Hi all,
I'm thinking about changing my trailer tent for a small lightweight 2 berth caravan but I only have 7 pin electrics.
Do I need to fully upgrade to 13 pin socket or is there an adapter that will do it for me? I'm assuming the caravan will have a 13 pin plug unless I find an older model.
I only need it for road lights and indicators, don't intend to have the grey socket for caravan.
Any advise is most welcome before I make the decission.
I don't know when 13 pin became standard on caravans, but I don't think it is that long ago, so it depends on how new you intend to go.
7 pin electrics is no real problem, especially if you only want road lights. It's all I ever use on my caravan as I can't be bothered to change both car and caravan to 13 pin. In any case it would also mean changing my small trailer over to 13 pin too. Both my car and caravan have both the twin plugs and sockets but I never really use the grey one. My fridge is mains-only, so I don't need the fridge connection, and my battery is always fully charged before we go. We always go to sites with EHU, so we are plugged into mains electricity as soon as we are set up on site.
In any case, there are adapters on the market that will allow you to still use the car's 7 pin socket with a 13 pin caravan, but obviously you will still only get road lights as supplied by the car.
13 pin sockets have been standard fitment on caravans/trailers since 2008.
One of the problems is that the 12N 7 pin socket has no provision for reversing lights (can be supplied by 12S socket if fitted), which were compulsory type approval fitment on caravan/trailers from 2012. I believe very early 12N sockets also didn't have the fog light terminal wired either, and fog lights have been around a lot longer!
Now the laws on caravans/trailers always seem a little fuzzy and people will argue to doomsday on what is applicable, some arguing that if the lights are fitted to a trailer (as in Fog and Reversing) they MUST work, others will argue it depends on what the tow car can supply. I don't know which is true or what variations there are, I don't care, my caravan has all lights fully functional on a 13 pin connector.
You can certainly get 7 pin socket to 13 pin plug adaptors quite easily, but they don't do what some people expect which is to miraculously provide full 13 pin connectivity from non-existent terminals on the 7 pin socket! - you still ONLY get basic road lights.
The fog light is an obvious safety requirement, but IMHO I feel that the reversing lights are also necessary as a warning that you are reversing, the back of a caravan is so remote from the driver and without a reversing camera for most part you have no idea from the drivers seat what is going on behind, so every indicator of your intent is a critical safety feature.
You don't say what your car is or age, but upgrading to a 13 pin socket varies in cost from budget simply changing the 7pin to a 13 pin socket with minimal existing wiring, or quite expensive fully integrated into car with all pins functional. I've found the 13 pin socket far more durable and less troublesome (it's got better waterproofing) than the old 7 pin sockets which I always seemed to need to do something to to get all the lights working, so I'd opt for it on those grounds alone, plus an adaptor just ups the contact count in the circuit to potentially cause more problems!
Have been towing everything from water tankers to caravans on and off for over 60 years and have only ever used a 7-pin socket with no problems of any kind. My camper is fitted a thirteen pin that I have adapted to a 7 pin, that is adequate for my needs.
I will never have any motor vehicle that I own connected to a caravan fridge or battery. It won't happen. Others are going to say a 13 pin is better. Well, that's great if that's what they want to think.
A lot I would agree with there Monty15, although I must admit I have never had the problems others seem to have had with 7 pin plugs and sockets. I have towed numerous different trailers with several different vehicle, and all using 7 pin systems.
Thanks for letting us know when 13 pin became standard, I'll try and remember that for future reference.
Years ago in the early 1970s, I used the blue wire in a 7 pin plug which was previously unused, to charge my caravan's battery via a split-charging system that I "invented". I had never seen one before, and neither had anyone else I showed it to. It had a 12 volt relay connecting the caravan and car batteries together, and that was energised from the accessory terminal of my Mk2 Cortina. By the time I returned to caravanning in 2013 the blue wire was no longer spare, but it didn't matter as by then most sites had EHU, which had been virtually unknown back in the 1980s, certainly on the sites I used. I could charge my battery on site.
I don't know what is currently applicable to trailer lights either. All I know is that my caravan doesn't have reversing lights, and I'm not sure that it has fog lights either. Were they fitted in the 1990s, I don't know.
