Morocco 2019

[PhilandMena]

Whoops ! Forget my post above, I see you have in fact named the site in your post.

 

[jongood]

Whoops ! Forget my post above, I see you have in fact named the site in your post.

No worries

Are you still at Sidi Ifni?

Is it fully recovered from the flooding now?

Jon

 

[River gypsys]

Not sufficient voltage at Sidi Kaouki to power the fridge. I thought it might have come on at night when everyone switched off, but it has defrostedt......................the low voltage seems to be the norm rather than just at peak times.
Don't really want to use up the gas, so I guess we'll leave tomorrow....................... a warning for others who might just have stocked their freezer at the Carrefour in Essaouira.

Please don't think because the food in your freezer has defrosted you can't refreeze it because you can, the only reason they tell you nor to refreeze is because of the slight deterioration in taste, so slight you won't notice it, don't refreeze if it's seafood as this is more temperamental than meat

 

[River gypsys]

We're in tafraoute as you know and are just having our own bottle refilled with gas ,60 dirhams

 

[River gypsys]

This was also our experience when there. Although we were getting 240 V. their was insufficient Amperage to switch our AES fridge to 240 V. and it switched to gas. This also happened at Camping Riad, both campsites stated 6 Amps but this was not the case and they are not bothered as its beyond then to correct and another customer will be along shortly anyway. As for gas, we have been using Butane without any problems at all. In fact, I'm getting towards the end of my first 12 KG bottle. It boils off at -2 Deg.C so will be fine in almost all of Morocco by now , I would think. (It's what the majority of locals are using too). Although, I do suspect there getting below zero degrees at night in Tafroute. (I remember scrapping ice of the motorhome in the mornings on my last two visits there). Quite breezy this morning but not a cloud in the sky, so expecting a better day than yesterday and with better weather moving in from tomorrow onwards.

Hi Phil, we've had ice once here about 6 days ago but since then we haven't needed the heating on at all so I think the temperature must be on the up, terrible wind last night tho,had to put the satelite dish down at 10pm

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[webby1]

Now is it the voltage or the amperage that is too low.....................don't suppose it matters there's just not enough oomph.

Also @PhilandMena are you using one of the Moroccan red/orange cylinders.....................we have the pipe from Galow that connects to the fill point and the other end to the local cylinder (it fits perfect to the Moroccan cylinder) but I thought it would only work when the refillable was empty. It would be good to feel confident about the gas cos we could just flip the fridge over and stop worrying

The sun has just come out at Sidi Kaouki but it did rain quite hard overnight.

 

[canopus]

Do say a little more about what this does........................my understanding is that the fridge, unlike everything else in the van (althought the kettle is a lot slower)will not operate at all below 200v.

In other places it has cut out when everyone puts their lights on in the evening but comes back on overnight.It seems that here the voltage is always below 200 even in the daytime.

Basically its a combined step up/step down transformer as I understand it with some sort of sensing facility i.e. voltage too low and its steps it up, too high and it steps it down.

The box is placed in line between the incoming supply and your van, so you will need a Euro two pin socket adaptor on the end of your EHU cable, then a piece of cable with two pin plug on one end, and your van's input socket on the other.

We placed the box under the van beneath the electrical input point.

 

[canopus]

 

[canopus]

 

[canopus]

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[PhilandMena]

Basically its a combined step up/step down transformer as I understand it with some sort of sensing facility i.e. voltage too low and its steps it up, too high and it steps it down.

The box is placed in line between the incoming supply and your van, so you will need a Euro two pin socket adaptor on the end of your EHU cable, then a piece of cable with two pin plug on one end, and your van's input socket on the other.

We placed the box under the van beneath the electrical input point.


View attachment 281075

I've not seen one of these before Ken. Our 240 V supply is protected by circuit breakers in our P.S.U. so the only concern I would have is the voltage/Amperage is too low. We did manage to boil water with our travel kettle so assumed it was simply too little amperage as a result of numerous French sucking up the power.

 

[canopus]

They are sold extensively all over Maroc because of the poor electricity supply stability problems.

Phil, if I remember correctly Mike & Gwen bought one as well.

 

[webby1]

Thanks for the info and photos @canopus ......................I have seen something similar under other vans and wondered what they were for..........................something to look out for.

