12 volt question

[3.0ghia]

Hi this may seem like a stupid question but here goes.
After my trip to France last year i thought it would be easier to have the twin electrics fitted to enable the fridge to keep cool when travelling,electrics have been fitted by overland caravans so i assume they are correct but my fridge dosent appear to be working when attatched to the car, fuses are ok is there any other way of telling if the 12 voly supply is getting to the van ? or is there another switch somewhere to enable this that i dont know about ?, having never driven with twin electrics is there a certain procedure to follow when hooking up,
the van in question is a bailey senator indiana series 6 if this helps

cheers

Chris.

 

[DeliDave_]

We have the same van and there is no indicator to show its on.It only works when the engine is running and producing a high voltage 13 to 14 volts.If you can access the connections you could check voltage is being given to the 12 volt element,we have found that if the fridge is cold to start with ,on 240 volts for a day while we are loading up it stays cold but afaik there is no other way of checking.I have read of owners fitting a 240volt neon and 12 volt LED to show power is reaching the fridge,now mine is well out of warranty I might have a look at doing that myslef.HTH

 

[3.0ghia]

i thought the selector switch might have lit up ? i know it does if the gas is selected

 

[DeliDave_]

Nothing on mine,wish there was TBH

 

[sorentodave]

When runing the fridge from the car there is no light to let you know. The fridge does not cool but keeps the tempreture the same as when you start your journey if the van is on your drive run it from the mains for a day if its in storage put frozen ice packs around the food when you start your trip. Food keeps cool even on long trips ie 5/6 hours.

 

[xtrailman]

When runing the fridge from the car there is no light to let you know. The fridge does not cool but keeps the tempreture the same as when you start your journey if the van is on your drive run it from the mains for a day if its in storage put frozen ice packs around the food when you start your trip. Food keeps cool even on long trips ie 5/6 hours.

I'm not sure if that's still true.
On the Valencia the 12v element is 130w, and the 240 volt one is 135watt, or around those figures.
And they both go into the same area, so cooling should be identical?

No leds on the 2011 unicorn.
But i had one led for each service on my 2004 Senator.
Not exactly progress is it?

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

i thought the selector switch might have lit up ? i know it does if the gas is selected

hi which fridge is it ?? the electolux has seperate switches for 240v and 12v green for mains and red for 12v, in order to get the fridge to run on 12v (this only happens when the engine is running) the green one must be OFF and the red one ON.
mine has illuminated switches (quite annoying during the night is that green glow

) any way to test if the fridge is working once the plugs are in switches set and engine running a quick look through the window to see if the red swittch is illuminated is all that is needed. by the way the fridge does cool down the contents while traveling however not as effeciently as the gas or mains so it is a good idea to get it down to temperature before departing.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Chris
The 12S outlet has always been a difficult one.
The fridge on 12 volts does draw a heavy current as described by Ray.
I found over the years that the earth pins were burning out causing a loss of power connectivity.
You can dheck the continuity of the 12v power to the fridge with a multi meter but only if you know a little about the 12v system.
I suspect the root of your problem may well be one of a poor earth either from the car itself , the 12s plug / socket or indeed the caravan system.
My first port of call would be the following mod which has served me well for years.
http://www.towitall.co.uk/faq/1.aspx

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

HI DD, I did the same mod and yes it does work well however I just had a thought as Chris is not new to towing (reading the OP but never used twin plugs) I assume the installation is NEW and therfore unlikely the plug will be shorting however is is possible the terminals could be very dirty if the plug has on the van has not been connected before

 

[Mike_S]