Quote: Originally posted by dimbles on 01/8/2022
Have been towing everything from water tankers to caravans on and off for over 60 years and have only ever used a 7-pin socket with no problems of any kind. My camper is fitted a thirteen pin that I have adapted to a 7 pin, that is adequate for my needs.
I will never have any motor vehicle that I own connected to a caravan fridge or battery. It won't happen. Others are going to say a 13 pin is better. Well, that's great if that's what they want to think.
I used to charge my caravan battery from the car, but that was back in the 1970s and early 1980s, when charging on site was either impossible or too expensive. Now I don't find it necessary. It is only the journey from home to the site when my battery isn't being charged, but then it isn't being used either. I can't run my fridge from the car as it is 240 volt only. Someone at some time in my caravan's history has fitted a domestic one which works just fine for us as we never go on any site without EHU, except maybe for an overnight stop. We run it for 24 hours before we leave home, then put some ice packs in it out of our home freezer. That keeps it plenty cold enough until we plug into the EHU on site.
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 01/8/2022
A lot I would agree with there Monty15, although I must admit I have never had the problems others seem to have had with 7 pin plugs and sockets. I have towed numerous different trailers with several different vehicle, and all using 7 pin systems.
Thanks for letting us know when 13 pin became standard, I'll try and remember that for future reference.
Years ago in the early 1970s, I used the blue wire in a 7 pin plug which was previously unused, to charge my caravan's battery via a split-charging system that I "invented". I had never seen one before, and neither had anyone else I showed it to. It had a 12 volt relay connecting the caravan and car batteries together, and that was energised from the accessory terminal of my Mk2 Cortina. By the time I returned to caravanning in 2013 the blue wire was no longer spare, but it didn't matter as by then most sites had EHU, which had been virtually unknown back in the 1980s, certainly on the sites I used. I could charge my battery on site.
I don't know what is currently applicable to trailer lights either. All I know is that my caravan doesn't have reversing lights, and I'm not sure that it has fog lights either. Were they fitted in the 1990s, I don't know.
Think most of my 7 pin towing was done with 'hostile environments' involved, mostly towing boats, so lots of water around, fresh and sea! If not a boat, probably a rarely used trailer where the plug had had plenty of time to corrode to some degree or other between uses. Used to spend/waste a lot of time faffing with dodgy 7 pin plugs, even though efforts made to keep moisture out of the connectors with water repellents! Five years of 13 pin on caravan, and good to go every single time I've plugged it in.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 01/8/2022
Think most of my 7 pin towing was done with 'hostile environments' involved, mostly towing boats, so lots of water around, fresh and sea! If not a boat, probably a rarely used trailer where the plug had had plenty of time to corrode to some degree or other between uses. Used to spend/waste a lot of time faffing with dodgy 7 pin plugs, even though efforts made to keep moisture out of the connectors with water repellents! Five years of 13 pin on caravan, and good to go every single time I've plugged it in.
I did tow a few boats on trailers, but only to launch on rivers and lakes, never the sea. I also towed box trailers and car transporter trailers on car recoveries, as well as caravans and small open trailers. The last ones were always the worst. Occasionally had to jiggle the plug in the socket or as a last resort give it a quick spray with WD40. Not tried 13 pin I must admit, and I probably never will now, unless some rich uncle who I've never heard of leaves me a fortune.
Tow with single electrics all the time. Just temp down yr fridge first. Throw frozen sausage bacon etc in / or ice packs .got me nthwest to devon no prod. You can always get a bag of ice enroute to bring temp down. Also if you want to bring temp down fast when pitching up , local bag of ice works for me.
I have got an adaptor I had to take twin sockets on car to 13 pin on caravan. It has been laying in the garage for a good many years.
Yours for the cost of postage.
We had an Evoque that had 12N/S electrics, the 12S never worked the whole time I had the car, so just used the 12N with a 13/7 pin adapter to connect to the 13 pin electrics on the caravan.
Never caused an issue as weren’t really bothered about the charger nor fridge and the Bailey Pegasus Modena we had did not have ATC, only issue was the reversing lights but as far as I’m aware, they are not a legal requirement anyway, only time I had to reverse on a main road I just kicked the Mrs out the car to warn the cars behind and also put the hazard lights on.
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Topic: towing electrics
via mobile 01/8/2022 at 10:19pm
I have plenty to think about now. 
