VW Touareg and Caravan Fridge 12v feed
Hi there
We have a 2017 VW Touareg R-Line which has a dealer supplied towbar & 13 pin electric connection. We also have an Adria Adora Isonzo DT615 caravan.
The issue is that the 12v on the Fridge circuit doesn't immediately connect when the engine is started.
It will connect after the engine has been running for some time, but it's not always convenient to pull over to reset the fridge settings to 12v.
Does anyone know whether the 12v to the fridge circuit is cut off until the car electrical circuits have stabilised after starting and pumped sufficient power to the car battery to allow the fridge circuit to come live, via a relay or something similar?
I have had the car and the caravan into respective dealers and independent trailer suppliers, but the fridge circuit seems to be ok in all instances.
The fridge circuit on the caravan had no issues with previous tow cars.
TIA
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Sounds normal to me. I was under the impression that the caravan fridge will not get any power until the car is satisfied it can provide it, that is the cars systems will take priority.
Colin
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We also have a 2017 Touareg R line. The problem is with the smart alternator. It does not care what is happening with your caravan.
We were advised to turn on the headlights, and the handbook says to turn off the stop/start.
Even so, we were not happy with the lack of charge to the caravan battery, which often resulted in insufficient battery power for the mover when arriving on site, plus the operating of the fridge was dubious.
After a year of this I fitted a Sterling battery to battery charger in the van and we have had no further problems. I have set it to battery priority, but the fridge still receives sufficient power to keep the food well cooled.
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Reading your post again Phantom, I note that you say the “fridge circuit does not immediately connect”, so perhaps we are not looking at the problem correctly.
Can you give us some more information?
Do you have a wiring diagram for your caravan?
What make and model of fridge do you have?
Does it select its fuel automatically?
How does it indicate that it is not connected on the 12v?
Why do you have to stop to reset it to 12v? This does not sound sensible or correct fridge behaviour!
Our van is from 2008, Thetford fridge/freezer, manual fuel selection. When we go away, OH sets the fridge to 12v, a little blue light on it comes on and flashes slowly to indicate that it is not getting any 12v (it does the same for all fuels if the selected one is not available). Once I start the engine the light stops flashing.
One strange thing we do get with the VW, which did not happen with our previous car, a Volvo, is that the lights on the caravan do not come on until we start moving, no idea why!
You ask about relays. Our van has what is called a “habitation relay” which, when the car is started , cuts all 12v power in the van and allows the fridge to use 12v and the caravan battery to be charged, though see what I said in my previous post.
These days this is all done electronically.
You say you have had both car and van circuits checked, and consulted a trailer specialist, did they all look at the outfit as a whole? Or just test using a trailer board? Not all problems show up unless the actual outfit as a whole is tested.
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Hi KjellNN
The fridge/freezer is a Thetford, not sure of the model, but it's a tall thin one.
I do have a wiring diagram for the van.
The fuel is not selected automatically, we need to set it to Mains/Battery/Gas as required.
We need to stop travelling temporarily to ensure that once the car has sorted itself out and has sufficient power in it's system, we can then make sure that the fridge/freezer is set to battery operation.
Our van has a habitation relay too.
I must admit that the system was tested by an independent trailer supplier with a board that checked the feeds off the 13 pin socket, not the whole system.
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In 2019 I collected my Audi A3 with factory fit towbar and 13 pin electrics to feed caravan battery and fridge.
On our first trip it became apparent the fridge was not getting any power.
The Audi main dealer tested the car with a testing board and said all was well. I said it was not and asked they to check feed across the terminals. Only after 24 hours did they do as I requested and confirmed the vehicle was not wired correctly.
I was later lead to believe that using a test board is not fool proof as the system has to be under a load and the board does not replicate this.
The Audi main dealer then undone and re-wired everything at the back of the car and all appeared fine. I managed to confirm the electrics were doing what they were supposed to as I accessed the 12 volt fuse-board/consumer unit terminals and confirmed I was getting a feed from the car when the engine was running.
Moral, do not trust the test board.
Colin
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