Cable reel – Nowadays, even novice campers often travel with a little more luxury than just the bare essentials.
This includes, for example, an electric fridge, a coffee maker and possibly a heater or air conditioning when on vacation with a camper, roof tent or motorhome.
Of course, you also need electricity for this.
Here you can find out all about the advantages of a cable reel and all the regulations you need to observe on your camping vacation.
Camping Ratgeber:
Power supply even on a camping vacation
Especially if you are traveling with children, a cable reel makes your time much easier when you need to inflate the mattresses or charge the cell phones as quickly as possible after a long day at the campsite.
Fortunately, almost every campsite now has electricity pylons with appropriate connections that all visitors can use.
So if you have a cable reel, you can easily connect your devices from your car if necessary.
Depending on where your pitch is located, an extension cable may also be useful.
A cable reel guarantees you these benefits:
- Electricity at the campsite
- For all electronic devices when camping
- To charge the battery of your motorhome
- Tidy coiling: No knots in the cable
- Compatible with standardized CEE plugs
- Sockets on power poles can be reached easily
Thanks to the CEE socket on your motorhome, you can easily use all devices that require electricity at the campsite! 
CEE plug as a camping socket for motorhomes
If you are traveling with your motorhome, it will ideally already have a blue CEE socket.
Simply connect your power cable of the cable reel between the power pole and the CEE socket so that it can easily supply all connected devices in the motorhome with up to 220V or 230V.
Normally, the entire cable is wrapped loosely around the cable reel, but there are also variants where one side, which goes to the motorhome, is permanently attached to the reel.
Before you buy, you should therefore find out in advance which cable reel is best suited to you and your camping vacation in the great outdoors.
Regulations on the campsite
A power cable is also recommended in any case to charge the battery of your motorhome.
According to the standard, the cable should be a maximum of 25 meters long and 2.5 mm wide when camping and should be fitted with a CEE plug at both ends.
This allows you to connect one end to the existing power column on the campsite and the other end to your motorhome.
On the one hand, this protects the battery and on the other hand, all electronic devices in your motorhome can continue to be used even when the engine is not running.
You should note the following when connecting the cable to the motorhome:
- Cable should be a maximum of 25 meters long
- Cross-section may be 2.5 mm
- Both sides must be equipped with CEE plugs
Which power cable may I use?
If you are still unsure about which cable to use when camping, take a look at this informative video to find out everything you need to know about power cables, cable reels, CEE plugs and the correct standards when camping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw2P1yt5tAk
Reading tips: Electricity when camping
Alternatively, you can find more interesting articles on the topic of power supply when camping here, which you can read for useful tips and information.
CEE plug: socket outlet or adapter
The plugs and power connections on campsites have been standardized throughout Europe and are usually immediately recognizable by their blue color.
You should therefore make sure that you have such a connection or have an appropriate adapter with you.
Here you can find out everything you need to know about the CEE plug:
Extension cable: power for multiple devices
Don’t have a socket in your camper or want to charge several devices at the same time?
The car battery is usually too weak to keep several devices running.
To avoid sitting there with an engine that won’t start, you should get yourself an extension cable so that you can easily reach the available socket at the campsite and use all your electronic devices. Read more here:
Battery: service life, capacity & strength
There is not always a charging point nearby, especially on longer journeys.
The starter battery is only sufficient for the most essential functions in the driver’s cab.
A television in the caravan, for example, would overload it too much.
This is precisely why it is important to find out about the different models in advance.
Here you can find out more about the service life, capacity and strength of the starter battery and on-board battery:
