Ixeo Time it 745

[the clampits]

We recently took possession of our new van, and as far as I am concerned, it ticks all the boxes. However, SWMBO found fault at the start of the buying process with the lack of a 240v 3 pin socket that was low down in the lounge area. There are only 2 such sockets, one in the tv area (high up next to the door) and the other on the underside of an upper kitchen cupboard (so again high up).

She helpfully suggested positioning a socket on the side of the cupboard below the sink.

My question is whether any other Ixeo owners have also found it a problem, and more importantly have they fitted another socket.

I'm not sure how to route the cable if I take a feed from the socket below the kitchen cupboard,and if that is even possible. Looking for any helpful advice, just to get peace (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Jim.

 

My previous motorhome - a 2005 Hobby - had five 230v socket-outlets (1 high up in the bathroom, 1 in the TV compartment, 1 low down in the lounge area and 2 on the kitchen work-top). My current Rapido 640 had just a single 230V socket-outlet in the wall alongside the gas-hob and inaccessible when the hob’s glass lid was raised. It’s always pot-luck how many 230V outlets a motorhome manufacturer will install and where they put them, but at least Burstner had the good grace to endow your Ixeo Time with two!

 

Knowing prior to purchasing the Rapido that it had just one 230V outlet and that this would essentially be unusable I had always planned to fit more. This proved to be a tricky task as, although I had intended to extend the existing cabling that led to the original 230V outlet or to break into the cable on its route to that outlet, I found that this approach was impracticable. In the end I bought a double-outlet from ebay

 

http://tinyurl.com/oqrml67

 

that I fitted in the rear of the motorhome’s living-area, cabling the outlet directly to the 230V consumer-unit that was handily located near to where I wanted the outlet to be.

 

Although adding an extra 230V socket-outlet is simple enough in principle, routing the cabling can be a real challenge. You may find that the cabling to your present upper-kitchen-cupboard outlet can to easily reached on its way to the outlet and be able to insert a junction-box in the cable to permit 230V power to be fed to the original outlet and to your additional one. Or you may find that it’s straightforward to run a cable from the upper-kitchen-cupboard outlet to where your wife has suggested a new outlet be positioned. Or you may find that neither of those approaches is attractive and you’d be better to do as I did. (Or you may decide that installing a new outlet where your wife would like one would be a helluva job and you’d then have to convince her that it’s not worth attempting.)

 

Anyone planning to DIY an additional socket-outlet in a motorhome should look very carefully at the existing wiring arrangement and then decide first what the options are and then what’s the best approach to take. I hadn’t originally planned to add extra outlets in the way I did, but it became plain once I had bought the Rapido and inspected the 230V wiring that a) I couldn’t get at the 230V wiring easily and b) that cabling directly to the consumer-unit would be the most satisfactory method.

 

I suppose I’d better add a heath and safety caveat - if you have any doubts about your competence to carry out this work safely, involve a professional electrician.

[Keithl]

I would like to add one comment to Derek's post on adding extra sockets and that is that you should NEVER use single strand copper wire as you would use for wiring at home in a MH.

 

You should always use multi strand flexible wire similar to your hook up cable. Single strand wire is highly likely to fatigue and break with inevitable consequences.

 

Keith.

[Brock]

Learn to say "no".

 

I have had issues with my missus regarding plug sockets in every van we've bought, including caravans, and after a few weeks, the positioning of the sockets becomes irrelevant as we adapt. We have numerous sockets in our van but the only two we use, and to be fair have used in the past so it may just be habit, are the one above the kitchen top - used only if it is suitable for drying her hair and looking in a mirror, and one in the living area which we use for charging phones etc and when I hoover the van at home. Neither of us know whether we have other sockets in our van! We've only had it 30 months.

 

It is important that we both have plug sockets we use so if there is an overwhelming case for having yet another plug socket, you might not be able to justify saying no. What will this additional socket do that others will not?

 

I don't have a Burstner.

[bolero boy]

we have a german MH, and i giess they ar not renowned for fitting poads of 230v sockets....

however, we had one low in the lounge, one in the doorway area next to a mirror, one in the bathroom high up, one in the garage and one in the kitchen......this is where i thought we would need more (two?).....in fact the songle socket there has proved sufficient in almost all instances....just occasionally we need two so i use 'block' double adaptor, works well enough.

i noticed we had no mains sockets in the rear bedroom area (though not sure what we would use them for...) so i just wired a gang extension through bedroom the steps into one of the storage areas they make.

our most useful socket is the 12v in the living area where we just plug our tablets via a usb adaptor...works like this whether on ehu or not...

[the clampits]

Thanks for the responses guys. I suspected it wouldn't be easy, and so it seems.

I am tempted to try it, but I feel that if I just sit on this for a few months it may not be such an issue ( as suggested). Especially liked the suggestion to just say "No" 8-)

Thanks again

JimT