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Subject Topic: Caravan battery not charging when towing Post Reply Post New Topic
PersonJon26
28/7/2016 at 3:23pm
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Hi all,had our first van a few weeks now with no problems so far(Elddis Hurricane 1997) however I noticed the other day that after a trip home that the caravan battery didn't appear to have charged up much.I checked the pins on the 12s socket with the engine running & im getting a steady 14 volts,however at the caravan battery terminals there's nothing.Is there an internal fuse in the van somewhere which protects the car to caravan trickle charge circuit? The control system in the van is a Zig E2 board with the battery switch selectable to caravan or car,we have no manuals for it so when towing we always switch it to "car"


PersonGrampian91
28/7/2016 at 5:21pm
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Fuse in the panel or an inline fuse or even both. You need to trace the wire forwards or backwards to see where the power stops.


Personnavver
28/7/2016 at 8:33pm
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The wiring of 12s sockets changed in 1998 or 99. The battery charging was one of the changes. Your caravan being 1997 may be the old system and car the new.

If so, one will need to be changed.

http://www.plugwiring.co.uk/how-to-wire-a-7-pin-12-s-type-trailercaravan-plug/


PersonJon26
28/7/2016 at 9:22pm
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Thanks navver,I checked the pins in both plugs yesterday as I've replaced them both with new ones.The 12s wiring is correctly wired as of the pre-1998 diagram,ie pin 2 is battery charging & pin 3 is earth.There is approx 14 volts between them with the engine running & 0 volts with the engine off.


PersonJon26
28/7/2016 at 9:53pm
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Just to clarify,I've replaced both Plugs & checked the wiring,both 12N & 12S sockets were fitted new about 2 months ago by a towbar company,and the battery charging pins are correct as of the pre 1998 specs


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Persontango55
28/7/2016 at 10:48pm
 Location: Lichfield
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What you need to do is prove that no charge is reaching the caravan battery first which you will need a voltmeter to undertake the test. Plug the electrics into the car first and then start the engine, go into the caravan and switch the CAR/VAN switch to neutral (to disconnect the charge) then remove the two battery terminals from the leisure battery (make sure they don't touch) and then check the terminals with the voltmeter. There should be a reading of around 14 volts but this will prove if the charging circuit is working or not delivering the full volts required but if it shows no power then the first thing to check is the fuse which may have blown.


PersonCrypto
29/7/2016 at 7:59am
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There is generally a 25A fuse quite close to where the 12S wiring comes in to the van on the floor. There will a connector block there to distribute the wires off to their various locations. That's where I would start to check with a voltmeter.


PersonJon26
29/7/2016 at 9:56pm
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Thanks for the replys everyone,I checked the 25 amp battery fuse today & it's ok however,for some reason the 12s battery charging circuit out feed has been disconnected along with the 12s out feed to the interior lights.To me it seems that at some point the switch on the panel (car or caravan selector) must have gone faulty so it's been re-wired to make only the caravan selector side of the switch live?


Persontango55
30/7/2016 at 12:44am
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The caravan interior lights shouldn't operate when the 12S supply is connected to the towing vehicle as the relay is designed to operate just the caravan 12 volt charging circuit and the 12 volt power to the fridge. Once the vehicle's ignition is turned off then the caravan interior lights should function again so it's worth trying to see if this is the case. I only found this out recently by a mobile service engineer when I had my caravan serviced earlier in the year.


Personarc systems
31/7/2016 at 12:31am
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I don't think ZIG work the same but I'll say it anyway, on plug in system equipped vans, the car/van switch is put to the middle position for car charging.



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