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How big a car do I need to tow my caravan?
This can be worked out with a calculator and your car's
handbook.
First off, enter the cars kerbweight from the handbook. say 1670Kg, a medium
sized car. Divide that figure by 20.That gives us a figure of 83.5. Next
multiply that 83 by 17, That gives us around 1411 Kg.
Therfore 1411Kg is the recommended maximum towing weight of caravan for your car.
To work out for a car to tow a particular weight of van, reverse the process.
Divide the caravan weight by 17, then multiply that figure by 20 to give
you the kerbweight you need to pull it comfortably. Remember in both
cases, the maximum weight of caravan has to include it's contents all
the bits and pieces, clothes, gas bottles, accessories, personal items
and so on. This means the actual weight of the van must be less than
the maximum allowed
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LOADING THE VAN
The way the caravan and car are
loaded can affect the handling of the outfit. Heavy loads should
be placed over, or immediately in front of, the axle. The load can
also be balanced by placing equivalent loads immediately behind the
axle. Medium-weight items should be placed towards the front of the
van, under seats and in floor cupboards. Only light items should
be placed in the roof lockers. Medium and heavy items should never
be placed at the rear of the van, since they can cause instability.
For the same reason, make sure that water and toilet tanks are empty
before towing. Remember, too, that the caravan’s
noseweight, as stated by the manufacturer (or by the towcar manual – whichever
is less), must not be exceeded.
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A guide to how many amps we use
You may find yourself limited to 10 Amps from the
site pillar for your hook-up, often less
On each appliance or electrical unit in your van or fitted to your van you will find a rating in Watts. this rating helps you work out how many Amps you are using. 1000W equates to approx 4A, so using your heating on low 500W is using 2Amps, on high 2000W uses around 8A
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Remember all of these figures are cumulative, they add up together! If
you use a kettle at 1100W, your heating on full 2000w , whilst you watch
your telly around 150W colour tv, there's around 13A in use. So if you
turn on the electric water heater as well, the site pillar is going to
trip out.
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The 12N & 12S Sockets
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(12N) and (12S) . Both connectors are similar in appearance apart from the the pins, designed to ensure the connectors cannot be connected to the wrong socket. Typical Applications:Trailers, Caravans etc. - 12N connector used to connect the caravans road lights.The 12S connector used to charge caravan battery, power fridge and equipment etc.
The above diagram shows the numbering and gender of the pins from the back of the plug (the side the wires are connected to). The numbering would be the same viewing the socket from the front but the contact gender would be reversed.Pin Cable Colour 12N Connector
Socket and plug wiring instruction |
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12N Normal Socket |
12S Supplementary Socket |
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1) |
Left indicator |
1) |
Reverse |
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2) |
Fog |
2) |
Battery Charge ** |
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3) |
Earth |
3) |
Earth |
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4) |
Right indicator |
4) |
Power feed |
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5) |
Right side light |
5) |
Spare |
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6) |
Brake |
6) |
Fridge ** |
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7) |
Left side light |
7) |
Earth for pin 6 (1998 on) |
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NB It is essential that pin 6 is wired through a split relay from 1998 on |
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All tips are at own risk we hold no responsibility
