Twin Sockets or Single 13 pin

[woodsieboy]

Just made a schoolboy error when hooking up, and left the cable too loose, 37 miles later in the pouring rain I've got no lights etc on the van.The cable has dragged on the road and worn through most of the 13 wires. Managed a repair to get us home safely, but i am wondering what your views are with regard to the 13 pin system.
Our problem arose because our van has a long 13 pin lead, to connect to our towcar,which has twin sockets, we use a 13 to 2socket adaptor,which increases the length still further,once hooked up we can shorten the lead by twisting,knotting etc,but get it too short and the plugs fall out, leave it too long and it can drag on the road.
So do I just shorten the 13 core cable on the van, and carry on with the adaptor
or
Do I replace the twin socket on the car with a 13 pin socket
or
Do I replace the 13 pin connector on the van with twin connectors.
Any advice with regard to ease of fitting etc and benefits of whichever system will be much appreciated.

 

[Damian]

Refit the 13 pin plug to the van and convert the car to 13 pin socket.
It i a much better system than 2x7 pins, a very positive locking when connected and no centre pin burn out when using the fridge on 12v whilst towing.

Rewiring the car to 13 pin is easy enough, pins 1 to 7 follow the 12N socket and pins 8 to 13 follow the 12S as follows:

The wiring for the 12N follows the current 12N configuration,
Pin 1 = LH Indicator (Yellow)
Pin2 = Rear Fog (Blue)
Pin 3 = Return(Earth)(White) for pins 1 to 8
Pin 4 = RH Indicator(Green)
Pin 5 = RH Tail Light (Brown)
Pin 6 = Brake Lights (Red)
Pin 7 = LH Tail Light (Black)
Now the change of colours for the 12S
.Pin 8 =Reverse Light(Yellow from 12S cable)
Pin 9 = Car +ve (Green from 12S cable)
Pin 10 = Fridge +ve (Red from 12S cable)
Pin 11 = Fridge return (Black from 12S cable)
Pin 12 = NOT USED.
Pin 13 = Return (Earth) for pin 9 (White from 12S cable)
Just disconnect the battery and take the two 7 pin sockets off, rewire as per the above .

 

[Sproket]

Just made a schoolboy error when hooking up, and left the cable too loose, 37 miles later in the pouring rain I've got no lights etc on the van.The cable has dragged on the road and worn through most of the 13 wires. Managed a repair to get us home safely, but i am wondering what your views are with regard to the 13 pin system.
Our problem arose because our van has a long 13 pin lead, to connect to our towcar,which has twin sockets, we use a 13 to 2socket adaptor,which increases the length still further,once hooked up we can shorten the lead by twisting,knotting etc,but get it too short and the plugs fall out, leave it too long and it can drag on the road.
So do I just shorten the 13 core cable on the van, and carry on with the adaptor
or
Do I replace the twin socket on the car with a 13 pin socket YES
or
Do I replace the 13 pin connector on the van with twin connectors. NO
Any advice with regard to ease of fitting etc and benefits of whichever system will be much appreciated.

Depending on how far back from the socket the damage is.......

1, I would strip back the outer sheath, solder repair each wire core, cover them with heatshrink & then put a length of heat srink over the length of damaged wire....
2, Chuck the double adapter in the bin ....
3, Put a 13pin socket onto the car.....

Heatshrink sleeving kit for use on cable core
Black 25mm heat shrink tube for use on outer cable

The 13pin is so much easier to use & makes a better watertight connection ( IMO )

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi woodsieboy,
first a question, how far from the plug is the wires damaged.and remove the a frame cover and see if there is spare cable coiled up inside
in side the a frame.
it may be possible to use this spare wire (if there is any) to remove the damaged part.and replace the plug?
if you use Damian's suggestion you will have to replace the car sockets with a single 13pin one but make sure it is a double entry one, this is the easier way to do it and a "how to" can be found on the PC website.

 

[woodsieboy]

Thank you for your replies and advice. I have had a look at the wiring this morning and most of the damaged wires are within 2' of the 13 pin plug on the caravan, so I plan to cut the 13 pin plug off and then rewire the 13 wires into the plug, which will shorten the lead and avoid having to solder joins.
With regard to the sockets on the car, the adaptor we have been using seems to have a 13pin socket, and entry for both the black and grey cables,so I am thinking I can use that as the socket on the car,and it looks as if the 3 bolts holding it together will fit directly into the holes where the existing black socket is connected. This will save undoing the towball bolts and fitting new mounting plate.It will leave a hole in the plate on the other side where the grey socket has been mounted,hopefully I can just cut that off. I was suprised how much damp was in the 13 pin socket when I removed the sleeve,I presume it is impossible to make any outside connection watertight.
Hopefully I will mang to get the change done by the time we go to Stowford for the PC rally.
Thanks again for all your help