Caravan Wiring Tester

[kiwijim]

Howdy all,

I've been at a bit of a loose end lately due to a crook back so.....

Sitting in the shed I thought a wiring tester would be handy,

Something that I could test a caravans lights and also test a cars power out-put from the 7 pin plug.

Heres what I came up with..............





"Darn Me" if it doesn't work.

[bobt]

very neat. very neat indeed.


bit worried about the tongue test of the thing sitting under neath the recycled cash tin ;D

I assume you had to get a bigger tin for the coin collection ;D ;D

[kiwijim]

"Nup" no coin collection Bobt,

Don't have one, ask any Married Bloke that has a Cheese & Spice that can sniff out any coin at a range of 100m

[kylarama]

Neat idea Jim. I could sure use one of those. Why is it every time you hook a trailer up the darn lights never work, although the old Fonzie thump usually fixes them ;D

Have had dramas with the wiring on the Pajero. The numpties who fitted the towbar wired up the plug using scotch locks. I'm forever having bad earths and the odd light go out, thank god I wired up the electric brake wire properly! Will have to climb under their with the soldering iron and heat shrink to fix it.

Whats the amps rating on your 12v transformer?
A good 12 volt power supply is an old power supply out of a computer. A few simply mods and it will produce a good 12 volts at 8 amps. I'm currently doing one as I blew up my 240v to 12v power supply for my car fridge and Evakool want $230 for a replacement . Computer power supply was free and about $20 worth of bits and pieces should get it going.

like this one... forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=664094

[kiwijim]

Howdy Kylarama,

I had a look at the web site you publisher,

Very interesting but, not being a Electrical Engineer, I am a bit hesitant to go playing around with circuits relating to 240 dc.

especially concerning Condensers which can store high voltage for long periods after being dis-connected........
Once zapped.....long time Dead.

I manage to have enough fun with the low amp 12v stuff.

The transformer ( Battery Eliminator ) which I have used for the Wiring Tester, originally came from a early model ( late 60s )Modern Caravan.

The Eliminator was Manufactured by Brema, APP No V/C71/BE12
Input is 240v 60 HZ DC, Output...12V 8AMPS DC

Another cheap item I have used to check wiring, is a 12V 8amp power supply for the old C B Radio,

these seem to work just as good as anything as they aren't on for long periods, they stand the test O.K.

below is the Power supply I am presently using.
As the picture shows, it has a screw-in Fuse holder containing a 10 amp fuse.

[kylarama]

Nov 8, 2010 12:42:53 GMT 10 kiwijim said:

Howdy Kylarama,

I had a look at the web site you publisher,

Very interesting but, not being a Electrical Engineer, I am a bit hesitant to go playing around with circuits relating to 240 dc.

especially concerning Condensers which can store high voltage for long periods after being dis-connected........
Once zapped.....long time Dead.

Yeah, I'm not that keen on high voltage stuff too. Never trust anything you can't see or smell that can kill you

I should be safe as my supply hasn't been plugged in for a few years. Plus I have no intention of opening it up like that link shows. All of the low voltage wires are outside the box and will be wired in their own case.

[kiwijim]

Best of luck there kylarama,

Keep us posted, Ya know, what you did, how it works.

Interested to know the out come, if it's safe enough I may have a go at it myself,.... er ...... maybe...... er........ we'll see.

[kylarama]

Well I finished it Jim.

Bit more work than I first thought. I did have to open it up in the end, but it hadn't been switched on in over 2 weeks, so it had plenty of time to discharge.



The black box is pop riveted to the top and houses an cigarette lighter plug, amp meter (removed from an old battery charger) and some banana terminal posts.



Top view showing the amp meter and you can also see the white ceramic load resistors zip tied inside the power supply.



On the top left corner of the power supply is a blade fuse holder with a 7.5amp fuse.


It puts out a steady 12.6 volts with a 4amp load on it, so it should run the fridge okay. Plus it will double nicely as a 12 volt power supply in the shed.

Total cost $16, plus a fews hours in the shed with a few coldies watching the V8's on TV ;D



Now I just have to scrounge up some old lights and I'll whip up one of your light testers.

[bobt]

Hi Kylarama

Nice neat job you have done there. Must admit never thought of using a pc power supply to do what you are doing with yours.

Interested to hear how it performs for you.

Bobt

[kiwijim]

Howdy Kylarama,

That is sure a neat Box of tricks you have made, and at a price that any-one could handle.

I think the use of an amp meter is a great idea, with that you should know exactly what out-put you are handling.

When I made my box, I found that with the two way switches,
if you wanted the switch handle to point toward the correct illuminated light, the switches had to be wired back to front.

The wiring is pretty simple, if you use the metal case as the earth conductor,

I have found you will require an extra earth wire to be connected from the box to a caravan (with an alligator clip) when testing the vans trailer plug,

This is the easiest way of seeing if the van has a good earth or not,

Plug van into test box,= try lights, =not working,= connect earth wire from box to chassis,= lights now work,= broken or no earth wire on caravan.

look forward to seeing the box in action when you 'borrow' the lights from someone.

[kiwijim]

Heres a question for Kylarama.......

