Fridge not working when towed?
Hi. I wonder if anyone can help me with a problem i have had for over a year now. We are fairly new to caravaning (3yrs) and any problems weve had in the past, we have managed to solve by hours and hours on these forums but i cant seem to find the answer
anywhere to this issue. For 2yrs we towed our 2004 bailey ranger all over with the fridge working fine when connected to the car. Last summer on our trip to flamingo land, the fridge worked fine on the way there and fine hooked up to the pitch. There were
a few times our van tripped out (Hairdryer) but nothing major. As we set off for home, the fridge wouldnt come on? The fuse in the main box is fine. In fact i changed every fuse in there just incase they were linked but still no joy? Am i missing something
out? Do i need to check anything else? We bought a brand new Varta battery just incase it was that but no change? Another forum mentioned something about a relay switch and a 16a fuse? I have no idea if that could be the problem or where that is? Any information
would be really appreciated as we are planning another trip soon and its nice to have the main essentials chilling ie. A beer lol for when we get there Thanks
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Sometimes our fridge doesn't work when towing - and if we find the light isn't on when we've plugged in and the car engine is running, we've found that by 'jiggling' the plug it starts to workl We have a light on the fridge which indicates it's running from the car battery so we always check before setting off.
When we're on site, after this has happened, my OH cleans up all the plug pins, and then it's another while before it plays up again. He thinks it just a bad connection with the particular pin which is responsible for the circuit to the fridge.
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There's a relay in your car somewhere that supplies your caravan with 12 volts to both power your fridge & charge your leisure battery on your caravan. You need to find it & check for voltage to & from it
Write your comments here...The relay VSR only feeds the fridge, the caravan battery feed is from the permanent supply.
ideally both should have a fuse.
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There's a relay in your car somewhere that supplies your caravan with 12 volts to both power your fridge & charge your leisure battery on your caravan. You need to find it & check for voltage to & from it
Write your comments here...The relay VSR only feeds the fridge, the caravan battery feed is from the permanent supply.
ideally both should have a fuse.
I know, but without the VSR relay, neither will get a supply
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I had a similar problem and just could not trace the fault, so called in on my local Tow bar specialists. They solved the problem in seconds! A few months earlier I had changed the car but had not towed with the new set up before. The new car had one of the new 13 pin sockets. It had been fitted by the Mercedes specialist not my usual Tow bar specialist (Britannia).
On examining the connections they discovered that in common with several other German cars the 13th pin was not live or indeed connected to anything. A few minutes corrective work ( Not Charged for) soon put it right!
I recommend a quick visit to a specialist tow bar co.
TF
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You need to check that there is a 12V supply across pins 10 & 13 on the 13 pin socket. If you don't have a suitable meter to do this, I see that you are located in Tyne & Wear like I am. I'd be happy to do the check for you if you like.
Reply on here if you want to take up this offer and we'll make contact off the Forum.
Good luck.
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Sorry, just re- read your original posting and see that your caravan is a 2004 model so probably uses the modified 12S socket for fridge wiring. In that case the fridge supply is across pins 6 & 7. See this CC link for more info:
http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/1022790/towbar-wiring-mo.pdf
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Geordie, you are clearly much more up to speed on electronics than I, but the one thing we don't seem to know is the make & age of the towing vehicle. My sister had a 2013 VW Passat and an older caravan. She had a similar problem because although the caravan has a 12s and a12n, her car had a 13 pin towing socket. She was using a commercially obtained adapter /connector. Again as you suggested there was a problem with the 10 & 13 pins area.
TF
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It's certainly possible that the caravan has 7 pin plugs and the car has a 13 pin socket, in which case, as you say, an adapter will be in use. Even if this is the case, my first check would be at the 12S socket on the adapter.
If the supply is not present there, then I'd check at the 13 pin socket and then the security of its wiring before working back into the car electrics if necessary.
If there is a 12v supply at the 12S socket, then I'd open the 12S plug and check that the wiring is securely connected before delving further into the caravan wiring.
Hopefully, the information on both 7 pin and 13 pin options will allow the OP to do a check of the fridge supply whichever system is fitted.
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