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Caravan Fridge, Caravan Fridge Problem, Euro6 Engines, Leisure Battery Charging, Smart Alternator
About 12 months ago I wrote a blog post “Is A Euro 6 Engine Killing Your Leisure Battery?” and it got a few comments and generated a number of emails. However 12 months on I’m getting a lot more questions relating to problems around smart alternators and I’ve brought forward this blog post by quite a few months from my planned posting date following a couple of long email exchanges with two readers and a few others.
Right, I think the best way to explain this is to set the stage so to speak.
Bob stores his brand new caravan at home and it is regularly plugged in to the house to run the internal battery charger and a dehumidifier. It’s got a new 110Ah AGM leisure battery and a new motor-mover fitted. The caravan is plugged in at least 24 hours before any trip to get the fridge down to temp prior to stocking it up. Bob also has a brand new car, Euro 6 diesel with a smart alternator. The car is a few months younger than the caravan and he’s never towed a caravan with this car. The tow bar and tow electrics were all fitted by the dealer (or dealers agents) prior to it being purchased. He did tow this caravan on 4 trips with his previous car, same make but 6 years older.
The caravan suitably prepped, fridge down to temperature and stocked. An early morning departure and six hour journey with a couple of stops to catch the Euro Shuttle over to France followed by a couple of hours driving in France to their first destination. On arriving, Bob sited the caravan on to the pitch not using the motor-mover and went about setting up. Mrs Bob knowing a request for a cup of tea was imminent went inside to put the kettle on where she discovered everything in the freezer had defrosted. Bob checked the fridge, it was still set for travelling. For what ever reason he also checked the leisure battery on the caravan’s system… 12.1 volts.
Over the next few days there was a couple of phone calls to their caravan dealer along with a number of emails. For the next three weeks and 2 other camp sites the fridge worked perfectly. On the return trip a similar distance and travelling time to the outward journey ended up when Bob returned home he only managed to get the caravan part way up the drive using the motor mover. He had to plug the caravan into his house overnight to charge the leisure battery enough to allow him to use the motor mover to finally put the caravan into its ‘home’ at the rear of the house.
Within a couple of weeks the caravan was returned to the dealer for extensive checking and the dealer could not find any issues with it or the fridge. They put forward the idea it must be an issue with the car. Bob tended to agree with this as he had taken this caravan on four trips towing with is old car and never had any issues. Three relatively short trips, the other a longer two week trip from the North East down to Cornwall, a similar 8 or 9 hour journey and everything seemed fine.
After a conversation with the main dealer who agreed to have the vehicle towing electrics checked over the next couple of days. The verdict from the main dealer was they could find nothing wrong with the vehicle, everything was working as expected.
Now, this is where I got involved. The above is actually an amalgamation of two very similar emails asking for thoughts and advice. The people involved had vehicles from different manufacturers and the caravans were also from different manufacturers. The only common element was the vehicles were new and had Euro 6 engines with smart alternators. I am not going to mention the vehicle or caravan manufacturers for a couple of reasons…. one, I don’t want to end up on the wrong end of a legal letter and two, I don’t actually think the manufacturer of either is relevant.
What’s Going On?
Luckily for me Bob is recently retired but knows his way round an AVO 8 being an apprentice TV repair man for Redifusion back in the day when valves were king. (Just as an aside, I bought my first AVO 8 back in 1976 and paid £8 for it. It was Ex REME in a leather case. I purchased it from MAZEL RADIO on London Rd in Manchester. Anyone from Manchester of a certain age will know Mazel Radio).
To cut a long story short over a period of a couple of weeks we proved that when hitched up, as soon as the smart alternator went into eco mode, there was a current flow up to about 4.5 to 5 amps FROM the leisure battery TO the car. This only stopped and reversed when the electrical load in the car caused the vehicles ECU to turn on the alternator’s output. Furthermore we determined that with the caravan hitched up, the period the alternator was in eco mode was also longer than when unhitched. Although we could not prove this with definitive evidence, this would also support the reverse current flow from the caravan to the vehicle that we were seeing as the caravan leisure battery was now supporting the vehicle battery.
Now there were a few questions that were buzzing round my brain….
- Why didn’t the caravan habitation relay drop out when the smart alternator went into eco mode to stop this reverse flow?
- Why didn’t the dedicated tow electrics strop this reverse flow?
- Why didn’t the vehicle ECU knowing a trailer was hitched stop the alternator going into ECO mode?
