12S Tow electrics (white plug) removal

[strydes]

Have my Mitch Hitch being sent today (fantastic customer service from the guys at Mitchell Brothers by the way!) and understand I need to unscrew the white electrical plug in the fitting.

Given I plan to mount my Anderson plug from the traxide there anyway when I eventually get it, I want to get rid of the white plug in preparation.

Are there any tips/tricks on the best way to do this? My current theory is to trace it back to the LHR cubby where it plugs in and the electric brakes are spliced, and just unplug that one, taking out the whole loom, but is that all good to do?

[Tombie]

The 12S plug is a handy supply point for charging the vehicle battery when parked (a good idea on regular intervals)..

;)

[strydes]

I was intending to use the Anderson plug from the traxide (when installed) for that purpose. No good?

[Nod]

I have replaced both the 12S and 12N sockets with a single 12 pin flat mounted to the left of the Mitch Hitch on a stainless steel right-angled bracket and then will mounted the Anderson plug on the right soon. I'm currently travelling so do not have the exact wiring diagram handy... but below links should help. It took me about 4 hours to rewire the sockets and mount on a steel bracket that I have now changed to SS.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/97935-d4-electric-trailer-brakes-39.html Post #388

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/221651-12-pin-flat-caravan-connector.html Post #3

[AnD3rew]

I was intending to use the Anderson plug from the traxide (when installed) for that purpose. No good?

Yes that works, no need for the white plug if you have a Traxide kit with rear Anderson.

[JamesH]

Yes that works, no need for the white plug if you have a Traxide kit with rear Anderson.


Heaven knows I have no idea what I'm talking about, but IF the Anderson plug is wired back to the aux battery AND the aux battery is isolated, the connecting a charger to the Anderson will lead to only the aux being recharged. An unlikely situation but not impossible. Good to be aware of it.

The existing 12s is wired to the main battery so charging via it will eventually charge both batteries even if they are isolated to begin with.

Correct me if I am wrong.

[AnD3rew]

I guess that's possible, need Drivesafe to come and weigh in, he assures me you can charge both batteries from the Anderson plug but it is I suppose that depending on the charging state and the position of the isolator so that it might prevent the the main battery from being charged.

[strydes]

In case anyone goes browsing for this in the future, the 12S loom comes out reasonably easily, there is a plug under the rear passenger underside of the car (directly under the tail light). I disconnected that, then removed the 3 or 4 attachment points where it hangs off the main towing electrics loom and fed it back through the hole for the plug. Needed some jiggling and squashed hands behind the weights on the rear subframe but taking it slow was managable.

It made fitting and torquing the main bolt for the Mitch Hitch heaps easier, and the hole that's left should be ideal for a Anderson plug bracket when I get round to doing the Traxide DBS. Refit wouldn't be much effort either if the reason ever came up.

I will also this week tackle removing the next section of the loom that runs up behind the tail light into the cubby hole just so that exposed plug isn't left out in the weather.

Anyone planning to do it and need pics or anything just let me know.

[LandyAndy]

James is correct.
IF the traxide has isolated due to low main battery power,only the aux will get charged via the anderson.
Andrew

[rufusking]

Wiring in a 12 pin flat will overcome that issue.

[ianmclean]

In case anyone goes browsing for this in the future, the 12S loom comes out reasonably easily, there is a plug under the rear passenger underside of the car (directly under the tail light). I disconnected that, then removed the 3 or 4 attachment points where it hangs off the main towing electrics loom and fed it back through the hole for the plug. Needed some jiggling and squashed hands behind the weights on the rear subframe but taking it slow was managable.

It made fitting and torquing the main bolt for the Mitch Hitch heaps easier, and the hole that's left should be ideal for a Anderson plug bracket when I get round to doing the Traxide DBS. Refit wouldn't be much effort either if the reason ever came up.

I will also this week tackle removing the next section of the loom that runs up behind the tail light into the cubby hole just so that exposed plug isn't left out in the weather.

Anyone planning to do it and need pics or anything just let me know.
Exactly what I am wanting to do. If you have some pics. they would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Ian

[josh.huber]

But once the aux is charged the battery's will join and both will equalise and charge

it's beer o clock

[JamesH]

But once the aux is charged the battery's will join and both will equalise and charge

it's beer o clock


Ah, but no. The batteries rejoin when the main gets to a certain level, not when aux gets topped up. If you go through the white plug it runs to the main. If you've run your Anderson to the auxiliary then no beer for you!

As said above if you ripped off the 12s and put an Anderson on then you're charging to the main. I'm talking about a new cable running from aux.

[strydes]

Will drop some piccies in tomorrow.

Basically, with what I've done from what you guys have said if you flatten the batteries to cut out, spend the 10 seconds to pop the bonnet and charge direct to the main. All other times, Anderson from the Traxide will do the trick, yeh?

[LRD414]

Basically, with what I've done from what you guys have said if you flatten the batteries to cut out, spend the 10 seconds to pop the bonnet and charge direct to the main. All other times, Anderson from the Traxide will do the trick, yeh?


