PLEASE HELP QUICK

[Dustydog]

Thats a rather condescending statement as you clearly haven’t read the link about AWS, plus ignored the advice offered by members who have extensive experiences and have used AWS. I sense you are not comfortable using AWS so best stay with the dealership. Of course AWS can do the cable and check ATC.

🙀. Clive, let’s be gentle with Saxo. He’s new to all this stuff. Dealer warranties etc, not wanting to prejudice his position. A bit like me sticking with CMC with the Kia 7 year warranty😉
Of course our AWS engineers can do the job at a fraction of the price. Did he get the “rust “ issue sorted by his Dealer?
Poor Saxo will need another holiday after all his issues and still no Satellite TV? Or did he succeed 🤣

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Thats a rather condescending statement as you clearly haven’t read the link about AWS, plus ignored the advice offered by members who have extensive experiences and have used AWS. I sense you are not comfortable using AWS so best stay with the dealership. Of course AWS can do the cable and check ATC.

No I was out visiting relatives as I go away for 3 weeks to work, so only glanced over it while trying to ask questions...

Have just called East Caravan Services again and left a message to quote for the cable repair, now that I'm back home, visiting the other relatives after Tea

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Take it your from Aberdeenshire?

East Coast Scotland, in Angus

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Wow !!!!

AWS guy just got back in touch and quoted me £90 for repair for the cable, new plug etc

Service costs £227 which includes £5 for Hub Nuts

Can’t believe this, thanks to everyone for recommending AWS , and to @otherclive for the link 😜
Which I was able to fully read once home from relatives 😊

Saving over £300, dealerships costs are high and a good lesson learnt, once again thank you.

 

[GaryB]

The expensive cable quote could have been to supply and fit a new one as (from memory) they have a moulded plug on the other end that plugs into the fuse box under the seat.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

The expensive cable quote could have been to supply and fit a new one as (from memory) they have a moulded plug on the other end that plugs into the fuse box under the seat.

This was his quote:

The cost is approx £90.00
This includes complete new cable a little extra in case it happens again.
13 connectors
A new plug if screw terminals are corroded
If there is a loop under the Sargent’s unit there may be enough to pull ok through and cut the damaged part off.

All services records will be logged with swift

 

[Buckman]

Is that service you’re taking about or cable fix?

I was referring to cost of replacing the cable.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Hi folks, ok just an update on this

The guy from AWS popped down to the storage yard, and fixed the cable, he was able to pull some of the wire through and fit the 13pin plug back on, and he only sent us a small charge, which was fantastic.

But, we arrvied a few days ago to take the caravan down to our dealer for the remaining snags to be fixed. But when we first connected the 13 pin, the ATC didn't come on, there was no noise, no green / red light. Which we thought was very odd, this has never happened before, could it still be broken.

But when I started the car the ATC activated, which we find very strange as previously regardless of the engine being on or off, the ATC still activated.

Could it be that the car fuse hs blown? or am I going down the wrong road...any ideas?

 

[Hutch]

It could just be an oily connection, I have had to disconnect and reconnect at times,
Don't panic Mr Manwaring.

 

[Dustydog]

The ATC needs a permanent live feed . Engine on or off makes no difference.
Pin 9 should be live at all times and connected to the ATC

 

[davyayr]

Your caravan brakes are not electric they function by the interaction of the hitch and towball via mechanical cable operation.

Ignore ATC it shouldn’t be required if you van is loaded correctly and you drive steadily. I never had a caravan with ATC and didn’t have any heart stopping snakes. It’s a back up but not a substitute for doing things properly.

I agree about doing things properly, and up until today, I have never hard any heart stopping snakes either.
However just today I had occasion to brake and swerve heavily to avoid a 12 ft 6" x "2 plank that flew off a passing pickup. Caravan came very close to striking the ARMCO barrier. A bit of careful correction, ASSISTED by ATC, and all well.
Had a similar scenario a number of years ago, without ATC. Despite my best efforts, it ended badly.
I could feel /see ATC doing its thing today.
Bought our current van and it came with ATC. No harm in having some back-up.
After today, I will NEVER buy a van without it.

 

[otherclive]

I agree about doing things properly, and up until today, I have never hard any heart stopping snakes either.
However just today I had occasion to brake and swerve heavily to avoid a 12 ft 6" x "2 plank that flew off a passing pickup. Caravan came very close to striking the ARMCO barrier. A bit of careful correction, ASSISTED by ATC, and all well.
Had a similar scenario a number of years ago, without ATC. Despite my best efforts, it ended badly.
I could feel /see ATC doing its thing today.
Bought our current van and it came with ATC. No harm in having some back-up.
After today, I will NEVER buy a van without it.

That’s a scenario where ATC is a valuable back up system. My comments perhaps failed to scope unknown incidents, they were more directed at self induced driver/owner errors in loading or driving.
like the one on last nights news. Glad the the most recent incident ended okay for you.

 

[Buckman]

That’s a scenario where ATC is a valuable back up system. My comments perhaps failed to scope unknown incidents, they were more directed at self induced driver/owner errors in loading or driving.
like the one on last nights news. Glad the the most recent incident ended okay for you.

Was that the incident on the M5?

 

[otherclive]

Was that the incident on the M5?

No idea, it was on news last night . Caravan sized and shape of Trailer full of fridges and total destruction of unit, and blockage of motorway. Caught on dashcam, fortunately no injuries.

 

[Buckman]

No idea, it was on news last night . Caravan sized and shape of Trailer full of fridges and total destruction of unit, and blockage of motorway. Caught on dashcam, fortunately no injuries.

