Electical hook up (daft question alert!!!)

[ann-jen]

My new lorry has electrical hook up. A luxury I've never had before. What is the difference between the orange and the blue cables before I buy something inappropriate! And also (and sorry if this is a really stupid question) is it possible to recharge the lorry battery via hook up or is it literally only to power the living area? Am just thinking if it is I also need to buy the very longest cable I can find and also get some sort of plug adapter???

 

[LovesCobs]

i have a charger for my leisure battery, got it from halfords. I plug that into normal mains supply and attach it to the battery. sorry I can't help with the rest

 

[ann-jen]

Ah yes I had that system in my old lorry but this is different. A cable connects the lorry to the mains supply for when we are staying at shows. Its just making sure I buy the correct cable and whether it does anything other than power the living.

 

[OWLIE185]

Under normal circumstances when you hook up to a mains supply then it will just power your electrical appliances but will not recharge your battery.

Blue cables are normally used for connecting a 240 volt generator to appliances. They have special sockets which are available from oulets such as Machine Mart.

Yellow cables are normally used on building sites to deliver 110 volt power supply (Safer than 240 volt supply)

Orange cables are normally just normal 240 volt extension cables with square pin sockets plugs attached to them.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/search/filter/generator cables/type/any/page/1

 

[ann-jen]

Thanks for that..... so to hook up from the lorry to a mains supply at a show ground would it be a blue cable the same as for a generator??? The socket on the lorry looks like 3 round pins, but I'm not sure what the sockets at show grounds are like.... whether they are just a ordinary plug socket like you would get round the home??? Sorry am probably being a bit thick here!!!

 

[WelshD]

My caravan has an orange lead with blue ends, one blue one goes in to the site power supply and the other in to an outlet on the side of the caravan

The blue ends have round pins in

I would imagine a horsebox to be the same?...

 

[mil1212]

hook ups on showgrounds are usually the round pins also, can't remember what colour the cable is I have, just got it from a caravan shop. Round pin plug to round pin plug! My leisure battery charges from the hook up also, I have an adapter at home to plug into the house.

 

[ann-jen]

So are both ends exactly the same? im thinking the Orange one is probably the one I need.

 

[WelshD]

No i dont think the ends are exactly the same, i think one end is 'female' and the other end is 'male'

 

[WelshD]

This is what my caravan has and is also what comes up when you put 'horsebox hook up cable' in to ebay

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/131290267954?nav=SEARCH

 

[ann-jen]

Yes that makes sense. So the bit I plug into at the show ground should have the opposite end (male/female) to plug into. Wasn't sure if it would have a standard plug socket on one end.

 

[WelshD]

yes thats right it will usually be a post in the ground with a waterproof cover and the right socket for your lead - like this:

http://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/server2...ded_images/caravan_electrics.jpg?t=1398725710

 

[ann-jen]

Ah thank you. That's what I needed to know

 

[WelshD]

Thats assuming things are organised. at a show recently I saw a standard three pin domestic socket and extention lead being used outside and held out of a puddle on a pallet

 

[ann-jen]

Oh dear that doesn't sound good! I don't think I will actually even need it until the winter regionals but wouldn't want to arrive in the middle of February and find I couldn't get the heater to work :-/