Tag Archives: 13 Pin Plug

NEC Show Roundup – it’s all technical…

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Caravan Electrics, Electrical, General, Maintenance, Modifications, Technical, tow vehicle, VW Amarok

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This is really a follow-up to my previous post – Smart Alternators: how they affect Caravans and Motorhomes….

While at the NEC show one of my big tasks was to get a number of technical questions answered by the industry players. One of my first stops was to Westfalia and to meet up with Rick Sykes and his colleague on the Westfalia stand. Rick is the national training manager for Westfalia and I was able to get answers to a number of questions that you have asked me and I’d not been able to answer fully. Continue reading →

Upgrading pre September 1998 Caravans to 13 Pin

06 Saturday Jun 2015

Posted by in Caravan Electrics, Electrical, Help Guides, Maintenance, Modifications, Technical

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One of Caravan Chronicles long time readers and supporters, Colin “Snowy” Snowden, has sent me an excellent article he has written covering all aspects of upgrading pre September 1998 UK caravans to the 13 pin Euro Plug.

It’s very comprehensive article and goes into detail about the various problems and colour codes that were used and cover some of the changes that are required, habitation relays and details the steps required to actually do the upgrade with steps on fault finding.

If you have a pre September 1998 caravan and are thinking of replacing the original 12N/12S wiring with a 13 Pin plug, it’s an essential read.

The document can be downloaded and viewed here: Upgrading to 13 Pin

Colin has included contact details in the article, but if you have any questions that the answers might be helpful to others as well, you could also post them in the comments section below and Colin will be able to answer them.

“Why do my sidelights flash when I indicate?”…

20 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by in Caravan Electrical Fault Finding, Caravan Electrics, Caravan Servicing, Electrical, Maintenance, Technical, Tips

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That is one of the most common questions that I am asked about road light problems with caravan’s and trailers. Others are::

“Why do my side lights come on when I brake?”

“When I turn my side lights on why do the indicators glow dimly?”

“When I put my side lights on why do my reversing lights come on?”

“When I brake why do all my rear lights come on?”

The answer is fairly simple, and a lot of people will tell you “It’s an earth fault” So often said simply because they have heard someone else say it but really they don’t understand how it can be an earth fault. Trying to find a fault even if you know what it is can be frustrating if you don’t know a bit of theory behind it, but I’ll try to give you an insight into what’s going on. Lets have a look at a basic wiring diagram for the caravan or trailer road lights and their connections.

Continue reading →

13 Pin Plug… the green cap arrives!

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in Help Guides, Maintenance

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You may recall that in a previous post I said I had emailed a couple of distributors (Maypole & Grove Products) about the possibility of selling just the green caps, and I heard absolutely nothing back from them. Well, my next plan of attack was to contact Menber directly. Well that led me via Menber’s web site to a company called Capus (UK) Ltd who are the importers of Menber products into the UK. So yesterday (Sunday) I pinged off an email to them. Continue reading →

Swift factory visit….

31 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by in Events, General, Travelling in the UK, Trips

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We had been invited on a visit to the Swift factory by Ash Dhir via the Swift Talk forum. We were staying at Bridlington, so it was about a 50 minute drive south from Bridlington to Cottingham where the factory is located. Thursday was going to be another warm sunny day but the forecast was for the weather to break for the weekend. We had a lazy morning, deciding not to do much except potter about the camp site. I replied to some emails and a couple of odd jobs on the van… the emptying or refilling of the various containers that were  connected by umbilicals to the caravan and the general wander round with a micro-fibre cloth in one had and a sprayer containing One Dry in the other attacking anything that looked like a dirt mark, deceased bug or a spot where a fly decided to commit suicide on the trip over. Sandwiches prepared…. with beef from the farm shop up the road we set off for Cottingham about 12:30. Continue reading →

Hey… someone listened!

23 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Blog updates, General, Help Guides, LPG Refilling Info, Web sites

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Well, I think they did! OK what am I on about? Well, if you have read through my ramblings about the Safefill refillable gas cylinder, one of the comments I had at towards the end was the fact that I had to create my own POI file for my GPS from the map of Safefill accredited filling stations and dealers on their website. I thought that Safefill should have this on their website to make it a lot easier for people that are not quite as savvy on creating POI files.

Well, it seems that good customer service still exists from some companies and they have now made it easy to get a POI file for your GPS.

I tried it out and it’s quite easy, click on the “GPS Download” button on the home page or the Refilling page and it directs you to the contact us area where you fill in your contact details click on request GPS download and click on submit…. a few seconds later a link to the download page arrives in your email in box. Continue reading →

Had any 13 pin plug problems?

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by in Blog updates, Help Guides

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If you struggle to connect your 13 pin plug to your tow car and no one else does, ever wondered why? Well I think I might have one possible cause and it’s fitted to almost every caravan!

A few people have contacted me and asked if I had any answers as to why they keep having problems trying to connect their 13 pin plug every time they hitch up. I always ask them if they store their plug in the little recess mounded into the fibreglass ‘A’ frame fairing, and inevitably the answer almost always comes back as “Yes”. Continue reading →