caravan electrics

My apologies Graham & to all, I am new to this great website & did not realise I was sending a post. I was trying to research the need for a 12 pin plug for a new Windsor 21'6'' caravan (tare 2 tonnes breakaway brake system) I have on order. Since my "post" I have booked my Prado to have a 2nd battery & a 12 pin plug fitted. We want to mainly free camp & the van has a 184Lt fridge & ensuite so we want to keep the van battery topped up whilst travelling. We will also take a Honda Eu20i with us.
Gordon H.

Sorry to laugh at your expense Gordon but this is a beauty hehehe.

Welcome to the site and hope you get heaps of info from it.

Regards, Trevor.

Okay, is a learning curve

Best advice I can give is DONT BUY A 12 PIN plug Buy a LARGE 7 Pin and an ANDERSON 50amp plug for the fridge

Reason the big plugs have more contact area hence more voltage

The wires that normally go in a 12 wire cable are nowhere near heavy enough for a fridge as the voltage drop is far tooooooooo much.

You need a pair of at least 6mmsq from aux battery to an Anderson plug and from that to the fridge
Personally I would run 4.5mm to 6 pins on the plug and 6mm to the electric brakes (Pin5) as you need all the voltage you can get there as well.

Not being over dramatic just careful and its better to have a cable a bit to heavy than a light one which could burn out.

Perhaps you should have asked on here BEFORE ordering the stuff.

Put a TEKONSHA Prodigy or a P3 brake controller in the car as they are by far the best.

Please dont park beside us fellas when you start up the HONDA.

Have fun you will now know how to post correctly LOL.

Couldn't agree more with Graham. There's no way in a blue fit that a 'normal' trailer connection can handle the 12 to 15 amps that a caravan fridge draws. It is a mystery to me why caravans get built, and towing vehicles get set up (by supposed professionals) with auxiliary 12v power through a 10 amp max circuit.
welcome to caravanning! It's all OK once you learn the ropes,a nd then it starts being fun!!
I remember once hiring a fridge, complete with a cigarette lighter plug, to plug into the rear power outlet in the Prado. BIG JOKE!!
So it's not you, it's all them irresponsible buggers out there.

Gordon,
Welcome to the site and its good to see the fun they are having at your expense and its only fun as they are a good bunch.

I would think that 4.5MM square or 10 GGE cable would not be suitable for your job as at 6M the voltage drop at 20A is 0.82V and above the industry acceptable volt drop of 0.36V and that is if your run is only 6M.

To get enough power through 6M of cable to run your three way when travelling and also charge a battery you would need 6GGe cable to assure your fridge runs wholly of the tow vehicle and does not flatten your caravan batteries.

Graham indicated a larger cable and without knowing the length of run was a fair call.

20 Amp is more than eneough but its better to oversize than undersize.

6GGE can be run with 50A Anderson plugs but if your run is longer you would need to go to a bigger cable and larger Anderson Plugs.
Ian