Caravan age?

[ericmark]

I have a fuse box which the labels are not correct, I would like to correct, but it needs the wiring diagram and I thought it was 2003, but 2005 and 2008 all have 4 relays in fuse box and my caravan has 5.

It is an Elddis Odyssey and now every thing seems to work.

The fuse box has no connection to fuse 2 and 3 marked Fridge and Car, with no car connected Lights1 and Lights 2 are dead, Lights 2 becomes live when the S plug to car is plugged in, Lights at back of caravan are powered from fuse marked "IGNITIONS" I have not as yet removed all fuses to work out what they all do.

The caravan had a hole where the radio would fit, rough cut, I have now fitted a radio, the motor mover I am sure is added extra, there are no PIR's or any sign of an alarm fitted.

Although the 2003 wiring diagram is similar to what is fitted, cable colours don't match, the circuit board is marked PCB-147-MD I have hunted internet however seems it has been superseded with PCB-184-MD which it seems is made in USA. The new board has diodes on it and 6 relays, the old one just 5 relays and no diodes, but circuit diagrams show 4 relays.

There are two what look like MR10 lamps over cooker and sink which I have not got to work, seems to be little pins sticking out of them may not be lights could be an alarm, everything else seems to work now. But it would be nice to have the instructions that are really for our caravan.

 

[Raywood]

It does sound as though someone has done a lot of possibly dubious work and if the fuses do not match up with the label you do wonder just what has happened. I cannot see Eldiss getting the labels wrong, so I would do a thorough investigation.
You would not have an alarm over the cooker area and our Eldiss which would have been a bit older than yours had a striplight there. Most caravans had a striplight there until recently and I rather think that what you have is something added by an earlier owner.
Possibly the best bet is the Eldiss owners club who if you send a photo should be able to get the year correct and help with what was fitted to your model.

 

[ericmark]

I decided to count, 12 names even spread, 14 fuses, it does seem some time in the past it has been upgraded.

Noted radio on, scratching head how, I had not disconnected battery or plugged into car, found battery not connected to caravan in general, only connected to motor mover.

 

[ericmark]

14 fuses counting from the top first three connect together so I would assume Caravan Battery +, Charger +, and any permanent feeds from battery. Fuse 4 seems to not connect to anything else in fuse/relay box and is dead when car not connected, so possible Fridge? Fuse 5 only live from non ignition supply from car, seems to feed lights when car connected. Fuse 6 seems to feed lights door side of caravan. After that the remaining 8 fuses not a clue.

 

[Raywood]

I do wonder if all fuses are needed on that model. You will find that manufacturers often use the same fuse box throughout their ranges, and so only the top models are likely to need all the fuse positions.

 

[DaveA1]

http://www.elddis.co.uk/documents/Handbooks/2003/tourer-handbook.pdf
Try this, page 82--83 gives a wiring diagram for Odyssey Models 2003.

 

[DaveA1]

http://www.how2caravan.com/how-to-decipher-a-caravan-vin-number/
How to decode your vin number, tell you the exact year of your van.

 

[ericmark]

It seems I was one year out it is 2002. The 2003 wiring diagram is the one I had already down loaded, it shows 4 relays where my caravan has 5. It has 16 lights every one works with no 230 volt power, circuit diagram shows 2 are mains.

It is quite obvious the motor mover was added latter, but the fuse/relay box looks old, I have two unknown fuses, one is always powered was top fuse, now second as I moved it one down so fuse which says battery is actually battery. Second is never live and is independent of everything else in the fuse/relay box.

Nothing seems not to work, there is a connector block with nothing plugged in so likely there is some option extra not used.

The main reason to try working everything out was I ended up with a discharged battery while in storage when it should have been plugged into mains, it is possible my father-in-law unplugged it to use lawn mower and forgot to plug it back in, but battery was completely dead and it was plugged in when I got to it.

Second was when we bought it the caravan shop could not find why we had lost 12 volt power, and they fitted an in line fuse which resulted in the main switch doing nothing. We also found another in line fuse which when removed caused lights at door end of caravan to go out.

The whole idea of relays inside the caravan was new to me, think some one called the habitation relays, last thing you want is for them to play up while on holiday when you have no meters to hand. So seemed prudent to work out what they did.

The diagram shows one odd relay which is clearly controlled by main switch, and three DPDT relays, in fact all relays are the same, all SPDT type. Careful study shows relay triggered by red and black which is connected to fridge and in turn 6 and 7 pins of 7 pin plug in diagram is only one to use second pole so the two top relays in my box are shown as a single relay.

So all in all the diagram is not that far out, I have moved the radio wire from fuse controlled by master switch to fuse live from battery as every time the power is removed and connected again the radio goes into demo mode and starts to play, this happens every time the relay controlled by car is activated or the master turned off. This was not really a good idea so moved, but other than that it is as standard as I could make it.

I am considering what to do when we get new tow car, want the car wired correct so if we change caravans it does not need altering. If the car does not have the alternator controlled by engine management then simple. If it does however really not sure.

Using a blocking diode for both supplies will clearly be safe, and it will mean any caravan with an electric anti snake device will work, however it rules out charging of caravan battery from car. I suppose the easy way would be to include a fuse to short out blocking diode on non ignition supply, that would increase the voltage by 0.6 volt if we ever fit a DC to DC inverter in the caravan.

As to ignition supply, in my caravan it only supplies the fridge, just 8A, so a 10A fuse is really all that's needed. The non ignition supply feeds all caravan lights and charging, if we did fit a DC to DC inverter could be looking at 40 amp.

I can't see 40A being supplied for long, however it is well over the rating for 2.5 mm² cable, so not sure on fuse size? I think likely 25 amp and have a spare, it takes well over 25 amp to blow a 25 amp fuse in less than 1/2 an hour, and after 1/2 an hour I suspect the charge rate will have dropped well below the 30A bulk charge rate of the Ring DC to DC battery charger.

But as yet not found anyone using one. I have a Lidi stage battery charger only 3.8 amp max but I know even at that low rate of charge bulk only lasts for around 15 minutes, but unless one fits an ammeter to dash of car how would one know anyway?

 

[Raywood]

The mention of the motor mover fue reminds me of the one we had fitted to our 2001 Eldiss. It was a Carver and the fuse was simply inserted in the wiring and not the fuse ox by the fitter so you might have to search for that. In mine it was just inside the caravan next to the control box but as it was up to the fitter it could be elsewhere on yours.

 

[Hutch]

The mention of the motor mover fue reminds me of the one we had fitted to our 2001 Eldiss. It was a Carver and the fuse was simply inserted in the wiring and not the fuse ox by the fitter so you might have to search for that. In mine it was just inside the caravan next to the control box but as it was up to the fitter it could be elsewhere on yours.

True, our motor mover fuse, is next to the control box. Not near the main fuse box.

 

[BaileyNiggles]

Downloaded a wiring diagram, you say? Gosh ... might they be available for caravans generally, is there some place to search for specific models? The "diagram" in our Bailey manual might just as well have "here be dragons" and a picture of a pumpkin and a pirate and a giant sunflower and other kids doodles for all the use it is.

 

[Hutch]

The wiring diagram for our Coachman is at the back of the Warranty booklet , not in the Owners operating manual. Most sensible place I suppose. :huh: