Today we have had fitted the white towbar 12volt electrics to our car so we can run the fridge and charge our leisure battery while on the move.
The chap who fitted it demonstrated it all working to us with the use of lights to mimick the fridge and the battery being charged.
We have a Pennine Sterling 2003 model.
this afternoon we got the camper out and connected it up,put the 12v switch in the camper to "car" turned on car ignition switch and volt meter goes over to the green(12v present from car I assume).
Start the car...and then the volt meter needle starts going from" green" to "red" like ticking off a clock, red,green,red,green? when this happening a relay in the "camper" is "switching" ,on ,off,.I'm assuming this relay is switching in sync with the needle on the volt meter?
Turn off the car and the volt meter goes to green and stays there.
The leisure battery was new back in feb and is fully charged.
Has anyone any idea whats happening before i get moaning at the towbar man?
A few things, the switch is normally left in the middle posistion, it will charge in any posistion but I think your find it shows you the status of the battery when swicthed.
I.E Car position shows battery charge in car, Van shows battery charge in camper.
The relay will swicth on when the engine is running, it only works when the engine is running and doesn't charge with just the iginition on.
Did you have the fridge switched turned to correct setting for 12v?
Could be its switching on an off as there is no load on it.
Also forgot to ask, are you sure you camper is capable of charging the leisure battery on the move or is it just wired for fridge use whilst on the move.
a couple of points you raised have got me thinking
I'm assuming the camper can charge a battery whilst on the move?
and putting the switch in the middle, well i thought this was "off"?
in car position,ignition on (but not running)a good 12v shows and in van positition a little less from leisure battery, I'll try in the middle position and turn the fridge on.
Try revving gently so the alternator is kicking out more power, on tickover the relay may be cutting in and out as the car is needing the power and there's isn't any surplus to feed the 12s socket.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
I agree with bordercaz on that one, I stuck my head in the towing section and read a similar post on there. Apparently on engine tickover the battery doesn't charge.
It used to be that you switch it to van if using the leisure battery and to car if you want to run the lights inside from the car - the middle position is when you aren't running anything in the camper from 12v. But I think newer caravans (and so campers likewise) have been wired a bit differently so you can't run from the car unless the engine is running - anyway, the fridge is wired separately so that it can't be. On a motorhome I had, the switch changed which battery was being charged from the EHU and when they were both fully charged I had to put it to the middle position to stop over charging.
It really does depend on what way it's all been wired, and sometimes on secondhand units you can find some very strange things. On that same motorhome I mentioned, it was wired so that the brake warning light came on in the cab if you forgot to switch the fridge on to 12v for travelling! No doubt done by a previous owner to remind them to do it.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Personally I do not use the fridge on 12v from car whilst in transit. Firstly because of the high current drawn by the fridge, and secondarily because I find the fridge is relatively ineffective on 12v.
In order to handle the current required, the fridge 12v cable should have a cross sectional area of at least 2.5 mm. (The cabling fitted is rarely this size!) Your problems might be associated with this high current drain requiring high output from your alternator.
If I feel I need the fridge immediately ready when pitching up, what I do is run the fridge on 240v plugged into the house overnight before setting out, then putting in several of the blue frozen gel things.
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Topic: White Towing Socket....Fridge etc...
