I am totally new to the caravanning world and ask why there are 2 cables with anderson plugs ending at the draw bar.
There is a cable for the caravan lights and brakes and there are 2 separate cables each with an anderson plug.
Caravan is to be towed by our 200 Series Landcruiser Sahara - in which there are 2 batteries, which I am told 1 is for starting - but dont know which of the 2 is for this purpose.
Questions:
1. what are the 2 anderson leads for?
2. which battery/batteries do I connect to?
Thank you.
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2008 TTDV8 Landcruiser Sahara;
7m 2.7t custom-built off-road Supreme, 2 solar panels+ a la Hamburger with the lot.
(Survived 30 years working at the bleeding edge in the I.T. industry and now working even harder in retirement)
If you are unable to trace them back to where they go then and work out what they are for then you may need to get an auto electrician to suss it out for you.
In the absence of any obvious visual clue, then one way to identify your starting battery would be by monitoring the voltages at the terminals during cranking. Cranking voltage is usually less than 11V, and can go as low as 9V or even less.
-- Edited by dorian on Monday 12th of May 2014 10:34:06 AM
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"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."
The only way to know for certain is to trace or test the cables.
I would suggest that the most likely setup is this
1. one Anderson plug is for the battery charging connection 2. the second may well be to run the fridge whilst mobile
are the cables to both the same size?
frank
I reckon that's right too. As I have solar on the van plus a Ctek charger I opted for one Anderson plug for the fridge and run the battery charging from the tug via one of the large pins on a 12 pin plug.
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Cheers Jeff
Ticking off the bucket list before we kick it!
200 TTD with Evernew 22'6" and 40+ years in the oil & gas industry, now retired. CMCA Member.
Andrew I suspect the role of the two anderson plugs on the van may have changed over the years, so if your van is reasonably new and heavy you MAY find that one of your plugs supplies power to your trailer brake systems, ESC if fitted, and the charger for the breakaway brakes, again if fitted.
As an example our van has two 50A andersons, one to supply the power for the brake systems, the other charges the 12V house battery, and I believe it also powers the fridge directly.
As for your dual batteries in your tow vehicle, one will be your vehicle battery (starter, lights etc), the other is an auxiliary power source, but there are so many combinations as to how they are fitted together, and to your external plugs, it would be foolish to guess.
I am humbled by all of you who have taken the time to help with my query and I have, accordingly, made an executive decision - with some not insignificant influence of "the other" half - to take the beast to an auto sparky. It is only this way that I don't embarrass myself any further and not waste your time.
sincerely, thank you, all, for your guidance.
andrew.
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2008 TTDV8 Landcruiser Sahara;
7m 2.7t custom-built off-road Supreme, 2 solar panels+ a la Hamburger with the lot.
(Survived 30 years working at the bleeding edge in the I.T. industry and now working even harder in retirement)
I am humbled by all of you who have taken the time to help with my query and I have, accordingly, made an executive decision - with some not insignificant influence of "the other" half - to take the beast to an auto sparky. It is only this way that I don't embarrass myself any further and not waste your time.
sincerely, thank you, all, for your guidance.
andrew.
Very good decision Andrew,
Unless you are familiar with electrics you can do lots of harm in a split second connecting it up the wrong way..
If it's a fairly new van I would suggest that one is for caravan battery charging and one is for ESC if it's fitted. If they are different colour Anderson plugs ie one grey and one red then I would bet on it. It is recommended that if travelling off road then the ESC should be disconnected the easiest way to do this is by pulling a plug. I don't know how they do it if the ESC is wired into a 12 pin plug.
Thanks Rayza. Our van is 2 yrs young and both plugs are the standard grey... but, please tell me - what is "ESC"?
ESC - Electronic Stability Control - is a system to help control sway and fish-tailing in caravans by selectively activating the van's brakes. It was developed by Al-Ko and initially was available only on new, selected vans but I believe can now be retrofitted on suitable vans.
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Hino Rainbow motorhome conversion towing a Daihatsu Terios
Thank you. This is another valuable lesson I have learned from this great Forum.
We bought our van from a family who used it just once to travel to Perth and back. They sold it to us just before returning to the USA.
This will be something I will have to investigate - given the size and weight of the van.
Again, thank you.
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2008 TTDV8 Landcruiser Sahara;
7m 2.7t custom-built off-road Supreme, 2 solar panels+ a la Hamburger with the lot.
(Survived 30 years working at the bleeding edge in the I.T. industry and now working even harder in retirement)
digitalis49 wrote:Caravan is to be towed by our 200 Series Landcruiser Sahara - in which there are 2 batteries, which I am told 1 is for starting - but dont know which of the 2 is for this purpose.
If your Sahara has not been modified then those batteries will be in parallel and both used for starting.
Some people modify their vehicles. They disconnect the positive lead from one of the batteries. They then install a battery isolator between the two batteries. The one that remains connected to the alternator and the vehicles electricals remains the starting battery. The other one is then used to power accessories you add that you want to use whilst the motor is not running and charging the batteries.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
digitalis49 wrote:Unknowingly, I ran a h/duty cable pair from one car battery to the rear of the car and wired 2 Anderson plugs to it.
This would explain why I had serious battery drain of the van's batteries - even after a long haul.
Do you have a three way absorption fridge in the van? If so, how long did you run the fridge on the battery without the motor running? The serious drain could be from the fridge running when it should not have been running.
These three way fridges are not made to run off a battery. They are only supposed to be run from the alternator in the tow vehicle. If the fridge is an AES (auto energy select) model there is a high probability that it is wired incorrectly and will remain on 12 V when the motor is not running. Many forum members have reported that their AES fridges were incorrectly wired. If it is a MES (manual energy select) model you will most probably find that the installation instructions tell you to install a relay in the tug that is controlled by the ignition switch. That relay is there to protect the starting battery in your tug from being discharged by the fridge. These fridges will draw anything from 12 A to 22 A when running from 12 V depending on the size of the unit. Absorption fridges are one of the best destroyers of batteries. The will deplete the charge of a battery to the point where you will not be able to start the motor in half an hour (Holden/Falcon) or up to a few hours for a 4WD. When you get the tug wired, ask for the ignition controlled relay to be installed in the fridge line. Perhaps even order different coloured connectors for the fridge line.
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PeterD Nissan Navara D23 diesel auto, Spaceland pop-top Retired radio and electronics technician. NSW Central Coast.
Thanks PeterD. You are absolutely correct - the 2 batteries are shared - as advised by the Toyota service people.
Our fridge is a 3-way auto select. I would have driven approx 4 hours with the fridge "on auto" - so it does seem there is a wiring bug ... so another item to add in my to-do list.
You know, guys, I really thought caravanning was going to be a simple science of hooking up and driving into the sunset ...
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2008 TTDV8 Landcruiser Sahara;
7m 2.7t custom-built off-road Supreme, 2 solar panels+ a la Hamburger with the lot.
(Survived 30 years working at the bleeding edge in the I.T. industry and now working even harder in retirement)
