no worries thanks for the feedback I will try and listen to people's questions a little more often It's content and there's a lot of wish washy do it yourself stuff out there
Thanks Matt good straight forward advice. I’m all set to install the wiring from my Suzuki Grand Vitara to a small Camper trailer. I have three circuits to do. A 25amp dcdc charger in the trailer, a three way fridge and an Alko ESC. In this video you say we can earth to the back of the car chassis which makes things simpler and less cable run. Does that apply to all three circuits? My concern is that both the fridge and the Alko ESC wiring diagrams specifically say to run black cables to battery. What do you think?
Hi Matt, thanks for this great vid. Earlier this year I followed you advise on my MY14 3.0lt Grand Cherokee. I ran two red lines (8 B&S) from the battery (under the drivers seat) to the area at the rear behind the spare wheel well. I then ran the earths from a 10mm bolt holding the rear seats down. I used Midi fuses at the battery and 75amp Bosh relays on each line down to the Anderson plugs. I picked up a 12v ign on feed from the rechargeable torch location for the relays. I also wired a rocker switch to turn the van charge off if I don't need it, say after being on a powered site and the van battery is charged through the Victron 240/12 charger. I also used a 3 pin grey anderson plug for the van battery charging and also used the 12v feed from the torch as an ign source to the left hand pin to future proof my handy work. I ran 8B&S direct from the fridge to the draw bar and am happy to report it took the voltage from 11.4 (existing wiring) to 13.8v while the engine is running. The fridge has run perfectly on a 6k trip and have noticed it drop up to 2deg while on long stints. My Van is an Eco-Tourer and had the the 3 way running off the then 100ah AGM....After the old Electro Charger cooked the battery I fitted the Victron 240V charger and a new 120ah AGM, I also fitted a Victron 500ah Shunt ( best thing ever) I'd just like to say again, thanks for this great video and your time to make it easy and clear to understand. Well done. Cheers Trev PS: just like to add i've done over 10k with this setup and neither the vehicle or van has had an ounce of problems. 👍👍
Hi Matt, liked you vid on keeping fridge separate from battery charge (red and Greg Anderson plugs. I’m purchasing a 2010 Jayco and want to make sure the fridge is on whilst driving. My question is from the red Anderson plug on the van is there only the positive cable running to the fridge from the draw bar and the fridge is already earthed? Or should there be both positive and negative cable running to the fridge from red Anderson plug at the draw bar Thanks in advance Kelvin
Hi Matt , a great video mate nice and straight forward. A question I have is I have just got a Hybrid with a 7 pin and anderson plug ,3x100ah batteries and dual zone fridge (not a 3 way) My ute has a 12 pin and no anderson plug , so is it a case of simply adding a grey only anderson to my ute as per the video allowing me to charge the batteries while driving and keeping fridge cold.? The 12 pin was added for a previous caravan I had by an auto elec. Thanks Michael
Great video also watched on bcdc. Question If I do as you have shown with the bcdc can I connect the red Anderson to the red arc sbi12 that’s also used for second battery in the front of vehicle ? Piggy back ? Thanks again 👍
Matt, love the presentation/education. I have watched all your videos and have enjoyed them. Just a couple of Q's, The Red SB50 is designated for the 3 way fridge use (I agree), why do others also use a Red SB50 for Anti-Sway Control I wonder, should the fridge or Sway Ctrl be changed to a different colour SB50 ?? I have done the Grey SB50 (16mm2) on the car & van as well as Red SB50 (10mm2) on both. Red for 3 way fridge, Grey for DCDC charger in van, I also added a Blue SB50 (8mm2) on the drawbar for portable solar input to the DCDC charger in the van. There is another separate run for a Grey SB50 inside the car for a DCDC/25A. Is there any standards that should be observed wrt SB50 colour codes for designated purposes, I know that Anderson specify different colours for various voltages, but it seems that the RV/4x4 industry have done it their own way. :-) Looking fwd to the next video, Cheers
Thanks for your reply Peter. Regarding the AL KO the reason behind the Anderson plug is so you can unplug it when going off road. This is becoming less common as people move to a Dexter/Tucson sway System which uses the Caravans power system. It doesn’t really matter what color Anderson plugs you use it’s just a standard that I try to adhere to unfortunately there are no Regulations here stating what color to use. The main objective behind using the Anderson plug system over the traditional 7 or 12 pin is to allow items that require a higher current to function correctly. It’s great that you are using a combination of different colors this illuminates possible problems.
What if you have Gray and red(ESC) and fridge is on the 12pin plug on my van. Van has a AC to DC charger with 1*100ah AGM battery. Can I swap the ESc from the red Anderson plug to the 12 pin and but the fridge on the red Anderson. I have vsr on each Anderson plug from the car battery like how you have in your diagram.
Hi Matt smart alternator question were do you usually pick your ground/ neg point up on a start battery. Wanted to run a common neg buss bar for negative points believe it should be body side of the neg battery post after start battery shunt.
Hi Great video, many thanks. Please advise if I could use a single appropriately rated isolation relay and run 2 separately fused cables to the Anderson plugs at the rear of the vehicle. Also, not really sure why they cannot be interchangeable if they are not feed via VSR's
Hi Matt...have found your Videos on 12-Pin connections (especially relating to AES Fridge), very informative. One question I have in relation to the Whiteboard representation above is to do with the 'D+' trigger wire. Assuming you have the DC set-up you have shown above (that is, Power via an Isolator), would it not always be better to run the trigger wire directly to the 'Vehicle' terminal behind the fridge, rather than the 'House Battery' Terminal ?
Hi Garry, You may have mis-understood me there. You do NOT connect the d+ wire to the HOUSE 12v+.... You CAN connect this to the VEHICLE + behind the fridge as long as the line is isolated when the starter battery shuts down.
