Caravan Electrics & Speedo

nigel c · Unread post by **nigel c** » 28 Jul 2003, 17:44

My Xantia 1995 1.9TD came with a tow bar fitted, but I'm not sure that the electrics are wired correctly for the 12s (grey socket)
The live wire goes to the battery together with in line fuse - I presune this is OK. The earth is connected to a green wire on one of the relays in the engine bay fuse box. These wire then go into the boot into a device which I think in a split charge relay.
With the engine running at idle, if I put the lights, heated rear screen, radio and heater blower on full the voltage across the earth and live wire is 0.9 volt, If I turn them all off and leave the engine running I get 0.7 Volts.
I also get an output from the 12s socket with just the ignition on and not the engine running.
Does anyone know if this is correct ?
I also had an experience when towing - I was traveling at 55 to 60 MPH and the speedo started to drop - it took aroun 1 min to drop down to zero - no I hadn't stopped !! It worked OK when I unhooked the caravan !
Could this be because the electrics are wired up incorrectly and the charging system had kicked in ?
Help very much needed
[V]

AndersDK · Unread post by **AndersDK** » 28 Jul 2003, 18:17

Nigel -
If no fuses blow - and all electrics are normal w/o anything connected to the van outlet - it should be no fatal problem.
If then lights on - & various utilities consuming power in - the van is working when connected - the basic hook-up is ok.
I believe you have a dodgy earth point - i.e. corrosion.
If you're positive in finding the correct earth (chassis) wire for the van outlet - try move it to a fresh chassis screw - or connect it directly at battery minus pole.
It's important you use some kind of rust proofing when doing the new connection - like CU-paste.
A dodgy earth connection taken more connections (& return path currents) - may disturb any electrics on your car.

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 28 Jul 2003, 23:28

Hi Nigel - For your 12S to be wired correctly, you should have two relays in the boot, one for charging, the other for the fridge. It's perfectly OK to have the live coming from the battery with an inline fuse, but the wire should be capable of carrying 17amp. Don't know why a wire should be going to a relay under the bonnet. The split charge should go to No 2 on the 12S socket and should only be live when the engine is running. The fridge supply should go to No 6 and a permanently live to No 4. However, having said all that, if your vehicle is later than 1/9/1998, the fridge should go to No 6 and the split charge to No 4.

nigel c · Unread post by **nigel c** » 31 Jul 2003, 14:38

Following on from the last reply......
Where do I get the earth connection from ?
As I said mine is connected to a relay in the engine bay.
Could this be the vire that's supposed to be from the alternator warning light? is this live or earth ?
Regards
Nige

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 31 Jul 2003, 23:17

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by nigel c</i>

Following on from the last reply......
Where do I get the earth connection from ?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Take your earth for the 12S socket from any adjacent threaded bolt in the boot area. Make it a sound connection otherwise it'll give you trouble in the future. Yes! it could well be that the connection to the relay under the bonnet is giving power in the boot only when the engine is running. Use your tester to find out.