MAIN FEED FUSE PROBLEM

[ANDYRUSH]

Can any body please help me with aproblem that iam having with the fuse on the feed wire from the battery on my car to the caravan.

the car is a 2005 honda crv 2litre ivtec.when i had the tow bar fitted by a reputable fitter he told me that he had used a 15 amp fuse but was not sure if it would be big enough to handle the load put on it ,if not he told me to increase this to 20 amps.

the fuse did blow so i did increase it as he had said ,this is when the problem started the fuse no longer blows as it should but it now melting the pastic around the fuse holder as well as the plastic no the fuse its self.

can anybody out there help me to identify the problem so that i can rectify it myself please !

 

[Damian]

Andy, you do not say which part of the wiring is causing the problem.

Is it the 12S or the 12N?

There should be two separate feeds from the fuse box, both rated at 20 amps.

Regardless of anything else, it sounds like you have a huge load being applied to the problem cable , and fuse.

It is going to take some painstaking work with a multimeter and a good wiring diagram to sort it out, or a return to the fitter to sort it.

 

[arbamus]

When I had my VW Touran wired for the caravan last year,the towbar fitter had to run a new wire for the caravan electrics as he didn't think that the cable in the car was heavy enough to take the load.

Regards,

Andy

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Andy,

I'm assuming that your problem is with the fridge circuit on the 12S coupling. Any other set of connectors on the 12N and 12S, even though they are fused at 20 Amps also, are "only" used to power lights, so they shouldn't draw too much in the way of current.

I understand that the 20 Amp fuse doesn't blow, but the holder has started to melt. This indicates that either:

a) the fuse holder has the wrong current rating - and needs to be replaced with the correct holder.

b) there is a bad joint in the fuse holder - causing the holder to heat up - and the fuse holder needs to be replaced.

You need to talk with your fitter.

Robert

 

[Rayc1]

If the fuse is not blowing but getting hot then you havn't got a short just drawing curent that is near or on the fuse rating. I presume the feed is for the 12S facilities of the van only and there is no problem without the van connected. A little detective work is required. I do not know how familiar you are with DC electric fault finding using a meter so excuse me if I am to simplistic. Its worth noting that if the contacts in the fuse holder are poor then the high resistance could be causing the heat.

First: Without the car engine running but the van DC lights on is the problem present? If so you have a problem associated with the feed on pin 4.

Second: if there is no problem switch the engine on,if the van is pos 98 the van lights should go off, the feed on pin 4 is switched to charge the van battery and the fridge DC light should come on - Does it?

Third. If the fridge light comes on and the fuse is getting hot the next step is find out what is drawing the current. Is it the fridge {switch the fridge 12v switch off if it has one) or is it the caravan battery { disconnect it).

Failing all that bring it round my house and I'll fix it.

 

[DerekRDG]

Andy I think from what you say that the fuse is still under rated, if the fuse is passing near to it's limit it would get hot as you say, i use a 25amp fuse and have no problems.

Fridge 8-10 amps, Battery Charging 8amp depending on state of charge. Good Luck