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29th April 2021, 06:35 | #11 |
Just going about!
Rover 75 CDTi Connie SE Tourer starlight silver and serpents. MG ZT-T 190+ in Raven Black. Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Great Leighs
Posts: 468
Thanks: 626
Thanked 167 Times in 110 Posts
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29th April 2021, 06:46 | #12 | |
This is my second home
Rover 75 Saloon & Tourer Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 14,923
Thanks: 1,630
Thanked 3,032 Times in 2,181 Posts
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Quote:
macafee2 |
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29th April 2021, 06:48 | #13 | |
This is my second home
Rover 75 Saloon & Tourer Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Lincoln
Posts: 14,923
Thanks: 1,630
Thanked 3,032 Times in 2,181 Posts
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Quote:
I just dont leave the caravan connected to the car overnight any more macafee2 |
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4th May 2021, 20:42 | #14 |
Gets stuck in
75 Tourer Automatic conn, 75 Saloon Automatic Conn, The Monograme Spice Tourer Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Johnstone
Posts: 670
Thanks: 57
Thanked 231 Times in 151 Posts
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Oh how true, I remember fitting a pair of seven pin electrics to a big Ford along with a set of parking sensors. It was in the Highland games field in Callander at a classic car club weekend meet. The owner of the car was taking lots of photos and notes on what I was doing. He was very surprised by me writing down all the colours of the wires in the cars wiring loom and in the light clusters themselves. He was very surprised that the loom colours did not correspond to the cluster colours. He was shocked when I cut the wires in the loom that I wanted access to then surprised when I tinned the ends of the bare ends of the cut wires and slid colour coded heat shrink up the cables. I then proceeded to run the switching relay cables into the three way joints in the loom then slide the heat shrink into place. He had never seen anyone solder wires he had only ever seen scotch locks being used. I explained that the method I used was permanent and guaranteed a good connection. I have to confess it has taken as long to type this as it does to do the job. When I had finished, I gave him a typed copy of the work I had done along with the fuse ratings for the new supply cables and a wiring diagram of the cars loom and the cars light clusters. I had to extend the sounder cables on the audible sounder for his parking sensors so I could mount it at the front of the car under the dash board. He was a very happy man when I had finished. He could not understand why I had only charged him £13-50 for the parking sensors and £21 for the black and grey sockets and bypass relay. As his garage had fitted his last cars towing sockets and had charged over £150 for the job. Also they had used the dreaded blue crush blocks. He had trouble understanding that fellow club members were more than welcome to a few hours of my time. Everyone please take note scotch locks are a bad connection waiting to happen. Also there many club members who are happy to give their time to help other members at club meetings. Either that or they will talk you through a job. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
5th May 2021, 16:36 | #15 |
This is my second home
R75 Saloon. Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France/or Devon.
Posts: 14,003
Thanks: 3,851
Thanked 2,167 Times in 1,816 Posts
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RE, those scotchlock type connectors.
I fitted a tow bar to my wife's Citroen C4 quite a while ago. If I had read about this type of connector before the installation I would never have used them. However in the last 11 years they've been fitted, and towing a variety of trailers, they have never caused any kind of problem at all. Are there other manufacturers of the ( scotchlock ) type of connectors ?? Maybe the ones causing trouble are cheap imitations.---( Chinese. ) I also used a Ryder TF2218/7H Smart logic relay unit. |
5th May 2021, 21:43 | #16 |
Avid contributor
R75 SALOON Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 226
Thanks: 20
Thanked 57 Times in 44 Posts
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After fitting the relays on my first 75, thinking I needed them,I wanted to buy another set,and to my surprise was told I didn't need them as it wasn't fully canbussed.
Sure enough I connected them to their respective lights etc' and they work. |
5th May 2021, 21:46 | #17 |
This is my second home
R75 Saloon. Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: France/or Devon.
Posts: 14,003
Thanks: 3,851
Thanked 2,167 Times in 1,816 Posts
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Actually I have a couple of friends who did the same as you did.--Surprisingly they had no problems either.----
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15th May 2021, 23:24 | #18 |
Gets stuck in
75 Tourer Automatic conn, 75 Saloon Automatic Conn, The Monograme Spice Tourer Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Johnstone
Posts: 670
Thanks: 57
Thanked 231 Times in 151 Posts
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I have probably fitted over 200 tow bars during my working life and a dozen since I retired in 2010. I will confess to having used dreaded scotch locks, which have worked fine and have fitted them with no connection or with intermittent connection.
I like to fit a bypass relay where possible. Mainly because it means only two wires are carrying current when the socket is in use. It also separates the vans electrics completely from that of the cars normal wiring. I have even been known to fuse both positive and negative supply’s to the seven pin sockets. This came about because a members car had had a fire in its O/S rear loom and in the cubby. ( it was a tourer). What had happened was the owner had used a twin seven pin plug to thirteen pin adaptor cable, this had resulted in the cable on his caravan falling down and connecting with the ground. As he went on his Merry way the outer insulation started to rub away then the inner until the copper conductors became a mass of copper shorting out the circuits when he pressed the brakes or indicated. Like all good caravan drivers he drove with the side lights on whilst towing. The result of his cable dragging along the ground had resulted in a dead short causing the insulation on the melt on the wires that were shorting out. The side light power had been jumped from one supply in the car to the two feeds the van uses. The earth/ neutral / line return, or what ever you can’t to call it was the worst affected as whoever installed the electrics has just used a 1.5mm cable scotch locked on to one of the wires going to a body earth point. All the negative wires going to that body earth point and most of the other wires going from their connection in the car to the black socket were in a very sorry state. Where possible I have always used a bypass relay whither recommended for that car or not. After this incident I have been fitting fuses to both polls supplying the bypass relay. I also always connect the negative conductor direct to a body earthing point never splicing into an existing earth wire. Yes it is overkill but for the sake of a pound it’s cheep insurance. I always add an addendum to the cars manual showing the bypass relay and the fussing of both polls on its supply I also give the colour of cables used and their size along with the fuse rating and type used. I know it is total overkill but if fusing both poles stops a car fire, I am more than happy to break with conversion. Safe motoring everyone Alan Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk |
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