12 Volt Electrics Again

[DerekRDG]

Swift Rapide 440 1996

Hi

Can anyone help, i have at the 12s socket at the rear of the car an output of 13.7ish volts (car running) on both fridge an Batt Charger (pins 2-6 and 3 earth)

My problem is that at the Battery, i have only 12.1 volts, pins on both the plug and socket have been cleaned and checked. I feel that i may have a broken cable somewhere on the caravan, any suggestions?. Battery is about 85%-90% charged and the fridge side is fine

 

[WatsonJohnG]

The fridge only works on 12V when the engine is switched on and is on a different cable as you know .

Have you checked at the fridge end to rule out voltage drop in the length of cable from the 12S plug to the battery( ie if the readings were the same it would point to voltage drop)

My own Ace Jubilee Statesman had the cable from the battery to the charger going the full length of the caravan,across the front and then back down the other side to the charger over the wheel

Replacing the the cable with one under the van and of thicker gauge produced much higher readings on the battery meter in the van.

 

[PaulA3]

I think your problem is the result of voltage drop. Try pluging in your 12s socket and turning the fridge off then check the voltage across the battery connections with out the battery connected. Then turn the fridge on and check the voltage again, if the difference is is more than 1/2 volt then you need to check for

1 bad connections along the circuit from car battery to carravn battery ( you have started this by cleaning the socket and plug )

2 Check the size of the cable from car to caravan it needs to be a least 2.5 mm2