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Subject Topic: battery not being charged when towing Post Reply Post New Topic
Personmaggieabbey
12/7/2014 at 7:11pm
 Location: wiltshire
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Just got back from first outing with caravan on a practice towing lesson. We noticed that when the caravan is hitched to the car the battery level inside the caravan is reading zero but unhitched it reads fully charged. We have hitched to a friend's car and the same thing happens. Any thoughts anyone?

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maggie


PersonGrampian91
12/7/2014 at 7:30pm
 Location: Midlands
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Is that not normal? It only reads the battery when switched to van not to car.

Which panel do you have?


PersonAndy Higham
12/7/2014 at 8:53pm
 Location: Bolton Lancs
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Have you got a German car with factory fitted tow bar? German (and Czech) seem to leave out the fridge/charging circuit


Personmaggieabbey
12/7/2014 at 9:13pm
 Location: wiltshire
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Sorry if my question was stupid as this is our first caravan and not sure what is normal or not. I have a honda crv and just had it fitted with a twin electric tow bar.

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maggie


Persontango55
12/7/2014 at 11:34pm
 Location: Lichfield
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The reason is probably because you should have a rocker switch with 'CAR/VAN' that has three positions which the central position is neutral. If it is switched to 'VAN' then the circuit is showing the circuit from the leisure battery from the caravan so if you want to charge the battery from the car then the rocker switch needs to be switched over to 'CAR. When you are inserting or removing the towing plugs from the car then it's best to set the rocker switch to neutral as then there is no live current from either battery which means you won't blow a fuse if one of the contacts creates a sudden spark. It's not a hard and fast rule to do this but it makes sense not to have a live circuit when pushing or pulling towing plugs in or out.


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Personphilz55
13/7/2014 at 7:31am
 Location: South Yorks
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I have a Nordellectrica NE CWS-2006 Control panel with a 3 way switch. The handbook is clear as mud and I am still trying to work out what position does what. The central position on mine is not neutral and does not isolate anything. Sorry for hijacking the thread but if anyone can help it would be appreciated.


Personthe black fox
13/7/2014 at 9:27am
 Location: flint north wales
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Common sense really ,if you have no visible meter ,and you have a charged battery in the van .disconnect your mains hook up see which position lets you turn on your 12v lights that's the van position ,the next move should turn everything off that's neutral ,the next move should be car ,to check that out connect grey lead turn on car engine go in van and try the 12v lights again they should work and then go out if you switch back to neutral .either mark the switch or make a note on a notepad


Personalbee
13/7/2014 at 10:35am
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Hi, you only need to worry about the fridge when towing, as the battery charge facility delivers only a small amount of current due to length of cable between car and caravan. Also battery should be fully charged when setting off on your trip, so no gain would occur, then caravan would not be connected to car until it was moved again. As for using 12v feed from car whilst on site, you may find your control panel would prevent you from doing so by cutting off power from car after a time to prevent car battery being flattened so that it would be unable to start car. I also believe later caravans do not have this car charge facility to make sure caravans are emission free when being towed, [but I may have been given duff info on that]. hope that all makes a bit of sense.


Persontrog100
15/7/2014 at 9:25am
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i have the three position switch and it dosnt matter where it is.. the car still charges the van battery when on the move..

i do have a volt meter on the panel which reads 13.5 volts when the system is being charged.. on van it reads the van battery voltage.. on car it reads the car battery voltage..

the charge from the car is independent of the switch so is the fridge feed from the car..

mine is permanent power from car battery to the three position switch.. car or van selects where the van power is coming from.. the center position is off.. no battery power to the van..

the fridge (from the car) is a separate wire and goes straight to the fridge there is no fridge connection from the three way switch.. its car voltage controlled.. it only connects up when the car engine is running.. my fridge has a light on it so i can tell when its 12 volt powered or not.. with car engine running it lights up without the engine running it dosnt..

the charging lead is the same.. a separate wire which only connects up when the car engine is running.. nothing to do with three way switch at all..

i think mine is wired the correct way for older style vans without the "habitation" relay.. these are different.. i prefer the older way.. he he

trog


Persontrog100
15/7/2014 at 10:06am
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the whole lot is set up to stop people from flattening batteries with the fridge.. car or van it dosnt matter the fridge would soon flatten the lot..

its also set up to stop to the car starter motor from trying to draw high current from the van battery connection lead if the car battery is flat and the van battery isnt.. this would ether blow a fuse or melt wires with no fuse fitted..

this is why both fridge and car charging only connect up when the car engine is running.. a bit of idiot proofing that isnt really essential but then again maybe it is.. he he

the later habitation relay does it differently.. you cant choose car or van power from the switch.. the habitation relay does this for you.. a higher degree of idiot proofing with the car engine running all van systems (except the fridge and car charging) are switched off by the habitation relay..

its also to do with the van electrics maybe buggering up a modern cars electronic brain.. they might confuse the poor thing.. he he

trog


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PersonAndy Higham
15/7/2014 at 2:49pm
 Location: Bolton Lancs
 Outfit: Bailey Orion 430-4 & Mitsubishi PHEV View Andy Higham's Profile View Profile   Reply to Andy Higham Reply   Quote Andy Higham Quote  
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The habitation relay is energised from the fridge supply (12s pin 6 or 13 pin 10) It disconnects all the caravan equipment from the caravan battery and connects the caravan battery to a 12v supply from the car (12s pin 4 or 13 pin 9) The dangers of connecting to the car without a habitation relay in the caravan are :-
When starting the car, power could be drawn from the caravan battery overloading the cables.
when the car is connected and not running, the caravan could discharge the car battery


Persontrog100
15/7/2014 at 4:03pm
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the older user selectable system (three way switch) allows the car battery to be flattened if car is selected as the vans power source.. it also lets the car battery be used if required.. good in my csse because i have more battery power (250 mah) in my towing vehicle than i do the caravan..

the fridge only comes online with the car engine running.. everything else is working from the car battery if its car selected at the three way switch..

if i am daft enough to flatten my towing vehicle battery that would be entirely my fault.. :)

but there are two systems.. they work in different ways.. i like the old one.. :)

car and van together.. 350 mah of battery power.. nice..

trog


Persontrog100
16/7/2014 at 9:02am
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read my 350 mah as 350 ah.. old age creeping up.. he he

trog



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