- If the ECU put the alternator into eco mode why didn’t it drop the fridge supply and by default release the habitation relay?
- Why did the fridge defrost/not work even though in theory there was a voltage supplied to it?
- Was this the reason I had seen an increase in emails relating to motor mover issues and batteries not holding their charge?
What Next?
I don’t really know. I don’t know how wide spread an issue it is or its going to become. I also don’t know the details of how specific manufacturers implement eco modes in the ECU programming or how the tow bar electrical interface manufacturers could work round the potential issues while still being able to get their products certified by vehicle manufacturers.
I think it might be down to the caravan manufacturers to come up with a solution. I know that there are a couple of after-market products available that provide a solution – We have one I installed in our caravan and in the short term I think this will be the quickest route. Caravan manufacturers may have a reluctance to respond and they can legitimately say “Well it is designed to work correctly to the relevant standards.” I think that maybe it will require the two main caravan clubs to look further into this and if what I have outlined above is proven by them to be the case, bring pressure to bear on all the parties concerned to come up with a way forward to resolve the issue.
For my part, I have contacted a few manufacturers asking for information and clarification or even acknowledgement of an issue. Unfortunately no one seems to want to talk about it. I do know individuals have emails details of their own problem to manufacturers and have received less than helpful responses.
Let me know in the comments below if you have had anything that might be related to this. I’d like to find out more.
EDIT:…
The thought just crossed my mind…. what affect, if any, will this have on AL-KO ATC (if fitted) when the vehicle is in eco mode and the alternator shut down? Does is mean that there is a possibility that the AK-KO ATC may not work correctly in all circumstances?
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Caravan Chronicles 
What about a diode in the feed from the car to caravan ? that should stop the leisure battery from feeding the car battery
It looks like the car is designed to run on the battery until it needs charging so if the leisure battery is connected to it will wait for the leisure to run down before it starts charging.
This is only my thoughts I hope it helps
Hi Mike
Yes a simple diode would work, however one drawback will be the forward voltage drop across it… which would reduce the voltage even further charging the leisure battery. A simple buck circuit would be better in some respects.
A mine of information on your web site so many thanks.
I’ve also discovered the joys of owning a Euro6 car with smart altenator. FYI its a J11 2018 Qashqai 1.5dCi.
Usual problem of the fridge only powering intermittently when towing and also the leisure battery discharging making the motor mover inoperable when we get home or on site.
On one occasion though we did arrive home and the motor mover did function and the only thing different about this journey was that we didn’t have the fridge on when towing.
It’s made me wonder if there isn’t some electrical path that could mean the leisure battery is also being used to power the fridge when the car goes into ‘ECO’ mode. I need to think more about this and make some measurements of my own.
In the meantime I notice that the PDU has a fuse marked car and I wonder if I pull this out it will affectively disconnect the car volts from the caravan. No fridge or charging when towing but I can live without that and would rather have a usable motor mover.
Comments on pulling the fuse would be much appreciated.
When the vehicle is connected and supplying power to the leisure battery circuit this is routed through a ‘habitation relay’ which switched the leisure battery from suppling the caravan to receiving a charge from the vehicle. This relay is controlled by the circuit from the vehicle that supplies power to run the fridge. If the supply from the vehicle to the fridge is lost the habitation relay will change back and supply energy back to the caravan…. if you have left anything switched on in the caravan it will drain the battery in this case. When the vehicle is in Eco mode…. it might drop the power supply to the fridge although the vehicle should detect the caravan and prevent this it is worth checking if the correct software updates tot he vehicle’s ECU where done when the towing kit was installed in the vehicle.
The other consideration is if you have AL-KO trailer stabilisation fitted…. dropping the power to the caravan may render this inoperative.
Hi Simon
FYI It appears some cars with smart alternators are more intelligent than others. My EURO6 Porsche Cayenne has a configurable dashboard that allows display of battery voltage so I can easily see what is happening. When driving solo it does the smart alternator voltage reduction thing once the car battery is charged to a level eventually reducing to about 12.8v. However it seems to detect when the tow electrics are connected and doesn’t reduce alternator output in that circumstance – battery voltage increases to and then never drops below about 14.7v. As a result I’ve experienced no fridge or leisure battery problems when towing.
Hi Col
I’ve also come across similar with Audi and VW vehicles… I think they all use the same core electrical infrastructure model. I believe a couple of hybrid vehicles also have similar operation.