Now thinking the gas is a better option as we can use the heating if needed..............perhaps an orange cylinder but would be interested in @River gypsys getting gas refilled in Tafroute

 

[PhilandMena]

Hi Phil, we've had ice once here about 6 days ago but since then we haven't needed the heating on at all so I think the temperature must be on the up, terrible wind last night tho,had to put the satelite dish down at 10pm

That's a good Moroccan curry for you !

 

[River gypsys]

Thanks for the info and photos @canopus ......................I have seen something similar under other vans and wondered what they were for..........................something to look out for.

Now thinking the gas is a better option as we can use the heating if needed..............perhaps an orange cylinder but would be interested in @River gypsys getting gas refilled in Tafroute

Him indoors is just at the garage I'll let you know how it goes, if not possible to refill it's going to be the red bottle that fits directly on the gaslow system ,140mad inc deposit

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[PhilandMena]

Now is it the voltage or the amperage that is too low.....................don't suppose it matters there's just not enough oomph.

Also @PhilandMena are you using one of the Moroccan red/orange cylinders.....................we have the pipe from Galow that connects to the fill point and the other end to the local cylinder (it fits perfect to the Moroccan cylinder) but I thought it would only work when the refillable was empty. It would be good to feel confident about the gas cos we could just flip the fridge over and stop worrying

The sun has just come out at Sidi Kaouki but it did rain quite overnight.

I too have the Gaslow system and I too have the Gaslow pipe going to my fill point on the motorhome. I am using a red Moroccan 12 KG bottle and between the bottle thread and the Gaslow hose I have a filter fitted. I have two 6 kg Gaslow bottles with a manual changeover valve. What I did is waited until one bottle was just about empty then connected the butane bottle and opened the valve. It fed straight through to the fridge, oven etc.,via the regulator. An easy way to do it is connect and switch on after your Gaslow bottle is empty, then you will know for certain it's working OK.

 

[PhilandMena]

Him indoors is just at the garage I'll let you know how it goes, if not possible to refill it's going to be the red bottle that fits directly on the gaslow system ,140mad inc deposit

Sounds about right ! The refill on its own is around 40 Mad. I will be leaving my 12 KG bottle behind when we leave.

 

[webby1]

Would you believe it @canopus not 5 minutes after your post someone arrived selling exactly the same stabiliser (clearly they know what's missing at this campsite) So I thought it must be a sign from God I mean Allah.

Thanks to your post I knew what it was and a rough guide to the price.......................managed to get him down to 500dm for the stabiliser and assorted plugs and cables. The fridge is now working good as we are right next to the EHU point it's plugged into........so an interesting job for this afternoon to set up new cable so we can move the stabiliser away from the post and under the van....................he'll probably sneak round tonight and take it back

Anyway the beer is now chillin and the sun is shining .

Thanks @PhilandMena for the gas info.............................it's so good to be an active member of the Forum again

 

[CherryPirate]

Has anyone who has a Caxton card worked out if it is better to draw cash from a Moroccan cash point with the Caxton card or a UK Debit card ? Nat West charge 2% or £5.00 per transaction plus another bit depending on the size of the withdrawal. Claxton appear to do the transaction in Sterling then convert the required euros into Sterling and deduct from your balance. It's a mare trying to work the actual costs. I think I might be better off with Caxton but just guessing.

Phil
I used Caxton extensively whilst we were there and I thought that the rate was competitive and no charges. I would recommend.

Colin

 

[River gypsys]

Back with a virtually full gas bottle, seems to be all ok

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[PhilandMena]

Phil
I used Caxton extensively whilst we were there and I thought that the rate was competitive and no charges. I would recommend.

Colin

Colin, Hi I trust you and Tina are fine.
I had a bit of a chat with a Caxton agent who was really helpful. He said I could hold up to 15 different currencies on my card,
This is what he said in his email to me.
'I would suggest you switch your balance to GBP and load more GBP to cover your trip in Morocco. Your funds will be converted once to the local currency based on the interbank rate minus 2.49% of our FX mark up.

Despite the FX mark up, the rate tends to be better than that offered by the banks. and the banks would also charge additional fees.

Your card is loaded in sterling and those funds are not converted to the local currency until you make a purchase or an ATM withdrawal. The 2.49% margin is charged at that point since the transaction occurs in a currency different to that which is on the card.
So I have now loaded my Caxton with some Sterling and made a cash withdrawal to day and I believe it has gone well.
Thanks for your recommendation.

