12v questions , for newbie owner!

[EVOH]

Hi , we've just purchased a 2010 Expanda 16.49. I have a question about the 12v system fitted. The guy we brought it from, told me that the 12v system will charge from the car with the standard 7 pin plug . Is this correct ?. There is probably a thread on here already but I cant seem to find it.

 

[chartrock]

Depends on wiring @EVOH but if done correctly it will charge from the car. I can't recall which pin number it goes through but I'm sure one of our guru members will let you know.

And welcome to the forum.:welcome:

 

[Bmhdg76]

It will also depend on if they have changed the wiring at all. Being second hand you won't know for sure what they may have without tracing the wiring in some way. If they have done it themselves, they may not have the blocking diode in so you may be able to see a voltage at the plug. Worth a check at least.

BJ

 

[BigSkiddy]

First question is with your car, have you wired it with 12v going to the rear plug?
If you have a standard 7pin plug for a trailer hook up it's very unlikely that you have power going to there.

 

[EVOH]

Thanks for the welcome, as far as I know my car plug is standard 7 pin. The electric brake control is obviously wired to the plug aswell. I have a 12v socket in the back to run my waeco. What's the best way to tell if there is any current running to the battery with it plugged into the car? Its not a big deal I was just curious, I thought it would have to be done via Anderson plugs or similar.

 

[BigSkiddy]

Obvious way is using a multimeter or look at the car battery to see if there are any signs of extra wires coupled onto it.

 

[Glen Bundesen]

They usually use the black wire to pin 5 on a round 7 pin plug, for the 12v, but often it is not a heavier wire!

 

[Meanderthals]

Multimeter across van battery and note voltage. Connect van to car and start engine. Does voltage at van battery increase to somewhat similar to that across car battery (wiring to van may drop some voltage)?

 

[seanparky]

careful guys pin 5 is electric brakes.. all goes as follows.
pin 1) yellow left indicator
pin 2) black or some run there own (red) aux power supply
pin 3) white earth
pin4) green right indicator
pin 5) blue electric brakes
pin 6) red brake light
pin 7) brown tail lights

you can use a test light to see if you have power at pin 2 on your trailer base at your vehicle with ignition on, or as described above with van connected and running use a multimeter to check charge rate at van batt. Some vans have an anderson plug that is used for the fridge only. there are multiple ways of connecting and changing the charge circuit to suit different individuals. ideally i would un 8b&s cable down to an anderson plug thru a circuit breaker 40amp to reduce voltage drop.

hope this helps

 

[DaveS]

Thanks for the welcome, as far as I know my car plug is standard 7 pin. The electric brake control is obviously wired to the plug aswell. I have a 12v socket in the back to run my waeco. What's the best way to tell if there is any current running to the battery with it plugged into the car? Its not a big deal I was just curious, I thought it would have to be done via Anderson plugs or similar.

easiest way to check is turn the van battery switch off, plug the car in and then test if lights work inside van, if it's a standard jayco wiring this will show power getting to van

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Here I found this

 

[Capt. Gadget]

Yeah OK so I need glasses here try the round one instead

 

[ROnEM]

What you will find is that as the van is not fitted with any reversing lights, pin 2 could be used on a 7 pin plug to run the 12V to the battery.

This is a mod that the owner may also have performed on his car and swapped the reversing signal out and put a +ve 12V to pin 2.

@EVOH - the statement that the car will charge the van's battery is something to approach with caution.

Many modern cars have "smart" alternators that provide just enough charge to the vehicle's battery/ies, so as to be less of a drag/strain on the engine, making the car more fuel efficient. This is why products like a Ctek D250S or Redarc DC|DC charger is used - they set up the voltage at the van to make sure the battery get enough charge. The other thing is that the voltage drop over the distance from the car's battery/ies to the van's must be taken into account. A battery needs to get to a higher voltage to make sure the van's battery is fully charged. If the voltage is not sufficient, then you may only ever have the van's battery charged somewhere between 60% to 80%.

Cheers,

Rohan

 

[Holden_man]

I have a 12 volt Question,
Found the fuses labelled incorrectly, so wanted to sort it out. But I have one fuse that I cannot find what it does....
The fuses go like this:
Fuse 1 - Interior lights / door side Downlights
Fuse 2 - Toilet
Fuse 3 - TV 12v outlet inside/outside
Fuse 4 - water Pump / gas Hot water ignition
Fuse 5 - Bathroom lights/fan/bunks Downlights
Fuse 6 - Radio/Rangehood/kitchen side Downlights
Fuse 7 - ???????
Fuse 8 - cooktop gas Igniter

So what does fuse 7 do, what have I missed. I can seem to find anything missing power while parked up in the front yard.
Go away in a few weeks so it may present itself when we are using it proper.

But any thoughts folks, what is fuse 7 for. It disappears forward into the void between the tunnel and the interior.
What have I missed.

HM

 

[ROnEM]

@Holden_man

Our van only has 5 fuses. You will probably need someone with the same model to answer this fully.

Have you tried to call your Jayco dealer's service dept? They are usually pretty helpful.

If it is disappearing forward, do you have a light in the front boot of your van? Have you had every one of your lights (internal and external) turned on when you have removed fuses?

Sorry can't help you more.

Cheers,

Ro

 

[Holden_man]

Hi Ro,
thanks for the response, I found a page where you can ask Jayco a question, will try that after we come back from a few days away late in July. I will have another crack at finding what that fuse feeds when we use the van proper when away.

No lights forward of the boot or in the boot and all internal lights are on the other fuses, so no lights attributed to Fuse 7. It seems to go into the void of the boot and I found a cable with the same wire colours in the rats nest of wires under where the cable drop through the floor. Didn't want to disturb the rats nest its a shocker, how they can do that and sleep at night......

I think we may have a Circuit tracer at work, will give that a go also.

thanks
HM