Swift Elegance caravans
Are there any members out there who own one of the models of the Swift Elegance range?
I am getting conflicting advice regarding the various ways of dealing with the led exterior lights and especially the indicator lights. From my own experience, to make the indicator lights work in a satisfactory way has required the purchase and fitting onboard of a small electronics package. But the specification of the electronics package can vary according to the make of towing vehicle.
Have any other members experienced this problem?
Looking forward to hearing from members
pande
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Comments
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Hi pande. I have an Elegance 580 and have had no problems with the external LED lights. I tow with a Volvo XC90 previously a 2011 model now a 2017 model so relatively new cars. May this be your problem? Does your car have the single connection or the double set of connectors with a converters? Sorry I can't be more help.
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Hi pande, this is nothing to do with Elegance, but the cause is the Led lighting. You will probably require a VLM box to be fitted in your caravan. Sergeant electrical who provide the components to Swift will be able to talk you through it and provide the box.
I am assuming you have no dealer to speak to. Hope that has helped.
Ken
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I tow with a Kia Sorento and there is no problem.Towbar wiring is through a standard bypass relay.Our company Shogun 2017 with dealer fitted towbar is not compatable with the led road lights!!It seems that certain towcars need the Sargent "fix" to the caravan whilst others have no problem!!
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I think it's all to do with what they call the "can-bus" electrics. some cars need an adapter connected to the rear lights. its a plug in piece. you remove the standard plug, plug in adapter that's made for that vehicle, and reconnect the standard plug again. know as piggy back connector.
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A 'thank you' to you all for your replies, re LED indicator lights on my Swift Elegance.
To expand on what I perceive is a fundamental problem:
1. I purchased my Elegance approx. 4 years ago, my towcar was a Mazda 6 and all lighting, including indicator lights worked perfectly.
2. I subsequently changed my towcar to a Honda CR-V and I immediately experienced problems with the malfunction of the indicator lights.
3. Consulting my dealer, he fitted a Sargent VLM LED module A3 to the caravan electrics which solved the problem.
4. But I still have two concerns: Firstly, my dealer can no longer tow my Elegance from home to his workshops for servicing etc because our caravan is not compatible with his towcar. He informs me that there are 6 versions of the Sargent device, each version relating to a specific UK towcar.
Clearly, this situation is going to be tricky should I wish to sell the caravan. The chances are that the prospective purchaser will not have a towcar which is compatible with the Elegance
Secondly, if for any reason I should suffer a breakdown whilst towing, UK or abroad, there is every chance that the caravan indicators will not work if a tow to a garage is required. Tricky!!
Does anyone have any thoughts on this conundrum?
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can you get a towbar fitter to test the electrics on the car. they usually have a prewired tail board with everything on it including testing the charging circuit and fridge function. this will then let you know that at least the vehicle is wired correctly ( which I don't think it is ). you should be able to tow any van without messing with the van/car electrics.
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Hi, pande don't see any problem. You tow it to your dealer for any services? If you decide to sell the van at a future date, any buyer will have to decide whether to fit a new VLM box if required. Lastly if you did have a break down and the van wouldn't go on a flatbed then any tow truck driver would have a rear indicator board.
Each VLM covers quiet a few styles of car A3 works on Discovery 2 but doesn't on a VW Touareg (2014) they don't need them.
Steve
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Strange my Honda CRV 2013 had no problems at all connecting up to our Conqueror 2016 led lights.
Salop Leisure Shrewsbury have a test board which they link up to your 13pin electrics prior to collection, then finally connected up the the caravan on collection.
Again new Ford Kuga no problems.
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Hi Pande,
We Have purchased a Swift Elegance 650, 6 weeks ago, and has not been the best start so far. We have had, and we are still having electrical issues.
The rear light issue and also interior lights flickering when taps turned on/off
continous Alarm triggering issue, the van has been back 3 times in 6 weeks and no further forward.
rear lights, Vlm4 module fitted but no fix the a vlm6 module fitted all appeared Okay at first, indicate and break and every so often it triggers both indicators, the power supply app also now shows car battery using 0.1v when unplugged from the car it’s only a small amount but even still it looks like this fix has a power supply bridge issue,
internal light issue seems to have been sorted with a plugin fix ?
swift appear to be having more than one teathing issue with their swift command / Sargent partnership.
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Secondly, if for any reason I should suffer a breakdown whilst towing, UK or abroad, there is every chance that the caravan indicators will not work if a tow to a garage is required. Tricky!!
Not sure about abroad, in UK if car is towed following a breakdown a tow board will be used with towing vehicles reg and lighting in my experience
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Hi, I am brand new to caravaning and stumbled across the discussion as I have the same issue with my 2007 Honda CRV and the LED lights on my 2018 Swift eccles 580.
All the lights on the van work fine except the indicators which both come on at the same time, but the the side your indicating is normal and the opposite flashes in sync but very dimly.
I have a new OME towbar fitted by my local Honda dealer which has been tested on a van with normal non LED lights and all works fine.
I'm interested to know how Pande resolved the issue using the A3 Sargent module and if it was configure in a certain way. Also which dealer sorted it so I could perhaps pass this onto my dealer so they can have a chat.
I am told this is not a common problem where it is just the indicators flashing together, one much brighter than the other. Apparently it is more common to have a pulsing effect with for example the tail lights, or communication issues with vehicle trailer safety systems.
Awaiting any reply
Darryll
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I have recently brought a 2022 Swift and the indicators flashed whilst being towed by my Disco. I have been told I need to pay £141.78 for the part (VLM6) and £42.50 labour. My argument is the new caravan is not compatable to my tow car and not the otherway around. This is something I feel Swift should be fixing FOC. I didnt have an issue towing my Abbey Spectrum.
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I had the same issues when towing this caravan with a Discovery. The problem is that the Swift LED lights draw much mess that the old type bulbs fooling the Discovery into not recognising that the 13 pin connection is plugged in. This causes several problems such as the 'trailer sign on the dash board does not flash when indicating, reversing sensors on the Discovery sound a warning during reversing as it assumes you are close to an object. Other items affected if you have them are towing assist etc. I got rid of my Swift Elegance at 12 months old due to numerous problem 4 years back but the solution was to buy a VLM convertor kit made by Sargant which cost about £39 although they offered a £10 discount. In effect the device converted the electric load to allow the Discovery to recognise a caravan was connected. Fitting is simple, it comes with instructions telling you how to unplug two existing connections and plug the device in between. They are colour coded and different fittings ensuring it only connects one way. The plugs lie under the seat in the front nearside corner. It was fiddly as the wires were short making it awkward but you only have to do it once. After first fitting you may need to switch on and drive forward a couple of feet to give the onboard computer in the Discovery time to recognise the presence of the caravan.
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We harve a 2020 elegance and have had problems with the lights. firstly arrived at caravan park with NO rear lights. Dealer came out and it turned out to be a plug in the rear wiring loom had come loose. Secondly we had a problem with the offside indicator, after much searching at our dealer this turned out to be loose spade connectors at the tweve volt fuse box. We haven`t had any problems with lights since . however the control knobs on the cooker are another issue (they break and fall off whilst travelling) along with the cover of the hob falling whilst travelling - Thetford need to gettheir act together,
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