towbar electrics - bits not working

[mike_374236470]

We have just acquired our first caravan and are getting acquainted with all the "issues"! The caravan is a continental spec (Burstner Ventana 400TS) and has a 13 pin connector for the car towbar fitting. Our car was already fitted with a trailer electrics fitting and the vendor kindly gave us a convertor which allowed us to drive home with all the running lights in working order. None of the caravan "life support" systems work from the towbar connection (they are all 12v)

What do I need to do to get them to operate from the car? The van is fitted with an inverter for 240v mains to 12v but there is no way to add a direct

 

[cris_408518]

Suggest you check that you have power to the tow car sockets as a first. It's quite common to have corrosion on the socket pins or muck and water in behind the sockets that will cause problems. Tow car sockets are often wired into the cars wiring loom using Scotchlok connectors that also corode and fail. There should be relays in between the sockets and wiring as well. If all wiring is ok and you have no power you may have issues there. Car output check first and then if thats OK look at the caravans electrics.

 

[rob_jax]

Mike,

If you have any concerns about the condition or quality of the 12N+S connectors fitted to your car tow-bar, replace them with the 13 pin Euro socket.

The car 12 Volt system supplies two feeds to the caravan - a 12 volt supply to operate the fridge when the car engine is running, and a 12 volt supply to recharge the caravan battery.

So what extra bits do you expect the car battery to operate?

 

[emmerson2]

mike, echoing rob-jax, if all the lights work, what else are you expecting to work from the car? Other than the fridge and possibly a charging system , which will only work when the engine is running, everything else is powered from the van's own 12v system.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

You could be expecting the interior lights etc to work off the car system but as soon as you turn on the car ignition it will cut off the caravan 12V supply via the habitation relay