Just been on a ferry to France with caravan for first time. I noticed when I turned my ignition off on the ferry that my green ATC light on the caravan stayed on. Paranoid that it would drain my cars battery I disconnected my caravan electrics. Question is did I need to ie would it actually stay on and drain my battery?
All power to the trailer should be isolated when the vehicles ignition is switched off so yes it would have eventually drained the battery due to a constant live current.
I think you need to get the electrics checked on your hitch, as with the post above, the electrics to the caravan are isolated when the ignition is switched off.
It is wired to the permanent feed and should activate as soon as the caravan is plugged into the car (Ours acts in the same way as yours). It only uses milliamps in standby mode - though some people feel that the movement of a ferry might cause it to activate. Might be best to unplug the 'van once the outfit is parked.
Car is only a couple of years old and had a factory fitted towbar/setup so I suspect car electrics are all fine. Just never had to leave car hitched and plugged in before the ferry trip. Think I will just unplug to be safe in future.
It unnerved me too first time we went on the ferry with ours, I noticed it when I was about to leave the car for the night, would I be the silly sod who held everyone up in the morning if it drained my battery overnight?? I did the same as others, disconnected it and left something on wheel to remind me to reconnect it again but I needn't have worried as Al+Mel said, in standby it uses very little juice as its only illuminating an LED. Like so many other things it's OK when you know.
Dave
------------- Never argue with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you on experience.
Mark Twain.
Personally, I'd not worry about it, as has been previously said it's only an led.
A lot of cars have immobilisers that have led's on the dashboard when armed, no one considers them to be a drain on the battery.... Unless you got a dicky battery
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Topic: Alko ATC Question