Exactly what I was going to post [emoji2] EXCEPT


Given I plan to mount my Anderson plug from the traxide there anyway when I eventually get it, I want to get rid of the white plug in preparation.


The rear Anderson with my Traxide kit stows in around the black plug (still neat behind the plastic cover). It's supplied length is based on that position, keeping the white plug in place. So you'll need to get a longer cable to bring it across to the white plug side.

I just left white plug in place. One day when I get a Ctek I'll also get a white plug adapter for it. But lifting the bonnet is probably no more difficult really.

Cheers,
Scott

[strydes]

So you'll need to get a longer cable to bring it across to the white plug side.


Yeh good tip, I'll have to ask Tim for an extra 200mm on the cable to make it work.

Pics attached. It would be maybe 10 minutes to put it back in, you can see the 4 clips where it attaches to the 12N harness alternating between being the male and female connector. I cable tied the 12N harness in those places where it no longer had the attachment to the body.

I have also now covered the remaining plug in the second pic in electrical tape until I get around to pulling out that section. Being where it is it will quickly get full off mud on the first off road or even wet day.

[josh.huber]

Ah, but no. The batteries rejoin when the main gets to a certain level, not when aux gets topped up. If you go through the white plug it runs to the main. If you've run your Anderson to the auxiliary then no beer for you!

As said above if you ripped off the 12s and put an Anderson on then you're charging to the main. I'm talking about a new cable running from aux.

Ahhhhhh, do some reading bud, even red arc smart isolators do this these days

it's beer o clock

[josh.huber]

And a 50 amp Anderson in place of 12s is not a good idea that circuit is fused at 30amp. If you pull 25 to charge your van for an extended period the fuse won't go but the wiring is guna get hot. It's not really big enough to run that sort of load. If you were to do that I would pull the fuse and put a 20amp resetable circuit breaker in its place. Or use the Anderson plug traxide supplies for this reason. His wiring is about 6 bs not 4mm. The other down side is the massive voltage drop your guna get from that wiring

it's beer o clock

[sandgroper57]

[quote=strydes;2410932]In case anyone goes browsing for this in the future, the 12S loom comes out reasonably easily, there is a plug under the rear passenger underside of the car (directly under the tail light). I disconnected that, then removed the 3 or 4 attachment points where it hangs off the main towing electrics loom and fed it back through the hole for the plug. Needed some jiggling and squashed hands behind the weights on the rear subframe but taking it slow was managable.

It made fitting and torquing the main bolt for the Mitch Hitch heaps easier, and the hole that's left should be ideal for a Anderson plug bracket when I get round to doing the Traxide DBS. Refit wouldn't be much effort either if the reason ever came up.

I will also this week tackle removing the next section of the loom that runs up behind the tail light into the cubby hole just so that exposed plug isn't left out in the weather.

Anyone planning to do it and need pics or anything just let me know.

[LRD414]

Anyone planning to do it and need pics or anything just let me know.
I'd appreciate any photos or details you'd care to post. I'm considering doing this.

Scott

[sandgroper57]

Not sure what happened here, I posted a quick reply asking Strydes for some pics, then I seen a few pics further down so went back and edited my post so all got muddled up, apologies for any confusion.

[strydes]

I'd appreciate any photos or details you'd care to post. I'm considering doing this.

Scott

My Traxide should arrive in the next week or two and I'll post photos once it's in. At the moment it's just a hole where the 12S plug used to be.

I'm thinking of putting in one of these (https://www.autoelec.com.au/ssl/public_autoelec/store_v4/product_detail.asp?id=2102&cat=28) as a mounting block but on Tim's advice I'm going to do the normal install first then see what I think. His view was that most people end up preferring for it to be loose as it's easier to connect/disconnect than when rigid.

[sandgroper57]

Have located the plug in the wiring loom to disconnect the white plug, problem is can only get one hand to it so going to be difficult to unplug it.
Did you drop the rear bar off ?
Just cutting the wires is looking very tempting.
Have installed Llamas, dual battery system, new brake pads and sensors all round, roof rack, all in the last week so my hands are in a bit of a mess.
Cheers

[strydes]

Might be different for an RRS but the easiest part was the unplugging. I took it off the 'hanger' on the body that hold the plug in place and then I got one hand onto each end of the plug, form memory with a small screwdriver to push in the release tab. The hard part was getting the loom to feed out neatly once it was disconnected.

Didn't drop the bar off.

I'm in the Belmont area, if you're not to far away and feel like a drive I'm happy to give you a hand over the weekend if you're left scratching your head still.

[sandgroper57]

Thanks for the offer but no way will two hands fit in there on the RRS, I will drop the bumper off one day, sometimes can just pull one corner back to get enough access. All is working fine for now so just want to tidy it up.
Picking up a new camper tomorrow so heading bush this weekend.
Got the linear electronics LED adapter to fit from the large black plug to a 7 pin small round plug which is on both my trailers so also considering mounting the unit permanently to the car hence the large black plug will also become redundant.
Cheers

[strydes]

Bit of an update, sorry it's taken so long. The Traxide kit is in and working. I got the Anderson lead through the vacated 12S spot and as Scott suggested it was only just long enough.

