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 Topic: Tow bar electrics.
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 via mobile 24/7/2024 at 4:27pm
Location: London
Outfit: Caravan
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We have just bought a caravan and it has a 13 pin electrics, our car didn't have tow electrics so we had the bar and 13 pin electrics fitted. When we got to the car and hooked up, the control panel said tow car 12.4v .. but when we turned on the fridge everything cut out, although the trip switches didn't trip, we are not sure if when hooked up you can turn the interior lights on ( for when parked in layby for a brew)? But they don't work either. In fact there is a " click sound" from behind the fridge / microwave above , and the control panel goes out. .
The place where we got the caravan from say it's the car wiring, and the wiring people say it's the caravan wiring that is the problem.. we have had the car tested and its ok, ( no fuses blown ) so it must be the caravan , could it be either the actual plug ( on the tow hitch ) or something more sinister behind the fridge / microwave??. The fridge works ok on gas and mains electric. .
Can someone please help us as we want to go " off grid" but obviously need to charge the battery plus work the fridge when driving,...( Have we got to unplug from the two car just to get the interior lights to work when stopped for the brew?) ..
Thank you so much ( in advance).
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25/7/2024 at 1:58pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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I'm not at all sure where the 'urban myth' started about caravan fridges NOT cooling when powered by 12v from the tow car!
Technically there is no reason to support that, the 12v heater is a similar power rating to the 240v EHU one and they work well enough on that! Nothing in any user manual I've ever seen suggests they don't cool on 12v, nor that it's a lesser cooling effect!
What 'can' influence the cooling of the fridge is the 'jiggling about' in transit and the angle of operation from the usual nose down stance of a hitched caravan which will likely compromise it's operational efficiency. Absorption fridges are very intolerant of operating far from perfectly level, 5 or 6 degrees off and they are compromised or even non-functional!
I'd bet the biggest 'cause' of the mythical non-cooling is something nearly everyone seems to overlook, REGARDLESS of power source, Absorption type fridges are painfully slow to cool down to operating temp! Up to 12 hours required before suitable for food storage! … AND they are only recommended for ambient temps up to 32C - tow a caravan with all the windows and roof vents shut tight (and it would be reckless to do otherwise!) and the interior temp can get pretty toasty, which further compromises the fridge! I bet most people stop for a break on their journeys, with the car engine off the power to the fridge is also off, so there'll be up to an hour say, where the fridge is NOT cooling but actually warming up! How many of you drive non-stop 8-12 hour journeys to give the fridge TIME to chill!!!!
So hitch it to a car, tip it at a compromising angle, jiggle it about, put it in a overheated environment, remove the cooling power and let it warm for a significant time, don't give it much 'in operation' time, and people make statements that 'they don't work' on 12v!- They DO, but they are battling hard against hostile operating conditions!
With mine, I don't have an option to pre-chill my fridge before a journey, van is in a storage yard without power, and gas operation in storage is banned, so it HAS to start it's chilling down from scratch when hitched to the car 12v, and it works perfectly well EVERY time, and has done for 6 years now! TBF, most of my journeys are quite long (10.5 hours on the road is the longest so far!) and 5 or 6 hours is pretty much normal, which gives time for noticeable cooling to happen - well on the way to being usable, and totally worthwhile doing.
Absolutely nothing wrong with giving it a helping hand with frozen water bottles etc., but I'd be cautious with all that weight loose in the fridge (pack them to stop movement), serious risk of doing some damage as they move in transit, AND I certainly wouldn't put them in the door shelves, they are not all that robust themselves, but the extra DYNAMIC weight (bouncing in transit) in the door could exacerbate the weak-worn-broken hinge/dodgy catch problems that seem to afflict some owners. 1L of water weighs 1Kg!
Back to tow bar electrics! The 12S and 13 pin plugs/sockets also power the ATC (AL-KO Trailer Control) if you have it fitted.
Life has got more complicated with modern cars, many have 'smart alternators' which only operate on overrun or when battery voltage drops and needs topping up, this can affect if and when power is supplied to the caravan, the fridge and charger may not work very well.
It seems many electric tow cars DONT have the towbar auxiliary power pins wired at all, so no fridge, no battery charging, no ATC power!
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