help and advice please

[trixie88]

help and advice needed please........we have a small campervan with no electrics.....
...just purchasd a mayflower MP 3766 230v 13 amp mobile mains power unit
to give us elec to the camper when on a campsite
the campsite we have been on this past week states its a 10 amp site.
question is. can the unit we have purchased be used on a 10amp site or does a special one need to be used.
also...can it be used on most campsites...or do 10amp sites need a specail unit.
we have never used elec in camper before........and am wondering if I have bought the correct unit.

many thanks for any info...which will be gratefully recieved....trixie

 

[Boris7]

Hi Trixie,

Yes you can use it. Just make sure to use a 2kw kettle and not a 3kw.

 

[RV2MAX]

The unit is rated to 16amps but the mains supply you plug into will decide how much you can plug into the maypole unit , before it trips the supply limiter . as @Boris7 says you need to be aware of the electrical load of appliances .

 

[Boris7]

In effect Trixxie, if you plug a washing machine, a kettle, a microwave, a battery charger, a TV, an electrical heater and a hair dryer in all at the same time the maypole unit or the supply from the campsite will kick out.

If you run some lights, a microwave and charge a laptop at the same time you’ll be fine.

 

[andyjanet]

Trixie, it’s all about juggling! Some sites only give you a small amount of the amperage they claim, we have a policy in the van , only one thing on at once ! We can have the heating/ hot water on but turn it down or off to boil the kettle, if the air fryer is on remember not to put the halogen hob on, this works well for us and only occasionally get caught out, enjoy the luxury of 240 volt appliances, and remember mr sight manager won’t come out at 2am to reset the electric point because you’ve tripped it boiling the kettle whilst the heatings on , so a cold night in the van is a good lesson

 

[trixie88]

In effect Trixxie, if you plug a washing machine, a kettle, a microwave, a battery charger, a TV, an electrical heater and a hair dryer in all at the same time the maypole unit or the supply from the campsite will kick out.

If you run some lights, a microwave and charge a laptop at the same time you’ll be fine.

OH WOW....dont want to kick out the whole camp site elec......i am totally not knowlegable with elecs whatsoever.....rather dangerous...eh...

....mainly will be using ..........a small heater......table lamp.....troaster.........kettle ....charging laptop phone etc.

a little travel kettle 600 watts
toaster(the one i use at home) 650 watts....maybe a small sandwich maker....
table lamp...dont know what that would use.
small elec heater....dont know what that would use
laptop and phone charging. etc.....dont know what that would use.
maybe a small single elec hob.....dont know what that will use.(just in case gas runs out)

 

[Boris7]

You’ll be fine, just remember to have a torch to hand so if the power supply kicks off at the EHU point you can see to reset it. Then choose something to switch off.

 

[Bigshug]

A normal rule is to only use one heating thing at a time, you should be able to charge things as well as one heating thing

 

[trixie88]

Trixie, it’s all about juggling! Some sites only give you a small amount of the amperage they claim, we have a policy in the van , only one thing on at once ! We can have the heating/ hot water on but turn it down or off to boil the kettle, if the air fryer is on remember not to put the halogen hob on, this works well for us and only occasionally get caught out, enjoy the luxury of 240 volt appliances, and remember mr sight manager won’t come out at 2am to reset the electric point because you’ve tripped it boiling the kettle whilst the heatings on , so a cold night in the van is a good lesson
[/QUOTE

yes, that sounds a good idea...one at a time.....sooooo ....so we err with appliances we wont send the whole site into darkness etc.....
it would just trip the pitch we are on.....OHHHH thank goodness for that.......i had visions of all elecs on site being down.
whats all this.//////..........hot water. air fryer, holgen hob etc. thats sheer luxury...........not to mention your shower and loo......how t.other .alf live eh.....lol
our camper would look like a dinky toy next to yours.........we squeeze into it like a hand fits into a leather glove......

 

[r4dent]

It is a MayPole MP 3766 which will handle a load of up to 13 amp.
Another way of stating the capacity is 230 x 13 watt = just under 3,000w = 3kw.

So you can safely use anything that you can plug in at home, upto and including a 3kw electric fire.
A lot of UK sites will supply 16 amps so you could use that fire with no problem on those sites.

Some sites (including the one that you are on) can only supply 10 amp = 2300 x 10 w = 2300 w = 2,3 kw
If you use the 3kw electric fire on a 10 amp site it will trip the supply to your pitch.
On these sites you can use a 2kw heater with no problem.

A few sites can only supply 5 amps. If you anything over 1.2 kw on hese sites you will trip the pitch supply.

Always confirm what power a site provides.

 

[colinm]

small elec heater....dont know what that would use

This is the one that has the potential to use the most power, in winter we carry two 'small' electric heaters, one is 600w, other(the smallest) can draw up to 2kw.
Somewhere on the heater there should be a label saying what it draws.

 

[ricc]

Sounds like the same unit that is in the camper we bought back in the spring......to date the only mains appliance weve actually used has been the 3 way fridge. Led lights and tablet/phone chargers run off the leisure battery. We've got a microwave under thre rock an roll bed, haven't got one at home, so will probably remove it anyway. Gas hob and kettle do the job so don't need to carry leccy ones as well.

Only concern I have at the moment is the charging of the battery. It's connected in parallel with the starter battery , about 3 metres between the two
A bit of 2.5 .mm black stranded wire on the negative and 2 bits of red on the positive, . B oth megs are down to chassis as well. It does seem to work. L eisure battery is only about half the size of the starter battery. Guess we should be looking at a b to b relay and proper cables, but no hurry.

It's an allegedly professionally converted 2013 vivaro, but local garage that had it didn't have any history or paperwork, but did do a good price on the iveco tin tent we swopped in.

 

[trixie88]

a big thank you to you all for your input..........a little wiser now with all the info you have given me.
........think till we get used to it .......it will be one appliance at a time to be on the safe side........
much appreciated. trixiexx

 

[Jo001]

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I was taught this. EDITED - PLEASE SEE POST BELOW, SOMEONE HAS INDEED CORRECTED ME!

ALL of your appliances will have a label like this - this is my toaster, it was the closest thing to hand.

Look at the Power Supply line 2. If you are on 240 volts, take the 240 (second V number) and divide by 60Hz (second Hz number). That gives you 4 - the number of amps that appliance uses.

If you were on a site with 220 volts, you would divide by 50 Hz (the first numbers).

I hope that makes sense.

 

[colinm]

Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I was taught this.

ALL of your appliances will have a label like this - this is my toaster, it was the closest thing to hand.

View attachment 135540

Look at the Power Supply line 2. If you are on 240 volts, take the 240 (second V number) and divide by 60Hz (second Hz number). That gives you 4 - the number of, co amps that appliance uses.

If you were on a site with 220 volts, you would divide by 50 Hz (the first numbers).

I hope that makes sense.

NO, you divide the wattage by voltage to find amps

 

[TeamRienza]

Here is a list of the appliances used in our van. It includes the formula for calculating amps.
Until you get the feeling for usage, you can create your own table. Then it is easy to see which items can be used together as long as their total amps do not exceed the site supply.
The photo also shows approx gas consumption for fridge and heating, not relevant to your question though.

Davy

 

[r4dent]

Here is a list of the appliances used in our van. It includes the formula for calculating amps.
Until you get the feeling for usage, you can create your own table. Then it is easy to see which items can be used together as long as their total amps do not exceed the site supply.
The photo also shows approx gas consumption for fridge and heating, not relevant to your question though.

Davy

View attachment 135553

A couple of cautionary words for anyone using these figures.
These figures do give a ball park figure but you MUST use the power (Watt) figures from the devices you have.

e.g. The heater figures are OK for small stand alone fan heaters, but my built in heater has settings of 1000w; 2000w & 3000w
The kettle figure of 650w is for a small travel kettle, a standard domestic kettle is 3000w

Using a 3000 w appliance on a site with 10 amp supply will trip the supply to your pitch.

I think he has misread the label on the bike charger and it should be "36 Volt; 2 amp output" An E bike charger will typically draw less than half an amp at 230v input.

Be aware that microwaves use a lot more that their nominal power on start up. Read the manual.

 

[trixie88]

ohh all you knowledgeable folk giving me all this info is great....many thanks

 

[JQB]

Hi Trixie,

Yes you can use it. Just make sure to use a 2kw kettle and not a 3kw.

We bought a 350w 1L kettle in France years back.

 

[merl]

We bought a 350w 1L kettle in France years back.

350W is very low, don't tell me, you plugged it in back then too and your still waiting for it to boil.