbours then in the French style? 😁
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A pic courtesy of “All the Aires” book even warns you of this🫣🥴🥴
IMG_1426.jpeg
 
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Mick and Ruth said:
Its quite a few over Europe and Scandinavia I have a built in warning light on the main fuse box so it lets me know as soon as I hook up, you can also buy a small 3 pin plug with a warning light and that will give you heads up. I am not electrically minded so better safe than sorry.
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I used the link earlier in the thread to check out the polarity reversal cable and saw a few of the test plugs.
I assume with these you have to connect to EHU and then test your supply in van and if necessary use the polarity reversal cable.

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We have ten metre one and a 50 mtr on a reel, the reel comes in handy on some aires but always flake it out to avoid overheating.
 
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I cut our 25m down to 12.5m on a UK site about 20 minutes ago. I have been meaning to do it for ages as I get sick of winding in 25m anytime we use it. We have another 25m cable in the shed and that will come with us along with this shorter one as we found that 25m could be lacking on some European sites. If the newly shortened one is not sufficient on this trip, we will be fine as we have a decent battery system.
Safe and happy travels.
 
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OttovanKamper said:
I used the link earlier in the thread to check out the polarity reversal cable and saw a few of the test plugs.
I assume with these you have to connect to EHU and then test your supply in van and if necessary use the polarity reversal cable.
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(y)Yes plug in check polarity and if required use the connector I find a lot of the reverse polarity sites are the ones with two pin type connections, but can be any.

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Pausim said:
I have an expanding hose, perhaps someone can invent an expanding ehu lead.😀
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You wouldn't believe how much it stretches when you drive off with the cable still connected!

To answer your question, I started out with 2 x 25m orange cable. Very heavy, and only needed the full length once, in Italy. Now travel with 25m and 10m blue cable.
 
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25m for us.
Reeled in from the middle so unwind what we need..( can unwind either end)
In 20 years I have never unwound the whole thing
 
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25m cable for us too. On some continental sites it can be a long way from a pitch to a shared EHU post.

I'm also a bit perplexed about the supposed safety advantage of plugging into the van before the post. I don't really understand the perceived risk.

What do people do about extension leads at home, etc.?

As long as you're not dunking the live end into buckets of water, or sticking metal forks into the end, what's the actual issue?
 
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Where the cable goes into the trailing end that plugs into the van is probably the most part of the lead. That sufferers from stress or the risk of the cable being pulled out. At least with that end in first you are at a lesser risk walking on wet ground you will only get bitten once.

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I carry two 25m cables and one about 10m. As it happens we've pulled onto a rural Aire in France (https://www.searchforsites.co.uk/marker.php?id=3174)
where the 10m cable was not long enough and as the electricity is free I felt duty bound to use some to top up the lithium etc.
Oh the pleasures of wandering rural France.
 
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Jabstatt said:
Do you fancy carrying and gripping a live 16a socket in the pouring rain.
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Why would anybody do that? live or not I'd wait until it's stopped raining.

This is a modern disease in society brought about by litigation.. The death of common sense 😢
 
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