Strange intermittent fault on 13 pin socket

[Mike Johnson]

I have never used any grease of any kind on my chargers (up too twelve cell balance chargers) have been using Li-ion for near forty years, never had a corrosion problem, but then my chargers are kept in my workshop which has AC which may be a contributing factor.

 

[littlespark]

Well.

We drove down to chesterfield yesterday, leaving the monsoon that is Scotland. Rain didn’t stop until south of Newcastle.

Was out today to Halfords looking for LED replacements, but only had the small ones for the marker lights.

Changed the 4 bulbs along one side and plugged into the car for a test…


And they work!


Surprisingly, so does the other side….. where I haven’t changed the bulbs???

Strange.


Ive changed the 4 down the other side and when I get home, I’ll do an online buy of the other bulbs….. including indicator and reverse.


All this hassle could have been solved if any one of the professionals (caravan engineer, car dealership etc) had mentioned it sooner.

 

[brianmoooore]

Rain? What rain? 22 degrees and brilliant sunshine down here. Been like that for a few days and continues tomorrow.

 

[Moley]

It's been dry and warm here too - and I live in Wales!!

 

[DPG]

Been warm and dry in Skeggy all day.

 

[mainline]

have been using Li-ion for near forty years,

Didn't think rechargeable li-ion batteries came out until the 90s

 

[littlespark]

Check the news. It’s been p1ssing down all weekend in Scotland.
Yellow warning, don’t travel if you don’t need to, all that.

I got soaked just hooking the caravan up.


Different world down here in engerland.

 

[nicebutdim]

Didn't think rechargeable li-ion batteries came out until the 90s

First commercially available Li-ion batteries were manufactured by Sony in 1991.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Nope, first available Li-ion batteries where manufactured by the "A123 Systems" company in the US, they where bought out by the Chinese in the 90's, the first cells where Lithium Nano Phosphate so not strictly Li-ion, but a step up from LiPo's.

 

[nicebutdim]

Nope, first available Li-ion batteries where manufactured by the "A123 Systems" company in the US, they where bought out by the Chinese in the 90's, the first cells where Lithium Nano Phosphate so not strictly Li-ion, but a step up from LiPo's.

A123 systems were founded in 2001. Chinese buyout was attempted the following year, but a bankruptcy filing complicated matters.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Check the news. It’s been p1ssing down all weekend in Scotland.
Yellow warning, don’t travel if you don’t need to, all that.

I got soaked just hooking the caravan up.


Different world down here in engerland.

40 deg's in my Greenhouse today.

 

[littlespark]

40 deg's in my Greenhouse today.

That’s not a surprise.

That’s like saying it’s 200 degrees in my oven.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Except my greenhouse does not have any electrical heating elements.

 

[littlespark]

Except my greenhouse does not have any electrical heating elements.

No… but it’s designed to not lose heat very fast.
The whole point of a greenhouse is to grow stuff better than it would left to the outside elements….

 

[Mike Johnson]

My tomatoes did better outside this year.

 

[mainline]

my caravan isn’t lighting up tail lights, but all other lights work fine.

However… while testing, I got a strange sequence of events.

I’ll also point out that the 13 pin socket has the left and right tail lights on different pins, so whatever it is, is affecting both sides.


Ok.. with vehicle engine running and headlights on, my trailer lights work. Unplug the trailer, plug it back in, lights still work… unplug trailer and plug caravan in, lights on caravan don’t work. Unplug caravan, plug trailer back in, trailer lights now don’t work.
Turn engine off, back on, and trailer lights come back on….

This can be repeated a number of times.


The trailer plug is a 13pin plug, but with only the 7 pins needed for lights. Caravan is full 13 pin


Either the relay in the vehicle is faulty, or could there be a relay box in the caravan?

Trailer is just plug, wires and lamps.

I’m going to buy a new 13pin plug for caravan and replace that, and maybe get a tester unit. Quite cheap on Amazon, so see how it goes.

Peugeot even the older ones will shut down the circuit in the case of a fault
some modern stuff has to be programmed to tell the modules that it has a trailer as abs, esp etc is effected also it turns off certain lights on the rear of the vehicle when trailer socket is connected.
Some others need a relay interface when running non led lamps
Some others when swapping to led need resistors to get the correct load

 

[brianmoooore]

It's not clever shutting down all the tail lights on a trailer without a very visible dash warning, even if it is protecting the vehicle wiring. Could lead to a very nasty rear end collision.

 

[Mike Johnson]

some modern stuff has to be programmed to tell the modules that it has a trailer as abs, esp etc is effected also it

Oh extra sensory perception.

 

[littlespark]

I know it’s not clever.

I’ve tried very hard to travel only in daylight, so I don’t need the lights…..

 

[mainline]

Oh extra sensory perception.

ESP is a system designed to help counter a loss of traction on the road. Another commonly used term for such systems is ESC (electronic stability control). You'll find different manufacturers have their own names, but most systems work in a very similar way