[aaman]

If I tow my caravan with the fridge on and then turn on the headlights or hazard lights the cruise control cancels itself out.

If the lights are already on then just using the indicators has the same effect.

When I had the towbar fitted all the connections were scotchlocked and the fridge wiring was connected to the main feed to the fusebox.

I have remade all the connections with soldered joints and run the main fridge feed direct to the battery in an attempt to reduce voltage drop.

I suspect voltage drop because my previous trailer did a similar thing to a lesser degree but was fitted with fewer lights.

In the dark I am adding something like 20 more watts of lighting to the total loadbefore adding on the current draw from the fridge and charging the caravan battery.

I could leave the fridge off but that would mean the lager gets warm.

There must be more than a few European members who tow, so has anyone else had similar problems and what, uf anything did you do to overcome it.

I'm posting in the Europe section 'cos I don't think our US members will believe that we can tow caravans with a 6.

Cheers,

hKeith

 

[atom44wat]

Did the dealer installthe hitch? We don't caravan out here but like you said I am sure there are a few that have done this. I also do not have any diagrams that show how things should be connected. Are you running current to anything else on the caravan? Meaning, are you using the cars power to power the caravan?

 

[aaman]

Did the dealer installthe hitch? We don't caravan out here but like you said I am sure there are a few that have done this. I also do not have any diagrams that show how things should be connected. Are you running current to anything else on the caravan? Meaning, are you using the cars power to power the caravan?
[/b]

The cars powering all the road lights,the fridge and the caravan on board battery.

The hitch was installed by an independant fitter.
Most dealers will just sub contract this work anyway.
All the connections are correct and good, I remade all of them myself.
I suspect it's a voltage drop problem, originally the fridge feed was connected to the main feed to the fuse box inside the car so I moved it straight to the battery positive.
I've got all the necessary diagrams and everything is connected in the correct position.

The fridge, which I suspect is the cause will only work on 12v when the engine is running- as it's supposed to, the trailer battery only charges ditto and all the interior lights on the caravan go off when the engine is running so everything appears OK.

It may be that I need a larger capacity alternator or battery, but other caravanners I've spoken to don't have this problem, maybe it's peculiar to Mazda.

 

[Twonks]

It may be that I need a larger capacity alternator or battery, but other caravanners I've spoken to don't have this problem, maybe it's peculiar to Mazda.
[/b]

It sounds a little strange to be honest.

Maybe it is a voltage drop on the circuits concerned, but I seriously dount it would be related to the battery or alternator.

I have a stereo pulling something like 70 amps on full tilt.

The main beam does dip a little on very heavy bass notes, but everything still works as it should, including the cruise control.

Maybe you could take the feed that is powering the caravans electrics, use that as a switch and use a relayed feed direct from the cars battery (In heavy gauge wire) up to the relays.

That way the circuits you are currently pulling the current from will only be acting as signals for the switching relays, so they should not have any consumption as such.

Bit of a pain in the ass to do, but might solve the issue.

 

[ChrisUK]

Are the caravan feeds on the same fuse as the Cruise? If so try a different feed, or add a relay as someone suggested. A HRWindow will have the same load as the fridge, does that do the same? You maybe are only overloading / causing volt drop on the one circuit. Have you tried monitoring the battery volts at a steady 2000 rpm then applying the loads one by one, I would expect the volts to stay up. The generator is rated at 90A; 14.1 - 14.7 volts so it shouldn't be a problem. The cruise control has I understand onboard diagnostics but you would need a dealer for that, it is described in the Mazda manual which you can get on E bay. (too big for an attachment) it seems to involve -???? sorry it will not paste. I will try an attachment of part

Question for you please, I have sold my caravan, what weight do you tow? (max gross)
Chris Mazda 6 estate diesel

 

[aaman]

Are the caravan feeds on the same fuse as the Cruise? If so try a different feed, or add a relay as someone suggested. A HRWindow will have the same load as the fridge, does that do the same? You maybe are only overloading / causing volt drop on the one circuit. Have you tried monitoring the battery volts at a steady 2000 rpm then applying the loads one by one, I would expect the volts to stay up. The generator is rated at 90A; 14.1 - 14.7 volts so it shouldn't be a problem. The cruise control has I understand onboard diagnostics but you would need a dealer for that, it is described in the Mazda manual which you can get on E bay. (too big for an attachment) it seems to involve -???? sorry it will not paste. I will try an attachment of part

Question for you please, I have sold my caravan, what weight do you tow? (max gross)
Chris Mazda 6 estate diesel[/b]

Sorry to take so long to get back.

I'm convinced it is volt drop, I can switch the c/c back on immediately.
It is probably all the extra loading on the car electrics, Two rear taillights, rear roof marker lights front marker lights, 'van battery charger and fridge. I think the fridge alone pulls something in the region of 17 amps. I'm planning to change the caravan lighting to led to keep the current draw down.


I tow 1340kg max gross 1130 miro.

I have to keep heavy items in the boot to keep the caravan weight down. The car is 1800 petrol with max tow capacity of 1300.

Carrying the awning etc. in the boot helps to keep the weight of the car higher relative to the caravan weight.
So far I haven't had any stability problems although the alko stabiliser possibly helps.
Noseweight is another matter and I definatley need more power.

It sounds a little strange to be honest.

Maybe it is a voltage drop on the circuits concerned, but I seriously dount it would be related to the battery or alternator.

I have a stereo pulling something like 70 amps on full tilt.

The main beam does dip a little on very heavy bass notes, but everything still works as it should, including the cruise control.

Maybe you could take the feed that is powering the caravans electrics, use that as a switch and use a relayed feed direct from the cars battery (In heavy gauge wire) up to the relays.

That way the circuits you are currently pulling the current from will only be acting as signals for the switching relays, so they should not have any consumption as such.

Bit of a pain in the ass to do, but might solve the issue.[/b]

Maybe you could take the feed that is powering the caravans electrics, use that as a switch and use a relayed feed direct from the cars battery (In heavy gauge wire) up to the relays.

Done it already seperate fused supply direct to the battery positive and the caravan fridge and charging circuits need a relay anyway.

 

[ChrisUK]

Don't forget the negative / earth return when looking for volt drops. All the current has to get back to the CAR battery terminal eventually. The car battery being directly supplied by the alternator. This was the biggest volt drop problem on my old rig. Watching the side lights dim when the flashers are on can be a good indication.
Chris