Advice for on a ferry
we are heading over to france and can't find any advice about what to do with the caravan on the ferry..... handbrake? power? hooked up or separate from the car??? would be great to have some quick tips and advice from expert tourers 
Comments
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The marshalls on the ferry will tell you what to do.
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On short crossings, in good weather, just handbreak on car and leave electrics connected. The tunnel, your gas will have been checked to ensure turned off then just park up in train, the marshall will place, and subsequently remove, wheel chocks. On long
crossing (24 hrs) disconnect electrics and both car and caravan handbreak on; do not put fridge to gas!. In either case the marshalls will advise, but check caravan handbreak is in off position - just in case! Oh, and leave caravan connnected to car!0 -
Does ATC take its power from the permanent live feed in the 12S or 13pin plug? If so, I suppose that would be why- even a 2 ampere draw may flatten a car battery over a 24h crossing... I don't have ATC but I am sure someone else can answer that!
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Why not play safe and disconnect the caravan lead?
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We always disconnect the electrics. Yes the ATC does draw current, but the more practical reason is that on a ferry other users often take a short cut between your car and caravan. In the process it is so easy for their foot to connect with the electric cable and they then yank it out of the car socket. ( Can talk from experience ). So always disconnect electrics to save this happening.
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Caravan brake on, fridge switched off in van, car alarm switched off (method varies car to car) I don`t disconnect as car will switch off permanent feed hence ATC after 6 hours or if the battery reaches a pre-determined level. Take it slowly over ferry ramps
and watch the rear swing of the van especially if on a smaller ferry e.g. IOW particularily if you are tucked into the side.0 -
I haven't taken the current van abroad but I always used to drop the jockey wheel and give it a couple of turns on the longer channel crossing.
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Some of the Irish crossings ask for caravan handbrake to be applied so do remember when you get the other side! I saw one smoking caravan that had obviously forgotten to release the handbrake! I have never disconnected the electrics though. Judging by
the noise lots of people leave the car alarms on!Enjoy the trip it is quite straight forward those guys know what they are doing even if they look impatient as you take the ramp slowly.
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I haven't taken the current van abroad but I always used to drop the jockey wheel and give it a couple of turns on the longer channel crossing.
We do the same especially if its going to be a rough'ish' crossing. Stops any undue undulating weight on the rear suspension as it bounces and its a bit more stable....
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Is the ATC always active? We don't have ATC. Does not seem a good idea for it to be able to drain a battery when not in use.
It must be active without ignition being turned on in the car as when I hook up - engine off and gey in pocket the ATC initialises with its initial whirring and light on a frame showing status
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Ok I was going to show my ignorance and ask what ATC is but google supplied that info! Now I would like to know how I know if its fitted to my 2008 Abbey? I haven't seen anything in the miriad of manuals supplied with the van secondhand but I might have
missed something. I guess it probably isn't fitted as I have done a lot of ferry crossings and not had a flat battery.0 -
If it is fitted apart from the label that always seems to be stuck to the back of vans with it. It will make a whirring when you connect up to the car,(even if noisy you will hear it) and there will be a light on the hitch which should glow solid, or flashing green, ratherthan red.
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AL-KO ATC is powered by the permanent live from your towcar, 12s pin 4 or Euro pin 9. It is always live while connected to the towcar. On standby mode (not actually triggerd) it only draws milliamperes, not a problem. When activated (for instance when van is snaking) it draws around 10 to 15 amperes. If it is left pluged in during a long ferry crossing it can flatten your towcars battery. This is due to every time the ship rocks upon the sea-waves it rocks your van, this activates the ATC. Some towcars are programmed to automatically terminate said power supply after six hours or if the towcars battery falls below a certain level, which ever comes sooner. Always best to pull the plug!
Colin
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PS, Sorry, with regards to my above post, forgot to mention; if the said power supply is auto terminated after several hours or when the towcars battery falls below a certain level, if the battery then slightly recuperates (due to being off load) the supply remains terminated until the towcars ignition is cycled.
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Hi, we travelled N/cle to Amsterdam this year and I switched the fridge 12v supply on at the caravan electrics panel when on the ferry, after an overnight crossing the voltage had not dropped to below 12v from 13.8 when switching back over so usage is very low, isolate the car alarm as crossing may set alarm off and I put both handbrakes on to be safe, if you think movement on the ship may activate the Alco system unplug the 12v from car for your crrossing, have a good trip.
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"It is powered from the car but only when the ignition is on"
PROVIDED the relay does not stick open and allow the fridge to totally drain your battery leaving you the most popular person on the boat (not) when it's time to drive off. It's happened to me.
It won't happen again.Just unplug from the car chaps and chappesses.
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Always possible I suppose!
However, my point was that the information given was incorrect.
Would not want an unsuspecting new caravan/MHer to think their fridge would work off the battery (and not flatten it) as that is not how things are designed to operate.
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