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Subject Topic: Electrics from car to caravan Post Reply Post New Topic
PersonTiree54
28/3/2017 at 6:50pm
 Location: Stourport on Severn
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Hi,
I am a first time Caravaner. Have just bought a 2004 Swift Charisma in great condition and am having problems with the electrics from the car to the caravan. I had a new tow bar and electrics fitted, 2 x 7 pin plugs , one grey one black.
Getting ready for our first trip so connected car to caravan , turned the "Car/van switch on in the caravan and started the engine. No brake lights, no indicators.
Have power in the utility battery so fridge lights inside work.
The handbook is for all the old Swift range and is gobbledegook to me.
Help!! Do I have the right switch on in the caravan? Do the plugs have to matched up? I have seen a wiring diagram in colour showing the pins in the connectors in different colours.????

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Tiree54


PersonRob and Tina
28/3/2017 at 7:04pm
 Location: Royal Forest of Dean
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The black plug on the caravan goes in the black socket on the car and is for the road lights. The grey plug goes in the grey socket and takes power from the car to the caravan fridge and battery. The car/van switch should be on "car" when towing and has nothing to do with the road lights, it allows power to flow to the caravan.

With the black plug in the black socket all the road lights should work. Have you got a trailer board or a tester so you can check if the tow bar wiring is correct? If the tow bar wiring is correct then the fault lies in the caravan, check the bulbs and the plug wiring.

Start with just plugging in the black plug and check from there.

Rob


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PersonOctavia4x4
28/3/2017 at 7:14pm
 Location: Harrogate Yorkshire.
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Your caravan plugs (12s white and 12n black) pin numbers and coloured wires should all match up.



Caravan 12n



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Skoda Octavia Estate 2.0TDi 4x4 (2012) towing a Compass Omega 482 (2014)


PersonTiree54
28/3/2017 at 7:34pm
 Location: Stourport on Severn
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Thanks for replying.
Don't know what a trailer board is. Don't have a tester.Where would I get one?
Tow bar and electrics where put in by a specialist garage so am hoping they work.


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Tiree54


PersonTiree54
28/3/2017 at 7:37pm
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Thanks for the electric diagrams. There aren't any colours on my connections. Is it possible to insert the plug upside down so they are wired up wrong??

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Tiree54


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PersonOpensauce
28/3/2017 at 8:01pm
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First thing to do is take the caravan black 12n plug apart. You may find it's a green corroded mess inside. Strip the wires back to clean wire & fit a new 12n plug.

A trailer board is lights you might hang on the back of a bike rack etc & can be used to test your lights. You can also buy a tester but easier just to dismantle plug as suggested. It's probably the problem.

You can only insert the plugs the correct way.

I'm assuming here of course your new towbar electrics are ok.


PersonTiree54
28/3/2017 at 8:13pm
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Thanks Opensauce. I will have a go tomorrow :)

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Tiree54


Persontango55
28/3/2017 at 8:57pm
 Location: Lichfield
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A standard trailer board is just a piece of kit used for testing the trailer lights which should have been used by the fitter to confirm that the electrics were working correctly. You can purchase them from various outlets but they do vary in price as some have more lights incorporated such as rear fog lights etc.
Rather than purchase one for a single test I would be inclined to take the vehicle back to where the electrics were fitted and see the trailer board working yourself. If it proves to be satisfactory then any problem with the towing socket has been eliminated which means the underlying fault is with the caravan.
The link below is for illustration purposes only but shows what a trailer board looks like.


Link


PersonTiree54
28/3/2017 at 9:48pm
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Thanks Tango55

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Tiree54


PersonTiree54
29/3/2017 at 10:07am
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Hi again. Thanks to you all. This morning I connected just the black plug from my car to my caravan and ...... the indicators and brake lights worked.

Now all I have to do is figure out why they don't work when the grey plug is connected as I want to have my fridge working while I am travelling.

Thanks again.

-------------
Tiree54


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PersonRob and Tina
29/3/2017 at 10:35am
 Location: Royal Forest of Dean
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Now you know that the road lights work have you tried plugging in the grey plug to see if the road lights still work?

Rob


PersonHumberWolf
29/3/2017 at 11:44am
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With the grey plug connected do the road lights work when the engine is switched on?


PersonAVON EAGLE
29/3/2017 at 6:05pm
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Could be a short on the grey plug - do the wires from the grey plug start to get hot ?

With a multimeter - test the connections from the grey plug to earth. They should be either open circuit or a high resistance.



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