I can guess that this is going to develop across wider model ranges until manufacturers decide that investing in further development is not worth any returns and focus funding on electric vehicles.
I’m waiting for the first caravan manufacturer to produce a caravan with a battery pack that can help off set the caravan towed losses by providing additional electrical capacity to the tow vehicle.
haven’t taken the time before, hut wanted to say thank you. I’ve been browsing your blog for a few weeks now as I bought my first caravan recently and having some fridge problems now. Thanks for all info here.
I have a 2018 Swift Elegance 650 and a 2019 BMW X5 with Re-gen breaking. The car has an after-market Westfalia Towbar (with I believe a Voltage sensing spllt charge relay which is not going to be able to charge the leisure battery and run the large fridge when the engine running). I’m convinced about the need to install a B2B charger and have looked at the Sterling BBC1225 and associated videos on the subject. My concern is regarding the implications/impact of installing this kit on the Sargent EC600 PSU and control units. Would the BBC1225 need to be installed upstream of the EC600 and if so what would be the impact on the EC600. I’ve recently had a bad experience when trying to install an additional Solar panel and MPPT Solar Controller which resulted in returning the EC600 to Sargent for a repair. During conversations with Sargent it became clear that even though the Sargent Solar controller is rated at 20Amps the maximum wattage the EC600 can deal with is 150W although this is not the reason the unit failed (I shorted out the battery leads when I dropped them onto my pliers!). This has however made me very nervous about messing with the ‘as fitted’ wiring.
Hi Dave,
There are a couple of options for the BMW’s.
If it is a generic unit that’s not BMW specific that is a VSR then there is not really much advantage in installing a DC to DC charger as you will only be able to charge when the vehicle decides to recharge the starter battery. It won’t work when the vehicle lowers the alternator output when it detects the starter battery is charged. (It will cycle but it’s not really an ideal situation).
Sargent equipment like other manufacturers equipment is built to a specification and at a minimal cost to the caravan manufacturers, even changing battery type is not always possible let alone upgrading anything.
Installing the Sterling unit does require you to change the ‘as fitted’ wiring i the caravan. You need to trace the fridge circuit and disconnect it from the Sargent unit, along with back feeding the habitation relay. I’ve also found now that as I’m my Swift Caravan the wiring between the main incoming cable from the 13 pin plug needs to be upgraded between the terminal/fuse block and the Sterling unit.
Simon,
Thanks for your reply. Your thoughts echo my original thinking however I’ve been watching the Sterling Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eisj4gYZrXw where this very same problem is explained and the solution offered. Fundamentally their B2B charger sits in between the incoming supply to the Fridge and Leisure Battery and through some kind of ‘Magic’ it does not mind if the input voltage from the towcar drops to (say) 9v (this is the figure they assume from the nominal 12.5v car battery voltage pre-Regen boost and allowing for voltage drops along the way) their B2B charger will still deliver 14volts. So if I’ve understood it they accept that there will be pulses of power delivered from the Euro 6 towcar under Regen Breaking and their unit will regulate this so that it does not provide over-voltage spikes and trip the fridge or exceed the maximum charge voltage of the leisure battery. When not under Regen boost their unit will maintain 14v output to keep the fridge going. Under boost conditions the excess charge voltage will be delivered to the Leisure Battery. I have spoken to Sargent who have told me that the place to insert a B2B charger is before the Road Fuse Box i.e. straight in from the 13 Pin plug . The Fridge and Car 12v lines are then connected to the 2 terminals marked Frg In and Car In, all negatives from car, caravan and leisure battery are all connected to the common Neg Terminal. The Ouputs are via the Car O/p and Frg O/p terminals on the B2B charger. All this seems very logical – What do you think?
Hi Dave
The issue is if you have a voltage sensing relay in the vehicle, it will shut off the feed on the leisure battery circuit regardless of what the Sterling uint does. That leaves only the fridge circuit running and although the sterling unit aggregates the two circuits it still has to provide the fridge circuit with stable output leaving not much for the leisure battery.
Although the Sterling unit can handle voltages down to 9 volts, the vehicle if fitted with a VSR will shut off at around 11.8 volts.
