Plugs and sockets

[Smith21]

I would like to pick your brains once again it that's ok.

The two sockets on my caravan which connect to my car what is the gray one for and does it need to be connected.

I ask this as I am going to get a new car which has a towbar fitted but only has the black 7 pin plug fitted so I need to know if I need to get the other socket fitted or not.

Cheers Kevin

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi Kevin,
first check that the plug fitted to the car is not a 13 pin as they look similar in appearance.
second if it is a 7pin black plug it will only power the road lights. the grey plug doesn't have to be used but the van battery wil not get charged and the fridge wont run on 12v whilst towing.
the other point is since the wiring was changed in 1998 the revesing lights run off the grey plug so they won't work either.

 

[Smith21]

Thanks for the quick response, the socket on the car is only a 7 pin I have checked that twice LOL. Looks like I will have to get the other plug fitted so I can keep the fridge cool and battery topped up.

Once again thanks for the info.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

your welcome Kevin, the reason I mentioned it was because while looking for a new tow car I especially noted if any of the cars I looked at with towbars had a single or twin plugs,
this is because twin plugs are more or less caravan orientated and it was a good indicator as to wether the car had been used for towing a van or maybe a small trailer, obviously from a wear point of view.
however quite a few that had only a single plug fitted turned out to be 13pin bu**er

if the car you are looking at has only one 7pin then the chances are it has never been use to tow a van

however it does not mean that it has not been used to tow a horse box with a "shire horse" inside or a 30ft yacht

 

[otherclive]

It might be worth considering changing the van to 13 pin and then getting a single 13 pin socket fitted to the car. There are numerous posts on Forums indicating problems with the grey socket due to earthing issues. There are some fixes but I didn't regret converting my last car to 13 pin its a better engineered solution and the connection is more positive. Alternatively have the car converted to 13 pin and use a converter cable(s) from the vans cables to the single 13 pin socket on the car.

 

[Smith21]

It might be worth considering changing the van to 13 pin and then getting a single 13 pin socket fitted to the car. There are numerous posts on Forums indicating problems with the grey socket due to earthing issues. There are some fixes but I didn't regret converting my last car to 13 pin its a better engineered solution and the connection is more positive. Alternatively have the car converted to 13 pin and use a converter cable(s) from the vans cables to the single 13 pin socket on the car.

I was thinking of getting a 13 pin socket fitted to the car and getting a converter cable as we are also thinking of getting a bigger and newer van.

Theres always something to think about.

 

[Smith21]

your welcome Kevin, the reason I mentioned it was because while looking for a new tow car I especially noted if any of the cars I looked at with towbars had a single or twin plugs,
this is because twin plugs are more or less caravan orientated and it was a good indicator as to wether the car had been used for towing a van or maybe a small trailer, obviously from a wear point of view.
however quite a few that had only a single plug fitted turned out to be 13pin bu**er

if the car you are looking at has only one 7pin then the chances are it has never been use to tow a van

however it does not mean that it has not been used to tow a horse box with a "shire horse" inside or a 30ft yacht

I did notice the tow ball was greased this I thought indicated that it may not have towed a van as they have alco hitches nowadays which as you will all know need to be dry so the pads grip to stop snaking.

 

[otherclive]

Not all vans have a stabiser tow hitch but Alko stabiliser hitches need an Alko
, or Alko pattern towball which is different from the standard tow ball by having a slightly longer neck with an undercut to allow the stabiliser hitch to articulate as the van moves relative to the car. If you Google Tow ball guide you will find a web link to show you what an Alko compatible towball looks like.

 

[otherclive]

Here is the link

http://www.thencc.org.uk/downloads/alko_towball_guide_final_rev1.pdf
some vans (egEldiss) will use Winterhoff stabiliser tow hitches.

 

[Smith21]

Not all vans have a stabiser tow hitch but Alko stabiliser hitches need an Alko
, or Alko pattern towball which is different from the standard tow ball by having a slightly longer neck with an undercut to allow the stabiliser hitch to articulate as the van moves relative to the car. If you Google Tow ball guide you will find a web link to show you what an Alko compatible towball looks like.

Thanks for info on tow balls when I got my towbar fitted I did stipulate I wanted a Alko tow ball fitted. Will measure up the one they fitted using the link you have supplied.

