15AMP-10 AMP POWER BOX

Olley46 · Guru

15AMP-10 AMP POWER BOX

neilnruth · Guru

Looks good Olley46.

GaryKelly · Guru

I bought one of those on eBay recently for $75 with free postage. But I've seen them up around the $100 mark.

rockylizard · Guru

Gday...

Advice suggests this product is OK for use at home - not exposed to weather - to connect your van to a home powerpoint for battery charging or running the 240v fridge or lights etc.

It is not approved, or suitable, for use in a van park/showground/camp.

Cheers - John

Olley46 · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
Advice suggests this product is OK for use at home - not exposed to weather - to connect your van to a home powerpoint for battery charging or running the 240v fridge or lights etc.
It is not approved, or suitable, for use in a van park/showground/camp.
Cheers - John

John

you have got me intrigued ,why would anybody want to use this power block in a caravan park or show ground ,and it is not for outdoors.

lance C

D and D · Guru

Olley, this product does not have sufficient insulation to allow it to be used outdoors. However, because it is significantly cheaper than products that are adequately insulated, some will choose to use this in situations for which it is not designed and when things go wrong and the proverbial hits the fan they will look to blame anyone other than themselves, that's a fact of life and John's just sounding a warning.

ShortNorth · Senior Member

OK, this 'power box' has been the subject of several posts in these forums in recent times.

Let's make a few things clear - notice that the Powertech packaging does NOT mention the word CARAVAN - they can't use that word, as they know that this device is NOT approved for use with a caravan. I reckon the Repco add is asking for trouble as they are saying it is suitable for a caravan, when in fact it is not. Similarly many caravan equipment suppliers sell this device as being suitable for caravans.

Yes, the Powertech is approved to certain Australian Standards, but just NOT the standards applying to external power supply to a caravan.

Yes, the Ampfibian is approved under AS/NZS 3190:2011 "Approval and test specification - Residual current devices (current-operated earth-leakage devices)" which includes portable RCDs, and its use complies with AS/NZS 3001:2008/Amdt 1:2012 "Electrical Installations - Portable structures and vehicles including their site supplies" which covers caravans, campers and motor homes .... beware cheap imitations that don't comply with that one!

The Powertech device is only suitable for INDOOR use - now lets put that in context - the caravan is outside, the Powertech is inside and you run a lead from the van through a doorway to the Powertech inside the house - WRONG - did you know that the SAA Wiring Rules does not permit a 240v extension lead to run through an open doorway, due to the possibility of the door closing, and damaging and shorting the flexible cord where it runs through the doorway - it is even more dangerous if that doorway is steel-framed (or has a metal security door fitted - a very common situation).

So, what's the proper way - use the Amp-Fibian, which IS approved for use with a caravan, BUT do not run the wires through a doorway into the house.

I have an approved external weatherproof 10 amp 240v GPO installed on my front verandah (in fact I have 3 external GPO's in various locations around the outside of my house) - I use it to power my electric line trimmer and electric hedge trimmer, etc. when I'm working in the front garden - I also use it to plug in the Aliner, for pre-trip battery charging and fridge cool-down, through the Amp-fibian of course.

There are some on this forum who don't seem to take mains voltage electrical safety seriously - your call - ultimately you are responsible for any electrical accident caused by your use of unapproved devices that may cause injury or even death ! Proper electrical safety is not an option - it is essential !

Regards, Brian (now retired, but formerly Electrical Contractor and Electrical Consulting Engineer - 35 years in the industry)

rockylizard · Guru

rockylizard wrote:
Gday...
Advice suggests this product is OK for use at home - not exposed to weather - to connect your van to a home powerpoint for battery charging or running the 240v fridge or lights etc.
It is not approved, or suitable, for use in a van park/showground/camp.
Cheers - John

Gday...

Expanding on the above a little .... this is for use in the home. Let's use an example.

You have a 10amp powerpoint in the shed/garage/verandah and you have the van in the driveway at home. You want to continue to have the fridge on to keep it cold.

Therefore, you would plug this device into the 10amp powerpoint, which is under cover in the the shed/garage/verandah. Then plug your van cord into this device and connect it to the van. The device is therefore out of the weather and will cope with the load.

In fact, with the device plugged in as I state above, you can also have the battery charger running in the van along with the fridge and use the lights to see your way around. As long as the device is protected from weather you would be perfectly safe. The van will only be able to draw a max of 10amp through the device. (which is more than adequate for use as I have described).

The question was asked why would someone want to use this device in a van park/showground/camp? There are still some showgrounds around that only have 10amp powerpoints which means your 15amp cord will not fit. DO NOT USE THIS DEVICE IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE. Not only is it illegal it is unsafe. As stated above the only fully-approved, legal and safe, product is the Amphibian.

Cheers - John

Bryan · Guru

I had a look at that box but bought an Ampfibian instead.

Delta18 · Guru

Have a look here for pros & cons...mostly cons if you have a couple hours to spare reading & laughing.

KFT · Guru

Hello ShortNorth,

you mention not running leads through doorways, good advice.

I was wondering if you can please point out to me and others what clause in the wiring rules refers to your statement?

thanks for posting good advice re the use of mains power. It really can be deadly.

frank

ShortNorth · Senior Member

G'day Frank,

Sorry, I can't quote the exact clause anymore - I retired around 6 years ago, and as I wanted to recover much needed storage space in the house, and had no further need for any of my electrical reference material, all was either dumped or business records shredded. The AS 3000 that I had at the time of retiring would be way out of date now anyway, with a whole host of new and updated rules. As I no longer have a need to hold current Standards books and without my 'professional discount' from SAA, I'm not going to go out and pay full retail price just to look up one rule.

The statement I made is from a very good memory of the standards applicable when I was in the electrical industry - to work in the industry you have to have an extensive memory recall of a large part of the standards requirements and only need to lookup the occasional situation that you don't deal with on a daily or weekly basis. I can distinctly remember frequent discussions with various building contractors on many building sites where 'other contractors' ran power leads thorough open doorways where the finished door had already been installed - the builder had to expand the temporary site electrical services to avoid leads running through doorways - it was usual practice to allow extension leads through open doorways only if the actual door itself had NOT yet been installed, but after the door goes on, the builder provides a 'proper' temporary power outlet box in the newly enclosed workspace.

Regards, Brian

KFT · Guru

Thanks Brian,

I think you would find that particular requirement is in AS/NZS 3012 which refers to the electrical supply on a construction site. As far as I can determine there is no such requirement in AS/NZS 3000 which applies to all electrical supplies.

The advice you gave about NOT running leads through doorways is good advice though and a practice to be avoided if possible.

much safer to have an outside power outlet installed.

frank

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Comes down to common sense and mechanical protection..
The trouble is common sense is NOT very common !!
People like that will stuff a perfect installation !!

KFT · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
Comes down to common sense and mechanical protection..
The trouble is common sense is NOT very common !!
People like that will stuff a perfect installation !!

exakery.