I did go into it in some detail in my post about installing a Sterling Wildside unit. There are about 6 posts on the installation, testing, faultfinding and conclusions… we still have it in service and it will be featured again when we change over to a LiPo battery bank.
https://caravanchronicles.com/2017/04/25/getting-all-charged-up-part-1/
https://caravanchronicles.com/2017/04/26/getting-all-charged-up-part-2/
Sorry to post this on another thread…but having read this topic, it would appear that my issue is more closely aligned to this (CRV EX 1.6 Diesel 160bhp variant – and a Euro 6 engine). I’ve not tried my fridge whilst towing in my new (second hand car), but I do have an issue with ATC and no power.
I have a Bailey Ancona (2018) with a factory fitted ALCO ATC – it worked perfectly with my previous vehicle (UK Toyota Avensis 12 plate with a Witter tow bar). ATC powered up every time I plugged the 13 pin connector in, pre ignition (suggesting the system is powered from pin 9). All good, until I swap my vehicle a few months back to a 17 plate Honda CRV (UK) with a Honda fitted tow bar and electrics (fitted from new). I plugged the 13 pin connector in expecting to hear the ATC system do its system check – but nothing.
I then began to read up on matter – first I checked that the ATC was still operational (by plugging it into a friends car). All fine. So this pointed to the car. My caravan isn’t parked at home, but I did decide to conduct some tests with my AVO – and then I begin to read reports of pins 9 and 13 not being connected.
I tested the output on pin 9/13 and got zero volts. Then I read if I have my road lights on (not in auto mode), I should get a voltage. I tried this and it worked the first time (from memory 12.8 volts but it was a month back), but nothing since, and still no ATC. I should add that all road lights on the van are working fine. I actually had to tow the van today, taking it in for it’s service, but with no ATC. The dealer also checked the Caravan eclectics and put a battery on the 13 pin plug and ATC fired up straight away (confirming what I already knew).
I’ve spoken to my local Honda Dealer in Coventry and they were little help (just before COVID lockdown). ‘We didn’t fit it (it was another Honda Dealership) and its out of warranty (after market Honda equipment has a 12 month warranty)’. I suspect I do need to take the car to Honda to have it checked out – but I think they lack the expertise in-house to know where to look.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with the CRV? I have pondered having the Honda fitted electrics removed and an aftermarket system fitted (a bit extreme I know), but I have six months of my vehicle warranty left and that would likely invalidate it.
Any help or advice gratefully received.
Do not despair, there are solutions out there. I had a similar problem with my new 3 litre VW Amarok, (which is the best tow car I’ve ever had). I was recommended by VW to visit a small tow bar/electronics company on an industrial estate. They recognised the problem immediately and ordered a partial wiring loom from Westfalia. Once they had fitted this everything worked as it should. All done for £250. Come back to me if you’re interested and I’ll dig out their details.
I,m having same problem with a converted Transporter t6.1. I would appreciate direction to your contact please who can fix the issue. Thanks
Website you need is:
http://www.protowbar.co.uk
Good luck, I have no doubt they will sort you out.
As an afterthought, if you use Protowbar in Stoke make sure they show you where the fuses are for the new wiring, as I blew a fuse and didn’t know, so I went back to Protowbar telling them the system had stopped working, which turned out to be simply a fuse.
Hi Simon
Many thanks for all your hard work researching into said smart alternator charging problems concerning caravans. It appears that your the first person to twigg what the cause is way ahead of the caravan manufactures themselves.
May I ask, have you now your own online shop?
Regards
Colin
Hi Colin
No I don’t have an online shop as such… I have listed all the stuff I have used/use on a ‘shop’ page. They are all Amazon Affiliate links so I get a few pence if anyone buys anything vial the links. I did it mainly not to raise funds ( I don’t see my blog as a source of income and don’t want it to go that way) but I had so many people email asking where I got so-and-so that I used or referred to in the blog it was easier to just do a shop page so I could point people there.
Many thanks Simon for your feedback, I will have a look at your Shop Page.