 

[RayS]

As others have said the current 13 pin system is much superior to the old balck plus grey connections. If you are getting a 'new' new car then it will probably be fitted with the 13 pin socket anyway. However, make sure that all 13 pins are sired, as some factory fit towbars have only the 7 required for a trailer.
Also, it is well worth getting the caravan changed to a 13 pin plug rather than use an adaptor. The adaptor adds 2 sets of joints which is bad news, particularly the 12 N and S side (the old connections) as thse will be out in the weather and the whole adaptor is eaqsily stolen.
If you are moderately handy, it is straightforward to do this yourself. You aneed to get the necessary plug and about 2m of cable and then decided where to make the joint. One way is to use the type of connector which comes in a stip of 12 or so, remove the existing plugs and then use these connectors to joing the two existing cables to the new 13 core cable. Make sure these joints are clean and sound and that both wire for each line is trapped under both the screws in the connector. One way of keeping such a connection clean and dry is to slide a length of plastic water pipe (as used for sink drains) onto one cable before making the joints and after testing, slide the pipe down so that connector and cable ends are inside it. Then seal the ends where the cables come out with some foam rubber follwed by self amalgamating electical tape. This joint will them fit inside one of the drawbar side channels and can be secured with a couple of long cable ties round the channel.
The box in which the plug is packed will have a list of the colours of cable to match. A good source of cable etc and information is Western Towing near Exeter

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi again Kevin,
I agree with Ray S a 13 pin would be the best solution, as it pays to be ahead in this game

,
but that was not the original question,
as I understand it at the moment your present set up it is twin cable,with an Alko stabiliser on the van, and you are buying a new towcar (presumedly not new) that has a tow bar fitted but with a single black plug 7pin plug, and greased ball, "been there done that!!", and are unsure of how to proceed to convert it to tow your caravan.
if that is correct then there are certain steps you must take, first change the ball to alko type " I notice you have done this allready"
and tackle the electrics, this is where being ahead of the game is important, you could just have a extra grey plug fitted and depending on the condition of the black one renew this one, or go the whole hog and have the car converted to 13pin, I would not have thought this would cost much extra if having it done proffesionally, and dependant on your DIY skills it is a fairly straight forward job to tackle ones self, if you are thinking of changing the van at some point the chances are this will have a 13pin plug if fairly new anyway so you will be ahead of the game in this respect.
this then only leaves the question of what to do with your present van, you could just use a set of tails this will work just fine up to a point, or you could convert this to 13pin as Ray suggests, and would be much better. again this depends on your DIY skill level. it can be done quite easily either by modifying the wiring as suggested by Ray or obtaining a double entry 13pin plug to put the two grey and black wires into it, or (and this is what I did) rewire the van to 13pin entirely using the existing connection points that are used by the twin cables, under the van,
in the end it is up to you how far you want to go, these are only suggestions but are food for thought, but the best time to think ahead is at the time of changing either van or towcar.
colin

 

[Smith21]

Thanks to all for the information. I have not got my new ( second hand Hyundai Santafe car yet) I will be changing the tow ball for the one off my car so that's just a new set of bolts. I will then get a company to change the socket to a 13 pin type and for the time being I will use a patch lead to connect van to car electrics.

Hopefully when we save up some more penies our next van will be a lot newer than the one we have and will hopefully have the 13 pin plug fitted.

Thats the way I'm thinking of doing things. I have taken on board the problem that the lead could be stolen but it can be removed, also I have taken on board that there is more connection which could cause problems later in life. But saying that we are hoping to get a van later this year or beginning of next.

Once again thanks for all your replies and positive comments.

 

[Brum1]

hi Kevin,
first check that the plug fitted to the car is not a 13 pin as they look similar in appearance.
second if it is a 7pin black plug it will only power the road lights. the grey plug doesn't have to be used but the van battery wil not get charged and the fridge wont run on 12v whilst towing.
the other point is since the wiring was changed in 1998 the revesing lights run off the grey plug so they won't work either.

Hi Colin
Not sure about your reference to the reversing lamps regarding the change to the wiring in 1998.
Rev lamps only became connected with the addition of the grey plug / socket...From memory yellow pin 1. The rev lamp then became pink pin 8 on the later (12 pin system).
I recall the modification in 1998 was to to with how the caravan charging system and the caravan interior lamps became fed by a common cable that became switched by the habitation relay.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi Kevin,
first check that the plug fitted to the car is not a 13 pin as they look similar in appearance.
second if it is a 7pin black plug it will only power the road lights. the grey plug doesn't have to be used but the van battery wil not get charged and the fridge wont run on 12v whilst towing.
the other point is since the wiring was changed in 1998 the revesing lights run off the grey plug so they won't work either.

Hi Colin
Not sure about your reference to the reversing lamps regarding the change to the wiring in 1998.
Rev lamps only became connected with the addition of the grey plug / socket...From memory yellow pin 1. The rev lamp then became pink pin 8 on the later (12 pin system).
I recall the modification in 1998 was to to with how the caravan charging system and the caravan interior lamps became fed by a common cable that became switched by the habitation relay.

hi Brum,
quite right. my reference to the wiring change circa 1998 was purely for demonstration purposes, in that without the grey plug connected, only the road lights serviced by the black plug would work,ie, lights, indicators, brake lights, and fog lights,
while it is true, that revesing lights wired via the grey plug were much earlier, the last reference point for modern wiring using twin plugs was in 1998, there may be subtle changes in the wiring before this date "as illustrated by TD's interior light lead" but all wiring after this date would be the same,