Quote: Originally posted by queensmessenger on 01/8/2019
Getting a new car soon to tow my old van. Do these responses mean that I can wire my lights/flashers/stop lights direct to harness without the need for the expensive dedicated wiring harness and the need to reprogram the car provided I do not use the battery charging and fridge wires? My old black plug should be all that I need.
Not necessarily. Most modern cars have canbus wiring systems, so its not as simple as wiring in to the lights like we used to. I would advise that you have the wiring done by a professional unless you understand modern car canbus wiring systems. However, you may not need any special wiring harnesses, and you may still be able to use a 7 pin socket if you want to. My car probably has canbus wiring, but it had a 7 pin socket on it when I bought it. Many trailers still use 7 pin wiring.
Quote: Originally posted by queensmessenger on 01/8/2019
Getting a new car soon to tow my old van. Do these responses mean that I can wire my lights/flashers/stop lights direct to harness without the need for the expensive dedicated wiring harness and the need to reprogram the car provided I do not use the battery charging and fridge wires? My old black plug should be all that I need.
My car is newish with Can Bus electrics, because of the type of towing I did with motorcycle trailers that had 7 pin plugs fitted to them , I have a 7 pin socket fitted, that was fitted with a universal Can bus control box, no re programming was done, My Pathfinder has a 13 pin plug that is used with a 7 to 13pin adaptor.
As has already been said been said if you are not familiar with can bus systems Its best left to a professional tow bar fitter who will know how to do connections into Can Bus.
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 31/7/2019
If your caravanning is anything like mine you don't even need any more than the one 7 pin plug, which is all I have. Never had a problem.
The black 7-pin is for the legal runnning lights, and the grey 7-pin is mostly for caravan domestic power with the exception that the caravan reversing lights are also through the grey 7-pin. So the OP should be aware that with only a black 7-pin socket the caravan reversing lights will not work. It is an amazing (and unacceptable IMHO) anomaly that working reversing lights are not a legal requirement on a caravan. They will of course work with a 13-pin system with the appropriate pin wired up.
CANbus is a bit of a red herring. Both 7-pin and 13-pin systems may or may not involve the CANbus. I have 13-pin without involving CANbus. These plugs and sockets are just physical connectors at the ends of wiring tails and have no involvement with the electronics.
If you are handy with a screwdriver it is almost trivial to convert from 7-pin plug/plugs and socket/sockets to a 13-pin (or vice-versa if you have some reason to do so, although you will need a double bracket on the car). You do not even need to wire up the "domestic" pins in a 13-pin system if you don't need them.
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Topic: Tow Bar Electrics
