radio in caravan

[MrBell]

Hi here is a quick question for you, i have a bailey 460/2 ranger, it had a radio in the caravan which worked until the wire came out of the back of it!! The wiring wasnt very good, so i have decided to change the radio for one which will allow ipod to be connected. Has anyone done this? if so how easy is it to do?

 

[notatowny]

Hi, I had to put a radio in to ours, So purchased a decent car radio which fulfilled our needs. If you need to update the wiring just retrace old with new try to match colours helps clarify in case goes astray, there should be a plugin for the back of radio which helps identfying all cables. If not inline fuse for power, earth then connect speakers and all should be ok.
Just take your time check cables and all should be ok.

 

[DeliDave_]

we have a bailey radio in our Indiana its unbranded but there is an apir of leads at the back marked AUX I connected a jackplug x 2 to earhone socket lead and then plug my iphone in,select AUX on radio and it works HTH

 

[Beehpee]

If your not confident in cutting the wires to your existing radio, and not everyone is, then if you take existing radio to a half decent radio supplier when you buy the new radio they can probably identify what changeover plug you will need, it's then simply plug a short lead with a plug at each end, one end go's to the supply in caravan that powered your old radio and the other end either straight in the back of the new radio or into the plug that comes with your new radio, wiring a radio is really really easy but not everyone will have the tools or the ability/confidence to doit themselves, the changeover plugs are available for loads of radios so always an option. BP

 

[MrBell]

when i have been looking at the wires in the back of the radio which is alreay in, well you could say they where very badly done, very messy, so no wonder the radio stopped working. I have a radio which has been used in a few of my old cars i had, so hopefully i can work out where everything goes. I have wire strippers so should be able to sort it on saturday.
Thanks for the advice.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

http://ccs.exl.info/radio_wires.html

This may be of use to you

 

[Parksy]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery before you start

 

[Woody3]

If the existing radio is more modern it will likely have one or two multi-pin plugs on the back - two if it is capable of driving four speakers (i.e. has a fader control) or maybe just one if not. DO NOT assume these are to standard wiring even though the plugs indicate use of ISO connections that you can easily find on the Interweb. For instance a radio designed to be fitted in a VAG vehicle will usually have the permanent (memory) wire and the switched wire reversed, and traditionally that group feeds power to the aerial amp up the coax, not separately as most other manufacturers (although many such as Vauxhall are now going the same way.) Also remember in rewiring that when you hitch up the habitation relay in the 'van will usually disconnect the internal 12V; if the memory wire is from the standard 12V supply then all radio memory contents will be lost - consider running a separate wire from the battery to the radio to keep the memory. That line only draws microamps, but for winterisation you could put a switch in the line or simply disconnect the battery.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

If the existing radio is more modern it will likely have one or two multi-pin plugs on the back - two if it is capable of driving four speakers (i.e. has a fader control) or maybe just one if not. DO NOT assume these are to standard wiring even though the plugs indicate use of ISO connections that you can easily find on the Interweb. For instance a radio designed to be fitted in a VAG vehicle will usually have the permanent (memory) wire and the switched wire reversed, and traditionally that group feeds power to the aerial amp up the coax, not separately as most other manufacturers (although many such as Vauxhall are now going the same way.) Also remember in rewiring that when you hitch up the habitation relay in the 'van will usually disconnect the internal 12V; if the memory wire is from the standard 12V supply then all radio memory contents will be lost - consider running a separate wire from the battery to the radio to keep the memory. That line only draws microamps, but for winterisation you could put a switch in the line or simply disconnect the battery.

Its strange how hidden or obscure features are included by one manufacturer and not another
On the Senator it had no aerial other than the Status TV on the roof which is unsuitable for AM and also I had to install a permanent live feed as Woody advocates to retain the memory(the 2 12V leads were just joined together behind the radio)
On the Swift Challenger it has a radio aerial and a dedicated memory permanent live but no clock other than on the microwave or pump running warning light (flooded toilet compartment on first trip !

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