A trailer went off the M6 bridge last night, but seemed a lot bigger than a caravan? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...all-viaduct-traffic-lorry-crash-b2621554.html

 

[otherclive]

A trailer went off the M6 bridge last night, but seemed a lot bigger than a caravan? https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...all-viaduct-traffic-lorry-crash-b2621554.html

No that was a full size HGV artic. Fortunately the driver had no serious injuries. It wasn’t fully dark so what caused that has to be determined. The one going unstable on the news was a trailer about caravan size and shape but not a caravan. It was loaded with fridges and travelling in Lane 1. But it snaked violently

M5: Watch moment fridges spill onto M5 bringing cars to halt

Dashcam footage shows the moment a trailer carrying fridges and worktops spilled out onto the M5.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[AndrewAventura]

This was the M5 trailer -

M5: Watch moment fridges spill onto M5 bringing cars to halt

Dashcam footage shows the moment a trailer carrying fridges and worktops spilled out onto the M5.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Hutch]

It looks like a fast food trailer, No pun intended. Therefore fridges and worktops .

 

[Saxo Appeal]

Well just to update this, we eventually found out why the ATC wasn't activating when the 13Pin plug was connected to the Caravan, even with the engine completely off.

We pulled back one of the side panels in the boot on our car, then proceeded to check all the fuses. One of the '15' Amp fuses had blown leaving a small black circle on the fuse. Replaced this, and before our next holiday tried it out and the ATC activated

Service has just been completed and paperwork left in the caravan at storage site, will be popping down check on it this weekend or Monday to give a good clean, and blowing out water in the pipes.

 

[Hutch]

Thanks for the update.
I found the fuses on my Santa Fe,had blown both fuses for the trailer circuits.
I didn't find any reason why, but replaced the fuses, and everything has been good.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

At the service the tech guy switched off the power above the door (which we forgot to do), but he also switched off the power under the seat.

I have a cheap tracker attached directly to the battery and it shows the Voltage in the App. It’s going down very slowly from 13.28, 13.21, 13.19 and now 12.97

The caravan also has solar panels fitted, so just to confirm shouldn’t the battery Voltage not stay at a certain Voltage and be trickle fed by the solar panels?

Or with the service guy switching the box under the seat completely off, the battery is now not being trickle fed?

 

[Gafferbill]

Saxo Appeal.....

Reference replacing the blown 15amp fuse in your towcar to get the Alko ATC working.
Alko recommend at least a 20 amp fuse for pin 9 on 13 pin electrics, to make sure the ATC receives a robust 12 volt supply during any activation.

 

[ProfJohnL]

At the service the tech guy switched off the power above the door (which we forgot to do), but he also switched off the power under the seat.

I have a cheap tracker attached directly to the battery and it shows the Voltage in the App. It’s going down very slowly from 13.28, 13.21, 13.19 and now 12.97

The caravan also has solar panels fitted, so just to confirm shouldn’t the battery Voltage not stay at a certain Voltage and be trickle fed by the solar panels?

Or with the service guy switching the box under the seat completely off, the battery is now not being trickle fed?

The quick and simple answer to this question is without knowing exactly how the solar panels have been installed, We can't know what the service chap switched off.

A good battery when its fully charged and left standing will normally settle to a voltage of between 12.6 to 12.8V. The fact your tracker is reporting voltages above this window, suggests it is receiving some charge, but whether its enough to sustain the battery over the long term is slightly in doubt becasue the values you have reported are all falling all-be-it slowly, which raises the concern the solar panels may not be doing enough.

However there are several variables we do not know, for example how much light the panels are receiving - don't forget the days are getting shorter as we head to wards winter so there is less light available. The condition of the battery, and how much current the tracker is consuming.

 

[Saxo Appeal]

The quick and simple answer to this question is without knowing exactly how the solar panels have been installed, We can't know what the service chap switched off.

A good battery when its fully charged and left standing will normally settle to a voltage of between 12.6 to 12.8V. The fact your tracker is reporting voltages above this window, suggests it is receiving some charge, but whether its enough to sustain the battery over the long term is slightly in doubt becasue the values you have reported are all falling all-be-it slowly, which raises the concern the solar panels may not be doing enough.

However there are several variables we do not know, for example how much light the panels are receiving - don't forget the days are getting shorter as we head to wards winter so there is less light available. The condition of the battery, and how much current the tracker is consuming.

Very true ProfJohn, forgot about our crap Scottish weather 😂

The solar panel is the factory fitted one from Swift, which is the 100W version, which they have now upgraded for new Caravans to the 120W


I also asked TruTrak before purchase what type of battery usage does it take for the FMT100 4G and this was his reply:

‘The device has its own internal battery so shouldn't take any drain from your own vehicle battery as the device only 'wakes up' every 6 hours when parked to ensure nothing has changed and the device hasn't moved, etc’

 

[borderbilly]

Very true ProfJohn, forgot about our crap Scottish weather 😂

The solar panel is the factory fitted one from Swift, which is the 100W version, which they have now upgraded for new Caravans to the 120W


I also asked TruTrak before purchase what type of battery usage does it take for the FMT100 4G and this was his reply:

‘The device has its own internal battery so shouldn't take any drain from your own vehicle battery as the device only 'wakes up' every 6 hours when parked to ensure nothing has changed and the device hasn't moved, etc’

Nowt wrong with our Crap weather, it's glorious down Kelso way 🌞