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Interesting that you should ask about the effect on ATC. I can only relate my own experience, which is by no means proven or definitive but… I have been driving through France for the last couple of days, mostly on the Autoroutes and by far the greatest amount of motorway towing that I’ve done.I don’t normally change the car’s drive mode while towing, usually leaving it in “comfort”, but with all the MWay driving I thought I’d see if putting it into “Eco” mode would make much difference to fuel consumption. No conclusion yet on that front. At the end of my first day’s drive, I noticed when unhitching that the ATC light was a solid red, a bit odd but disconnected and reconnected the electrics to check the system and after the self test the light went green so didn’t think any more of it. The next day, at my first stop I went to check the ATC, not expecting a problem but a little paranoid about it after the previous day and again discovered that the led was solid red. Disconnected, reconnected, green led. Continued the journey, car in Eco mode and the same red led result at the next pitstop. At this point I began to wonder if Eco mode might be responsible as it was the only thing I could think of that I had done differently to any other journey. So, having the ability to monitor the ATC thanks to Swift’s Command app, I did a little experiment. Got the app connected to the caravan before pulling off and went into the ATC screen and confirmed that the system was showing as Active. Drove a couple of miles, all was well. With my wife watching the ATC status on the app I put the car into Eco mode and the second I did the status of the ATC in the app changed to Not Active. Red led again when I pulled over.
Hi Andrew
That is very interesting… and worrying at the same time!
I would think that ATC is more likely to be activated when on motorways etc because of the speed and the is when most people would be inclined to select Eco mode to try to economise their journey.
If there were an incident and it was proved that ATC was not active, could this possibly have repercussions with insurance companies I wonder?
The other thought now crossing my mind is could this happen when an engine’s ECU goes into fuel saving mode and shuts down the alternator?
I don’t have ATC fitted so can’t go out and do any checking, but I will do some followup research.
As per Andrew’s dilemma I would think that the the vehicle may have been wired incorrectly. If the engine is not running when he hooks up, the ATC will not light up and he will not know if it is functioning correctly when towing. The 12v feed to the ATC should be taken direct from the battery in the vehicle.
Hi Ian
Couple of points.. As the ATC system works when the vehicle is in comfort mode and only drops out when in Eco mode, I think it unlikely that the vehicle is wired incorrectly.
The second is you should never connect up your caravan to a vehicle with a running engine. A lot of vehicles go through a start up scan and one is detecting if there is a trailer attached. If it’s detected it will change the promoters for the safety systems, traction control, ABS etc…. simply plugging in with the engine running might not allow the ECU to make these changes. I know that in a number of vehicle handbooks it specifically states do not connect a trailer with the engine running.
With modern tow electrics, a lot of manufacturers provide a regulated feed point controlled by the ECU for trailer services. The manufacturer prohibits connection directly to the battery. When the engine goes into Re-Gen mode during braking I’ve seen over 18 volts on the unregulated battery side of the vehicle electrics.
I have a transit van euro 6 with smart alternator and wanted to fit a leasure battery for my inverter. I was told I could not use a split relay I had to fit a battery to battery charger as the smart alternator cannot charge a a second battery this then overcomes the problem. The cost of this unit is about £250 plus.
Talk to a specialist and he will explain how and why you have to fit a battery to battery charger
Hi Robert, Indeed, that’s why I fitted one in our caravan over two years ago… you can read all about it in one of my blog posts.
May be running with side lights on may work the alternator more so that it doesn’t go into eco mode.
Hi Steven
Certainly on my VW Amarok is doesn’t make any difference as all the vehicle lights are LED. However when I have the caravan hitched up I do always run with the vehicle DRL’s and marker lights on the caravan on. Not sure if it is enough additional load but as I have a Sterling Power Wildside unit installed in the caravan having a smart alternator it’s not an issue for us.
Running with dipped headlights should however make some difference as the electrical load on the alternator might be enough. Unless the vehicle is equipped with LED or HID headlights!
I tow with a Merc C Class PHEV just swapped leisure battery convinced it must have just packed up. But I do wander now if this back charging could be happening?
Hi Andy
You are not the first, in the last few weeks I have had a number of people contacting me telling me they have just swopped out their ‘old’ battery as it wasn’t holding a charge… and are now saying their new one isn’t too!
How does one know if the vehicle is fitted with a SMART alternator? We have a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee towing a 2018 Buccaneer and a search on Google brings up conflicting advice on whether the Jeep has one or not.
Hi Ian
The only way I know how to confirm independently is to connect a voltmeter to the battery and then drive the vehicle. If it is a smart alternator, at some point the voltage indicated across the battery will drop from around 13.8/14.5 volts to about 12.8 or lower while driving indicating the vehicle has reduced the alternator output. It might be easier to call in to a Jeep dealer and ask them to check on the system against your vehicle VIN number, they should be able to give you the details including alternator rating as I believe there were three sizes (output) of alternator available for that model year.