It's perfectly functional as is for now, but I'm a big fan of solid fixings so I'll buy a flush mount kit for it and hopefully it'll fit through the hole without needing to modify (kit says it needs 40mm wide and 20mm high and I haven't measured yet). Will aim use the factory bolt holes also, just redrill the provided bracket. Will update again when it arrives and I get some time to have a go.

[strydes]

Last update....

After getting my 'Trailer Vision' mounting piece some time ago I finally got around to installing it. Pretty straight forward. There is a factory plastic mounting block that screws into 4 captive nuts in the body which you can see was still in place in my posts above. I basically just cut a piece of ally to the same size with same holes for the body fixing, and the suitably sized cutout to mount the Trailer Vision piece to that. It's got long bolts so I just put a spring washer and nut onto the end of those to fix it to my custom bracket.

Easy job, might take you an hour to make up the bracket but is strong and fairly neat once done. The washers on the top mount I have to admit are because I didn't get the bolt holes exactly right and had to open them a bit. Probably not necessary (and not quite as neat) but I want it to be solid for constant use.

Overall I think its worth it. Unplugging becomes a one-handed job and no bouncing around .

[Kalbee118]

Can anyone advise what the current rating and wire size is on a D3 for PIN 6 on the 12S plug, which is for a fridge I believe. Is this switched with the ignition or live all the time?

Cheers John

[BMKal]

Last update....

After getting my 'Trailer Vision' mounting piece some time ago I finally got around to installing it. Pretty straight forward. There is a factory plastic mounting block that screws into 4 captive nuts in the body which you can see was still in place in my posts above. I basically just cut a piece of ally to the same size with same holes for the body fixing, and the suitably sized cutout to mount the Trailer Vision piece to that. It's got long bolts so I just put a spring washer and nut onto the end of those to fix it to my custom bracket.

Easy job, might take you an hour to make up the bracket but is strong and fairly neat once done. The washers on the top mount I have to admit are because I didn't get the bolt holes exactly right and had to open them a bit. Probably not necessary (and not quite as neat) but I want it to be solid for constant use.

Overall I think its worth it. Unplugging becomes a one-handed job and no bouncing around .

I like the way you've done this. Because I am rarely towing and can't be bothered removing the plastic panel in the bumper to expose towing plugs etc I have done it slightly differently on mine.

I bought one of these Trailer Vision housings - https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/12/86.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

and mounted it up under the bumper, just to the left of centre and clear of the tow hitch socket. It is protected by the long range tank (there's a few scrapes and gouges in the bottom of the tank where I've dragged its bum a few times, but have never hit the plug or the bottom of the bumper).

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/12/87.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

I've modified the output cables on both my CTEK charger and a folding 80W solar panel using standard CTEK plugs (purchased at Ashdown Ingram) so that they can be used either with an Anderson plug or alligator clips so that I can plug them either into the rear of the vehicle, or directly to a battery if required.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/12/88.jpg (http://postimage.org/) https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2015/12/89.jpg (http://postimage.org/)

I have three batteries in the vehicle and a Traxide system connecting them all. I have found that plugging the CTEK into the rear socket overnight once every two months or so (if I'm not doing any long trips) charges all three batteries and is keeping them in good condition. If I do ever need to use the CTEK (or the solar panel) to charge an individual battery, I simply swap the end of the lead over to alligator clips and go directly to the battery. The only times I have done this so far though is when charging the battery in SWMBO's Camry. ;)

When camping, I have a decent LED strip light from DRIFTA which slides into the spare sail track under the awning. This has an Anderson plug, which I plug into the socket on the rear of the vehicle without either having to remove the plastic panel in the bumper, or run wires into the car through windows / tailgate. I have also fitted an Anderson plug to my portable compressor and plug this into the socket on the rear of the vehicle when pumping up tyres / air mattresses etc.

Works for me. ;)

[LRD414]

Here's a couple more photos of the wiring loom removal, completed today to make Mitch Hitch installation easier.
I have put the loom back in place with zip ties so if it ever needs changing or removing again (Mitch Hitch re-torque for one thing) it will be very simple.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/891.jpg

The loom is easy enough to remove but one of the four plastic plugs that holds it to the 12N (black) loom is right above the body weights and I found it tricky to undo, with some skin scraped off my hand.
The body weight is visible to the right in this photo.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/892.jpg

Plug removed at the other end of the loom....
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/01/893.jpg

The plug can be opened with one hand if you manage to press the release tab correctly, which is not easy and requires perseverance.
Don't forget to lower the spare wheel to the ground to gain access.

Cheers,
Scott

[loanrangie]

Tackled this job today, located the plug and saw that it was at about the same height as the taillight. Removed the light and it was easy to unplug the lead, thinking it was going too easy i went to pull the cable and plug over the balance weights and there is where it came stuck.
Cable seemed like it was twisted and i couldn't for the life of me get it to come thru, after about 30mins and just decided to cut the cable in a location that was easy to be rejoined if i ever decide to refit it.
On the plus side i now know where i will route the air line from tank to compressor when i get the rest of my fittings.