 

[PhilandMena]

Back with a virtually full gas bottle, seems to be all ok

Yes! But it will be butane. I assume you are filling your's this way because you do not have a Moroc bottle.

 

[Nik]

Hi All.
An Electric question.
We are at Diamant Vert Camping in Fes.

I have plugged in the EHU and got a Reverse Polarity light up on my Sergeant EC500. I fitted my Reverse Polarity connector to rectify and I am still getting the reverse polarity light lit to add to this I touched our gas bottle to turn on and got a very slight 'tingle' from it so I can only assume that the metal of our gas locker is energised in some way. Absolutely no problems on Leisure batteries. The system is as standard.
This has never happened before and whilst I am normally reasonably OK with electrics I am baffled by this. All works ok, i.e. water, lights, heater, fridge when on EHU.
Any Ideas as to what's happening please.
Also any recommendations in the Fes, Azrou, our next stop, area (or elsewhere in Morocco for that matter) for a professional to look at the system as I am concerned about safety.

Thanks in advance.
Regards
Nik.

 

[PhilandMena]

This has happened to me on numerous occasions in Morocco, even after fitting a reversed polarity adapter. Whilst not ideal, you should be OK to continue to run your services whilst the red light is on. (I too have the Sargent EC500). You could ask other motor-homes if they have had a reversed polarity indication and if not, Just ignore it. The tingling could be a result of static electricity. I would try that again and see if you get the same response. Try and earth yourself before hand in case your building up a static charge whilst in the van or through the clothes your wearing. If your at all concerned just get naked.

 

[makems]

Meknes was always one of ovpbecauseur f

They are sold extensively all over Maroc because of the poor electricity supply stability problems.

Phil, if I remember correctly Mike & Gwen bought one as well.

correct Ken - good memory!
We used it at several sites because the voltage was too low to power the fridge. I believe that in USE the output current is reduced slightly to increase the output voltage (the additinal volts can’t just be magicked out of thin air).
It does work and I remember particularly at a couple of sites it allowed our fridge to work off EHU whilst @kiwicoss had to run his on gas.

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[PhilandMena]

Hi All.
An Electric question.

Also any recommendations in the Fes, Azrou, our next stop, area (or elsewhere in Morocco for that matter) for a professional to look at the system as I am concerned about safety.

Thanks in advance.
Regards
Nik.

Most of the professionals I have seen in this country are still wearing spurs. Check with the other motorhomes on your site if they do not have an issue, I think you can safely ignore it and if some of them have had an issue its not your motorhome, its the campsite. It wont be the first that's for sure.
Review from Camper Contact 2018.

The staff were unfriendly, one fixed price of 120 dirhams was calculated in the winter did not matter if you took power or not. terrain was uncomfortable, muddy and the electricity fell out all the time. The restaurant was also very expensive. for a bread delivered to the camper you paid 5 dirham. normally a bread is everywhere 1 dirham !!! I would skip this campsite.

 

[Nik]

Thanks @PhilandMena .
Your words are reassuring but I shall still be cautious. Being naked in the rain and mud here might be fun! I'll let you know.
Thanks again.
Nik

 

[horshamjack]

Thanks @PhilandMena .
Your words are reassuring but I shall still be cautious. Being naked in the rain and mud here might be fun! I'll let you know.
Thanks again.
Nik

By the sound of it you still have reverse polarity, if you have a multi meter set to volts ac put one prong to your chassis and one put directly in the ground! to check volts, the european plugs can sometimes be put in upside down if no earth pin try putting the plug in the another way, Personaly I would not use in that condition with your chassis live

 

[horshamjack]

Just left Carlos got open ticket and prezzie, nice kiwi fruit liquor and biscuits €180 as usual he did try €190 told him never paid more than €180 last 4 yrs
May come over late tomorrow night and stay in Tangier Med or first thing monday

 

[jongood]

Thanks @PhilandMena .
Your words are reassuring but I shall still be cautious. Being naked in the rain and mud here might be fun! I'll let you know.
Thanks again.
Nik

hi Nik

IMO disconnect the ehu, stick the fridge on gas, do what you want to do in fes and move on.

has weather improved?

Jon

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