Towbar wiring twin electrics

Hi all,
I am fitting twin electrics to my 300tdi, it currently has just the trailer light socket wired Up, I need the twin electrics for towing a caravan.
Has anybody wired up the 12s type socket? I have found a purple and brown wire in the o/s/r boot light area which seems to be a permanant live.
If anybody has wired up a 12s socket could you please give me a rough guide as to where to correctly wire it
I have tryed searching for a similar thread but cant find anything so I apologise in advance if this has already been covered previously.
Thanks,
Matt

Dont see the point tbh, what do you want to have the twin leccys for?

nathan5346 said:

Dont see the point tbh, what do you want to have the twin leccys for?

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As far as I know you need it for towing older caravans if you want to run the fridge and charge the batteries from the tow vehicle while you're on the move.

barmatt said:

As far as I know you need it for towing older caravans if you want to run the fridge and charge the batteries from the tow vehicle while you're on the move.

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Unless your thinking of caravanning in a field with nothing around ive wouldnt bother using the 12n, i would get the fridge to working temperature plugged in at home before hooking it up to 12v they take forever to get cold on 12v only.

Plus the 110 batteries can last a long time running a van.

*I meant the 12s

nathan5346 said:

Unless your thinking of caravanning in a field with nothing around ive wouldnt bother using the 12n, i would get the fridge to working temperature plugged in at home before hooking it up to 12v they take forever to get cold on 12v only.

Plus the 110 batteries can last a long time running a van.

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I'm currently fitting a second socket to mine coz I've been given an old caravan with twin sockets and I'd quite like the option of being able to stop anywhere if we want.

this is a useful site for the op to have a look at Towbar Express | Electric Socket Types

nathan5346 said:

Unless your thinking of caravanning in a field with nothing around ive wouldnt bother using the 12n, i would get the fridge to working temperature plugged in at home before hooking it up to 12v they take forever to get cold on 12v only.

Plus the 110 batteries can last a long time running a van.

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That's what we do, fridge on a couple of days before we leave, then whatever when on site ..

barmatt said:

I'm currently fitting a second socket to mine coz I've been given an old caravan with twin sockets and I'd quite like the option of being able to stop anywhere if we want.

this is a useful site for the op to have a look at Towbar Express | Electric Socket Types

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Hairy muff, but like ive said cold fridge before you set off a fully charged 110 battery and a full bottle of gas would easily last a couple of weeks

nathan5346 said:

Hairy muff, but like ive said cold fridge before you set off a fully charged 110 battery and a full bottle of gas would easily last a couple of weeks

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I'm probably just going a bit over the top but I thought for the sake of a few quid for a socket and a bit of wiring why the hell not.

p.s. if you hadn't guessed, I know feck all about caravaning, I've been given an old van and am just learning about how all the stuff works.

barmatt said:

I'm probably just going a bit over the top but I thought for the sake of a few quid for a socket and a bit of wiring why the hell not.

p.s. if you hadn't guessed, I know feck all about caravaning, I've been given an old van and am just learning about how all the stuff works.

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Thats fair enuff but me personally i wouldnt bother faffing with fitting a 12n socket for what its going to be used for tbh. I s'pose it could be useful if you need a convertor to run off ya caravan battery.

The caravan socket also powers the reversing light on the caravan..

Just run a feed via a fuse direct from the car battery, then fit a split charge relay in the boot, the split charge relay can also be used to wire a good auxiliary socket in the boot as when the car battery voltage drops below preset voltage it will switch the socket off..

I have fitted many of these, now I also fit the 13 pin euro sockets as they are better than having the twins,

Unless you speak to caravan era about these this you will get the wrong advice...

nathan5346 said:

Thats fair enuff but me personally i wouldnt bother faffing with fitting a 12n socket for what its going to be used for tbh. I s'pose it could be useful if you need a convertor to run off ya caravan battery.

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'kinell nathan, were we separated at birth? That's exactly what I was just going to write!

I've been caravanning for over 40 years and we've never needed a 12n socket, other than it would have been handy a couple of times for providing 12v power when not using the caravan!!

Paul D said:

'kinell nathan, were we separated at birth? That's exactly what I was just going to write!

I've been caravanning for over 40 years and we've never needed a 12n socket, other than it would have been handy a couple of times for providing 12v power when not using the caravan!!

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ound: I used to have my own yard buying selling and repairing em.

Bit of a thread highjack but do you know how long the caravan battery would take to fully charge from flat on the mains?

cheers

4x4jack said:

Bit of a thread highjack but do you know how long the caravan battery would take to fully charge from flat on the mains?

cheers

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As long as it takes, If its been left on a caravan and not isolated and its completely flat you could say theres a fair chance its knackered They may charge but wont hold charge for long.