The Wildside unit does work well and there’s also another system from Votronic which does pretty much the same thing. You can see it here: https://www.votronic.de/index.php/en/products2/series-vcc/standard-version/vcc-1212-20-c
I have seen the details for the Votronic unit and it looks like a very cost effective option for battery charging and stopping any chance of back feeding. However it may not help with issues in running the fridge.
Hi Simon
You may remember I emailed you about fitting the Wildside unit to my Bailey Cadiz, since then I have transferred it to a new Buccaneer Clipper. Both ‘vans towed by a 2016 Volvo XC90 (series 2). Since fitting the Wildside the fridge and charging circuits work perfectly so thank you for your previous articles pointing me towards the WS unit.
Hi Simon,
I’ve just ordered said Wildside Unit BBC1225 from Sterling Power LTD, £236.40 inc VAT & Postage, it will be delivered tomorrow. I’m not actually fitting it to my caravan as my car has a standard Alternator and as you know I’ve my own design control module instead of using an inefficient VSR and all its related problems not mentioning incapability with smart alternators etc. The reason why I’ve bought it is to bench test and familiar myself with it order to install them for other caravaners as I still undertake auto electrical repairs etc to subsidize my income. I’ve been reading all related operational and installation information on wildside prior to investing in one for said reasons.
I’ve already seen a floor in their installation wiring in that if it is wired to Sterling’s standard installation wiring instructions then: if the caravans’ internal selector switch for domestic 12 volt internal electrics is switched to draw directly from the towcars’ battery (which it is factory designed to do so if needed) via euro plug pin 9 (or old seven pin plug, pin 4), the way wildside is wired it will no longer allow this to function. If the wiring of wildside is slightly modified then this can be made to still function as it should! In my opinion, the design experts have missed this?
Colin
Hi Colin
If you are able to install this equipment albeit for a charge it would be good to have your contact details, as not all septogenarians are technically minded or physically able to access the wiring to be able to do this work.
I suppose a quick and dirty fix would be to wire a beefy diode into the wiring, I’m lucky as my tow car is a somewhat ancient Discovery with old style generation. The fridge is always cold even after 3 hours to Portsmouth, waiting on the dock for 2 hours, an overnight ferry trip of 8 hours or so then a drive of 6 hours or so.
Hi Ian
Yep, I’ve just done some testing with two diodes, one on each power feed (fridge and leisure battery) and included a simple in line ammeter in a small box. All seems to work fine. Tried this on several combinations now too.
Our 2006 Free Lander worked a treat, well still does actually! With the Amarok I’ve got a Sterling Power Wildside unit installed, which is a step up from two diodes with a couple of other bells added, but that works a treat too!
Hi Simon
You will remember you helped me to fit a Sterling Power Wildside unit to my Bailey Persuit 560 caravan during the autumn/winter. well i am pleased to say that after two outings so far this summer, one to Scotland and the other locally, the Wildside has performed brilliantly!
However, i took up your offer to look at your Shop on line, and bought myself a 13 pin wiring tester and so tested both ends, one on the caravan which was all ok and the other end to the car where i found that the two power cables (one permanent live, the other ignition controlled) had been swapped around.
Assuming this was done when i had the car re-wired to take account of the Wildside unit i was not aware of it at the time!!
The interesting thing is that at the caravan end, the two power cables have been wired correctly according to the instructions for the Wildside unit!
At first i thought that the “Pro-Plus” tester must be wrong and i still have to prove that by using the old method with a volt meter!!
Once again, many thanks for your invaluable help.
Gerald
Hi Gerald
So glad it’s all working fine.
Worth checking out those two cables…. let me know how you get on.
Will do as soon as I get both the car and the caravan home on Monday!
Gerald
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Hi Simon, you may recall that I’ve commented before on this website and you responded to me about the electrical problems between the 2 vehicles, but I can now report that my 3.0 Amarok and 2008 Buccaneer now work well together, whereas before I had fridge and charging problems.
A small company in Stoke fitted an aftermarket wiring loom for my 13 pin trailer plug and both charging and fridge operation have fine worked since.
After our last posting on this website I questioned the company on the wiring loom, as I was under the impression that the one they fitted was genuine VW, but apparently it was not. I am told that the loom is an aftermarket item that has the same coding as the genuine VW loom. I can tell you that it works. With the motor running I have just over 14V showing on the battery volt meter in the caravan and the fridge ON lamp permanently illuminated.
Hi John
I do remember. Thats great news.