You seem to be a bloke who is very happy around electrics,

So, glad to hear if you can throw any light on the problem I am now having with that antique ex-Caravan transformer I have hooked up to the wire tester,

The darn thing is dropping dead after a few minutes use,

If I leave it for 5min it will come good again, sometimes it will keep going for a long time, then at other times it will only go for a few min.

Any ideas, apart from throwing it in the bin ;D ;D ;D

[kylarama]

Sounds like it's overheating. Alot of newer stuff have thermal overload protection. I can't imagine that a few lights would reach anywhere near it's 8amp max rating.

Does it fell hot when it dies? If so you could cut some extra ventilation slots in it and hook up some 12v computer fans to push or draw the heat out.

[kiwijim]

Well I tried the transformer today,

Went o.k. for a couple of Minutes then dropped dead again.

there didn't seem to be very much heat around the case any-where,

So I whipped off the cover and this is what I found.......



Any more info will be real handy. ;D ;D

kiwijim

[kylarama]

At a guess I'd say the 'what is this' could be a voltage regulator, but as the wires fried on the input side the issue could be before that? Put a multimeter over it and check the voltage.

Looks like it's been fixed before, as the crimping terminals don't look original.

If you have a Jaycar store near you, take it down and give the boys behind the counter a look.

[kiwijim]

Yes you are correct,
the wiring in the box has been renewed, by myself.

I will take it in to Jaycar just to see what they say, I'm betting they will say it's shot and try to flog me a new one.

Still, can't complain, it cost nothing and I've had it a number of years.

I really don't have to buy another trans, as I have found the Power Supply for the C.B. Base Radio does the trick O.K.

[bobt]

I am seriously having a “Break everything I touch” episode. So I thought I would pain you all with this little tale……. ;D

Moved the car trailer cause I could, and I usually do its annual maintenance this time of year.

The caravan is off down the beach having a loverly holiday [without me] So I have undercover space available for special little projects

I had a little problem with the lights last time I used the trailer so thought now is a good time to fix em. Pulled out my tried and proven light tester thought, get camera and share. So here ya go My fail safe trailer light testing TOOL. Constructed from left over bits with absolutely no expense involved.



The battery, I bought it to use in the A7 for the GPS for a really [_LOW price at Super Cheep Cheep

The means of connecting the wires to the monster battery terminals requires special connectors. The little white card was printed using a font that requires no glasses.

On Earlier versions the wires were labelled. Seems everytime one of me mates see what I have, then they have to borrow it…. ::)Never to be seen again… So I don’t bother labelling the wires


Whats more it works…………….. ;D

[kiwijim]

You really are a wonder Bobt,

How did you come up with such a complicated way of checking your wiring ;D ;D ;D

kiwijim

[Deleted]

Nov 21, 2010 21:22:45 GMT 10 kylarama said:

....Bit more work than I first thought. ....

But very nice.

The ubiquitous PC power supplies just keep on getting recycled.

They'll be a thing of the past sooner or later ... so stock up now.

[Deleted]

Feb 9, 2011 5:06:22 GMT 10 kiwijim said:

You really are a wonder Bobt,

How did you come up with such a complicated way of checking your wiring ;D ;D ;D

kiwijim

bobt,

there really are some great minds in the caravanning world. I made up something similar except that I used a spare car 12v battery, fused the live feed and used a long length of 7 core cable so that I can connect each colour coded wire in turn at the rear of the van where the lights are. Works well without much cost as all the items I had in the shed already.

JohnCL

[supreme78]

I use an item called a motor car to check my lights also it's very effective and it's never lost in the shed.

[greedy53]

me i use the same one that my grandad left me,hook the car up and what don't work needs fixing clever old bloke

[Deleted]

This is the Test Box I made to test all the Signal Lighting,Brakes and Anderson Plugs

Attachments:

[bobt]

good gawd man... that is a SERIOUS testing tool.. :-)

[doublechevron]

Gee's and I thought went overboard writing out the 7pin round wiring connections on the wall of my shed so I don't have to keep looking them up LOL.

I've wired my trailers all 7pin round, and fitted LED lights. Since doing that I haven't had to fix a trailer wiring issue in about 4years. I'll do the same for the caravan (but try to keep the nice looking period tail lights). I've also setup the back of the old Rangie Classic (my tow barge) with flat and round plugs so "in theory" I can hook anything upto the tug and I can plug it's wiring in.

Also ... run the earth wire around to everything, it's no extra effort. There's nothing more tiresome than earthing issues.

seeya,
Shane L.

[bobt]

Well we all do things a little different for different reasons I keep it simple on account that is the limit of my abilities. It has to be portable due to where I keep some of my trailers and the car I use to tow with was hers. Now supreme78 I have to give you credit for the most innovative way to manage this problem.. But I have to share a little tale that happened early last year. I have an association with a car club member who did lose a car in his shed. It was his factory. He had a large collection of cars, some driveable lots registered some projects and some just heaps of s... At the club rooms one night he made comment to his wife about how it would be nice to have a "??" sports car and she said "You have one" and he said "No I don't" this went on and on a bit she said "It is under the tarp in the far corner of the (named the particular factory)" He said "No its not, we don't have one" Things were getting heated. Sure enough next club meeting they turned up in it, the car they didn't have.. That will never happen to me..
greedy53 I sure wish I had my Grand Fathers car