Hi Chris
I have a Series 6 California and had the same problem. Assuming the Indiana is the same, if you remove the lower exterior vent which gives access to the rear of the fridge you will find a 4-way connector.
It has two thick wires (black & orange) and two thinner wires (green & white). They are the 12v supply to the fridge. The green & white provide current for lighting the gas and illuminating the interior of the fridge and are controlled by the master switch on the 12v panel inside the caravan.
The thick wires should only live when the car is connected AND the engine is running. This is the supply to the fridge heater element. Check the voltage across these wires. Initially, with my outfit, this voltage was less than 11v so no way did the fridge work!
After some detective work with my multi-meter I found the cause of this voltage drop was a totally inadequate wire supplying the relay in the car boot (installed when the towbar was fitted by my local dealer).
I replaced this with a very hefty 4mm cable connected in at the car's main fuse box next to the battery and routed through the car to the relay in the boot. Now the voltage at the fridge is around 14v so the fridge works when the caravan is being towed and, as a useful bonus, the caravan battery is charged more effectively.
Hope this helps.
Mike

 

[3.0ghia]

Cheers Mike,
i will test that tomorrow now i know where to start, as posted earlier will the 12 volts from the car pull the fridge down or will it simply keep the fridge at a constant cool temp after originally being cold from the 240 volt hook up ?

 

[Mike_S]

Hi Chris
As I understand it, running on 12v will only maintain a previously cooled fridge ie previously cooled by gas or 240v. There is no thermostat controlling it on 12v so the fridge is "always on" ie on when coupled to the car, the engine running and the fridge switched over to the 12v setting.
I keep my caravan at home and, like many people, run the fridge on 240v for 24hrs before setting off anywhere.
Regards Mike

 

[paul1103]

The 12V element will cool the fridge. As a previous post has noted the power rating is similar to the 240V element. Common problems with a fridge that doesn't work are corrosion of the earth pin on the 12S plug, dirty or corroded connection on the 12S socket earth pin, or failure of the 12V element. Many people don't realise that the 12V element has failed, as they ofetn cool the fridge before leaving home and since it will stay relatively cool for a number of hours during a journey, everything appears to be ok. The only real way to check if the element is ok, is to check the current taken when operating on 12V.
Cheers
Paul

 

[RogerL]

12v is traditionally said to be only good for maintaining the fridge and not powerful enough to bring the temperature down but that misses two obvious points:-
a) It takes about 24 hours, on any type of power, to get the fridge right down from ambient - so expecting a 2 hour tow to do it is naive.
b) Most cars with 12S sockets, and many with 13-pin, have under-specified cable in the fridge circuit - this causes voltage drop which reduces the fridge power considerably. It's not helped that some caravans also have under-specified cable in the fridge circuit which just makes a poor situation worse. Fridge wiring should be 2.5mm2 for both supply and return.

 

[xtrailman]

Two hours will drop a modern fridge down, depending on ambient temperatures.
We have a digital thermometer to check against, plus the newer caravans have a higher "A" rating.
The newer vans have higher rated elements.
I think its also mentioned in the Unicorn manual.
And as i mentioned earlier the 12 volt element is 130watt.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

If uprating the car wiring I always wire direct from the battery with an inline fuse at the battery
If you use one heavy cable and split it at the rear for the fridge and charging you run the risk of flattening the caravan battery in the event of the in line fuse blowing if you are using a switching old style relay rather then a voltage sensing type
I always run 2 heavy cables with fuses from the battery and ensure a good earth cable as well

 

[Willi-Wonti]

Hi Chris
The 12S outlet has always been a difficult one.
The fridge on 12 volts does draw a heavy current as described by Ray.
I found over the years that the earth pins were burning out causing a loss of power connectivity.
You can check the continuity of the 12v power to the fridge with a multi meter but only if you know a little about the 12v system.
I suspect the root of your problem may well be one of a poor earth either from the car itself , the 12s plug / socket or indeed the caravan system.

My first port of call would be the following mod which has served me well for years.
http://www.towitall.co.uk/faq/1.aspx

In the past I had the same problem with the earth pin burning out.
I was told that it was because of the gap between the the male & female pins, & by inserting a blade into the cross section of the male pin & opening the pin a little so that it is a tighter fit eliminated the problem.
No problems with the 13 pin connectors