Firstly to set the scene.
Bought a new caravan for a trip to Darwin and around the west coast (more grey nomads on the road) and the van manufacturer has wired accessories to pin 2 on the van plug. On the 120 the factory towing wiring loom has the reversing lights wired to pin 2 on the socket so I need to alter or rewire it. I'm not 100% sure how the van is wired, but I think the accessories run the fridge on 12V while on the move. It also has an Anderson plug that on the 120 I have wired through a Redarc Smart Battery Isolator using 16mm^2 cable through a 50 amp auto reset circuit breaker. This I think charges the van battery.
The van doesn't have reversing lights so I thought to either replace the factory loom reversing wire with a switched battery cable, maybe through a relay, or put in a 12 pin flat connector that has five high current additional contacts for this purpose. I want this contact pin in the socket to be active when the ignition key is switched (i.e. in accessory or ignition on position). The van accessories wire is 8B&S i.e. fairly high current (the fridge draws around 15A), so I need to make the Prado wiring fairly beefy as well (8B&S or 16mm^2). I could take a parallel feed off the Anderson plug cable through an ignition controlled relay to the trailer socket but this would be getting fairly high current (15A plus whatever the van battery charges at) and may trip the circuit breaker. It may need another 16mm^2 cable for the accessories. All wires in the Prado towing loom are fairly thin gauge so I would need to beef up the earth wire as well. A bit more easily solved if I go the 12 pin flat plug/socket as it has an extra high current earth contact as well as a seperate accessories contact.
The question is, how have users on the forum wired up their Prado's to tow a van? Is it possible to pick up a switched high current from somewhere or have people wired along the lines of my thinking above? I welcome any suggestions or advice.
Cheers
Oupsie
Bought a new caravan for a trip to Darwin and around the west coast (more grey nomads on the road) and the van manufacturer has wired accessories to pin 2 on the van plug. On the 120 the factory towing wiring loom has the reversing lights wired to pin 2 on the socket so I need to alter or rewire it. I'm not 100% sure how the van is wired, but I think the accessories run the fridge on 12V while on the move. It also has an Anderson plug that on the 120 I have wired through a Redarc Smart Battery Isolator using 16mm^2 cable through a 50 amp auto reset circuit breaker. This I think charges the van battery.
The van doesn't have reversing lights so I thought to either replace the factory loom reversing wire with a switched battery cable, maybe through a relay, or put in a 12 pin flat connector that has five high current additional contacts for this purpose. I want this contact pin in the socket to be active when the ignition key is switched (i.e. in accessory or ignition on position). The van accessories wire is 8B&S i.e. fairly high current (the fridge draws around 15A), so I need to make the Prado wiring fairly beefy as well (8B&S or 16mm^2). I could take a parallel feed off the Anderson plug cable through an ignition controlled relay to the trailer socket but this would be getting fairly high current (15A plus whatever the van battery charges at) and may trip the circuit breaker. It may need another 16mm^2 cable for the accessories. All wires in the Prado towing loom are fairly thin gauge so I would need to beef up the earth wire as well. A bit more easily solved if I go the 12 pin flat plug/socket as it has an extra high current earth contact as well as a seperate accessories contact.
The question is, how have users on the forum wired up their Prado's to tow a van? Is it possible to pick up a switched high current from somewhere or have people wired along the lines of my thinking above? I welcome any suggestions or advice.
Cheers
Oupsie
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