amps

Hi all, I'm in the process of pre booking some European campsites. I notice some sites have 6amp,10 amp or 16 amp electricity. I'm new to all this, so pardon my ignorance. Can I use my 2 pin adaptor on all of the above? And does the 6/10/16amp thing mean anything in practice? Many thanks, John4646

It means this is the rating of the trip on your individual EHU hook up point. If you exceed this rating then the trip will operate. On some sites the trip device is not accessible to you so you will need to get the site operator to reset; not very easy if it trips at say 9pm when there is no one in the office.

On many sites the trip is visible at the EHU hook up point. The rating is usually defined on the trip by a designation of C6 or C10 or C16. Very occasionally you will find a trip designated with B instead of C, that just means it will trip a little quicker.

In short 6amp means be very careful about using a standard domestic kettle with anything else, 10amp means careful with kettle and hairdryer as it will likely trip. 16 amp strong supply but not endless. Cooling and heating devices use lots of amps.

6 amps is approximately 1200 watts of power.
10 amp is approximately 2200 watt of power, domestic kettle size.
A longer lead would be advisable. On this is trip I have seen runs of up 50m and across roads etc.
Most of the site that we visited this year have been 6 amp but then we didn't spent big money on fees.

Thanks to each and everyone for all your helpful replies. I have a low watt kettle and toaster, but I presume the electric Air Con unit on the roof should only be used where I have 16amp so? Thanks so much. , John4646

Most Motorhome aircon units are rated at around 1kW electrical so will take around 4 to 5 amps from the supply. The secret of running an aircon unit is to be very aware of what else is using electricity.

The Dometic Freshjet 2200 is 2050W cooling/1200W heating and draws 4.1Amps cooling, 5.2Amps heating. A 6 amp breaker is adequate.

The Dometic Freshjet 3200 is 2800W cooling/3300W heating and draws 5.7Amps cooling, 5.9Amps heating. A 10 amp breaker is required.

It would be possible to run the smaller unit above on a 6amp breaker if you are using only the fridge and a couple of lights.

A 10amp breaker will run either unit above and give you a reasonable amount of spare for other devices.

In both cases above you will be unable to run a toaster, grill or camping kettle at the same time, however you could switch the aircon unit off for 10 minutes if you needed to cook.

It is also worth noting that in heating mode you get more heat output that electrical input.