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Subject Topic: Lunar fridge problem Post Reply Post New Topic
Personcliffbrown
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 2:27pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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Hi all, hope you are keeping safe and sane!
I changed my car in February a 66 plate Kuga, had the towbar fitted then we had lockdown.
I have been meaning to check it connected to the caravan but haven't bothered.
So today I decided to try it, there seems to be a problem with the fridge, it's a dometic electronic mes one, when I turned it on the 12v light and alarm light flash with an audible beep which goes off after a few seconds. Looking at the instructions it indicates no 12v supply. So as the towbar is new I checked that first, it's a 13 pin single socket checked between pins 10 and 11 14+ volts. Checked the fused on the caravan fridge 15a ok car 15a ok, am I missing something? Thanks in advance, Cliff


Personrugbytowbars
03/5/2020 at 3:48pm
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if you have had vehicle specific wiring kit fitted, the 13 pin kits do not come with the charging facility. 2 options, have the dedicated fitting kit additional loom fitted, average cost for the extra loom is around £80 plus fitting.
Or wire in a split charge relay, either voltage controlled or ignition controlled. igninition controlled is probably best for your car if it has a smart charging ecu controlled alternater.
We as a business have fitted the relays to many cars where the owners got the dealer to arrange fitting. I do know that bmw charge around £680 for this, the robbing B********.
We charge £95 all in for the relay supplied and fitted


Persondavid8858
03/5/2020 at 4:02pm
 Location: Teesside
 Outfit: Lunar Clubman SI H View david8858's Profile View Profile   Reply to david8858 Reply   Quote david8858 Quote  
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We thought we had a problem with ours so I got the tow bar fitter back. He told us if you run the car engine after a few seconds you can switch fridge to battery and it will work.

He was right. It only seems to work if the car engine is running. We too have a Clubman SI - ours is a 2016 model.

-------------
Best Regards

David


PersonDaveS1
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 4:24pm
 Location: Hatfield Peverel Essex
 Outfit: Ace Supreme Twinstar Disco 3 View DaveS1's Profile View Profile   Reply to DaveS1 Reply   Quote DaveS1 Quote  
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Your car engine needs to be running at cruising speed for the fridge to operate. Get someone to stay in the caravan and then rev the engine up to normal speed.
DaveS1


PersonMonty15
03/5/2020 at 4:42pm
 Location: London
 Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524 View Monty15's Profile View Profile   Reply to Monty15 Reply   Quote Monty15 Quote  
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Quote: Originally posted by david8858 on 03/5/2020
We thought we had a problem with ours so I got the tow bar fitter back. He told us if you run the car engine after a few seconds you can switch fridge to battery and it will work.

He was right. It only seems to work if the car engine is running. We too have a Clubman SI - ours is a 2016 model.


I believe that to be true, it's so that any trailer load (fridge, on-board leisure battery charger etc.) doesn't run down the vehicle battery when engine not running.

Certainly on my outfit, it takes a little while with engine running before fridge stops beeping and starts working after first connecting up.

It's also a case of some 13 pin sockets do not have the 12v power pin(s) connected on some installations as sometimes it is necessary to run a new HD power cable direct from the battery, and that is a real time consuming PITA job that installers just don't want to do! I know people that have done it, and it takes longer than ALL of the rest of the tow-bar/electrics installation just for that power pin when done properly!


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Personcliffbrown
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 5:56pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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Hi thanks for the replies, the company I use for the towbar fitted one on my previous car, a 67 plate Mondeo estate with no problems so I have faith in them, I suspected the low voltage as the car was started from cold, but I never noticed it before on the Mondeo, we only got the Lunar last August and have only used it twice so might not have noticed it as we have it on electric to chill fridge before switching to 12v before setting off.


Personcliffbrown
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 6:17pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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Rereading the posts if some 13 pin sockets need extra wiring I would assume I won't get any voltage across pins 10-11 on socket, but as I do it's not that


Persondavid8858
03/5/2020 at 6:37pm
 Location: Teesside
 Outfit: Lunar Clubman SI H View david8858's Profile View Profile   Reply to david8858 Reply   Quote david8858 Quote  
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Before you chase electrons cliffbrown - I’d try connecting it to the car and starting the engine to see if thats all it is - Assuming thats possible wherever its kept.

-------------
Best Regards

David


Personcliffbrown
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 7:08pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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I did when it showed the error I reved the engine to se if it would change but it didn't
Just to note I did have the engine running when I connected it


Persondavid8858
03/5/2020 at 7:50pm
 Location: Teesside
 Outfit: Lunar Clubman SI H View david8858's Profile View Profile   Reply to david8858 Reply   Quote david8858 Quote  
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I never plug the van into the car with the engine running. Also when I do plug it in I make sure the fridge is switched off. Van lives on the drive plugged into mains with the fridge on all the time normally.

Once I plug the car into the van I’ll start the engine and the mrs checks all the lights etc then finally does the fridge to battery so probably 5 minutes will have elapsed between me starting the engine and her switching the fridge to battery. It normally comes straight on.   Its a domestic fridge with the blue display so I imagine much like yours.

I was told if you plug the caravan into the car with the fridge switched on it could cause damage to the earth pin of the 13 way in that it can corrode due to the current drawn on connection.   Not sure how true this is but we followed the advice and had no problems.

Good luck getting it sorted.

-------------
Best Regards

David


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Personcliffbrown
via mobile 03/5/2020 at 8:07pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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I connected it to the van checked the lights then turned the fridge on so not sure what the issue is


Personrugbytowbars
via mobile 04/5/2020 at 5:50pm
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Never plug any connection into the trailer electrics with the engine running, 7 pin, 13 pin or twin. I always hook up first no matter if it's a cycle carrier, trailer or caravan. Ive witnessed customers having the engine running while plugging in, and its caused issues because they've not lined up the plug correctly and tried forcing it in. Always engine off and key out. More so if you've got vehicle specific electrics that are controlled by the can bus system of the car.


Personcliffbrown
via mobile 05/5/2020 at 2:55pm
 Location: chesterfield
 Outfit: Ford Kuga AWD & Lunar Clubman SI View cliffbrown's Profile View Profile   Reply to cliffbrown Reply   Quote cliffbrown Quote  
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Hi Just an update, I finished work early today so thought I would have another look at connecting the car to van, so this time I turned off the ignition connected to the van switched the fridge on and no alarm light. So I have only been caravanning for about 10 years but never done anything different, but now know I must connect van with ignition off, thanks for the help 👍



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