Had a diagnosis that the Westfalia charging unit on our Yeti isn’t outputting to pin 10 on the socket; this is the case even when the engine has been run for a while. Pin 9 (battery feed) is working as it should.
Rather than trying to replace the whole box, quite an expense, I was wondering about piggy backing a Maypole relay , wiring it into pin 10. Can anyone see a problem? Has anyone done anything similar?
Has it got a smart alternator? If so try turning the lights on to give the alternator some work to do, which might give it enough power to switch the relay for the fridge.
Thanks for the reply. The fridge isn’t working when the caravan is on the towball, even on a long run, hence the diagnostics. Pretty sure it’s a new issueNot sure if it’s a smart alternator, the engine is one of the last Eu5 models, one of the EA189 diesels that needed the update.
Do as Rob & Tina suggested. I always have to put headlights on when starting up to get alternator to kick in. The fridge itself also has a small wire going to the circuit board and unless it has minimum 13 volts on it, the fridge element does not operate to cool it. Most cars in the last 10 years have smart alternators. I keep a voltage meter plugged in my cigar lighter socket that permantly shows me the voltage when engine running. When alternator charging lwaysreads 14 volts. I then know fridge will be working.
Thanks both for your suggestions. I'll try it next time we go out - not quite camping weather today!
It has go me wondering - the car battery is quite old, and isn't getting much regular charging because of the plague. I've noticed the voltage is a bit low, and maybe drawing more energy than it should. This problem first raised its head last September, after a number of five hour journeys. Getting back home, got it checked out by an auto electrician, who couldn't get any output from the control box.
Could reconnect the fridge relay to the 15 ignition or X circuits in a Skoda (VW derived). Will however be activated whenever these circuits are live with the ignition key operation. The fusebox/relay plate may provide a connection point.
Taken the caravan out for a spin - pin 10 on car still dead, and fridge not working, even with headlights on. Oh and new car battery, so not that. Interesting conversation with Škoda dealer, who couldn’t find the part on their inventory. What fun!
The mystery deepens! Having finally decided to fit a Maypole relay, I idly googled to see if there was anything online in the way of wiring diagrams, or colour codes. And I come across a series of threads about VAG cars not having a fridge relay fitted!
The part number is Westfalia 300 028 300 113, and is a separate relay with a few connections, that they call a charging line. This is giving me confidence that, for a tenner, I can duplicate it.
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Topic: Fridge relay
via mobile 17/2/2022 at 5:00pm