Hi, I’m upgrading our tow vehicle to new and therefore it will have smart alternator. 1) will this set up work with a dc/dc charger located in van, and current coming through dedicated ‘grey’ Anderson line? 2) will the smart alternator produce enough voltage for ‘red’ dedicated 3 way fridge line? Thanks for the very informative videos.
Hi, Just a follow up, to my question below: Will a voltage sensitive relay work with newer smart alternators for the ‘red’ and ‘grey’ Anderson set up as described in your video? Or do you have to use ignition switching relay to build the system you describe in your video? Thanks again 👍🏻
Hi Matt, quick question. I am talking about the fridge line here, you mentioned creating a negative to the car chassis near the red Anderson plug from the car end, my question is, where is the best spot to create a negative connection to the red Anderson plug from the caravan end? I am assuming that this format will work with a smart alternator as well. Thanks, heaps for the video. Very informative.
Depending what the red Anderson is for. If it is for the three-way fridge heater element then both negative and positive must go to that point at the rear of the fridge
Hi Matt, appreciate the video. 2 questions. Are you suggesting just to run the positive wire to the Anderson Plug from the car batter and negative to the chassis, why can I not run the negative wire from the battery to the Anderson plug? Also Can I take the wires for the fridge straight from the 12 pin plug to make the Anderson Plug? Really appreciate your help
Great info Matt. I have a BT50 2009 TD 3.0 Ltr with a 7 pin socket and one grey Anderson plug connected to my starter battery and runs through one Redarc SBI. I have ordered a new caravan that has a 3 way Auto fridge also has a 12 pin plug and one grey Anderson plug. I have not opened the new caravan plug as yet, but I have there wiring for there vans, they have the AES sense wire on pin 12 and the fridge heater wires on pin 8 power and 10 ground. witch I will change to a Blue Anderson plug, as I will run a new line form my start battery through another Redarc SBI. My question is, were will I connect the Pink AES wire from the 12 pin plug when I fit it to my BT50. My Alternator is NOT Computer Controlled. Hope you can understand this post. Keep up these Great Video Posts.
Oh I like this question, If your vehicles fridge line is isolated then you can loop the D+ trigger wire to the fridge line on the caravan that way when your isolated line shuts down in the vehicle the fridge will operate as it should. Alternatively you can run an ignition trigger wire to a relay and then off to Pin 12 in the vehicle
Hi Matt. Great videos. Got a good one to test your brain! From the U.K. so have different setups to you guys but I will simplify. Modern car with smart alternator and modern caravan although none are setup for smart alternators. It’s a know fact the house battery and 3 way fridges don’t charge and operate optimally with smart alternators over here. (Not surprising looking at the standard fit wire gauge used!) I was thinking about using Anderson’s as you have suggested in this video, however in the U.K. they always steer you towards using a DC to DC charger as it’s the only way to will get the alternator to output. Is this correct? What am I missing? If I substitute the tiny wires as suggested will the house battery charge at sufficient amps and will the fridge pull 17+ amps all from the vehicle bath and smart alternator? Thanks in advanced
Thanks for the response What I would suggest is running an ignition control relay to your three-way fridge via an Anderson plug . Then have another Anderson plug to take care of the DC to DC charger . Remember your separating the circuits from the source (starter battery) The smart alternator once it senses a heavy load will remain in a charging state. This will happen via your three-way fridge ignition controlled circuit.. The DC to DC charger will either need to be on an ignition control circuit also or run the trigger wire through your trailer plug.
Hi Matt, I find your videos very helpful. Thanks! I have a dual battery system already in my car. Should I follow your diagram but run everything off the 2nd (deep cycle) battery so the fridge can keep running if we do stops on our travels?
Here is a link to diagram of what I am thinking based on your video (docs.google.com/drawings/d/1KwDsIJ7FS_6xICAkEcPHy_s07wNFM7l4EiDzZxg2J_s/edit?usp=sharing). I would love to know your thoughts. I would place fuses as close as practical to each battery. Qns: 1) Is an ISO needed on the grey anderson line that runs to my DC/DC charger in my caravan? 2) If I was running my car connected to the caravan with car starter battery + 2nd car battery + 2 caravan batteries + solar, would I be able to run my caravan A/C?
Hi Matt love the videos can you tell me what size cable to use for set up as you described, car to caravan using the red and grey Anderson plugs. Thanks
Hi Matt what size fuses to run - I have bought jayco swan 90 litre domestic. 100amp lithium battery in jayco. And thank you very much for all this valuable information. Think to run a fuse to 12 pin connector as well, is that a good idea ? Don’t have any battery in my Hilux 2023
Hi Matt, I have purchased a van and today have worked: out the wiring for the fridge and battery. I have a grey Anderson on my car and van that run to the onboard battery of the van. I have a 12 pin plug that has the issue you spoke about with melting wire and want to put a red Anderson plug in. The 12 pin only has the active there for the fridge? Based on Todds query is an extra negative required To run back to the fridge or is the existing earth ( wherever it may earth to) ok. So the Anderson would only have an active wire. Does the fridge earth to the van chassis. Hope this makes sense.
Firstly great video. I have enjoyed watching your other ones as well. I have set up as you have in your diagram and I have had running for nearly 10 years. But for the last 1year, I plug my air compressor in and it cuts in and out. It never use to. I know have a caravan that I need to plug into and charge the battery in their. What would be the problem do you think? I have the Narva Iso. Cheers foe any advice.
Hi Matt thanks for the informative video. I am about to set my ute/caravan with the setup you describe in your video to run the fridge while travelling. (nothing worse than warm beer after a day on the road!) At a later date I want to wire up to charge the house batteries. Is there any reason why I can't use one VSR to power both cables, as essentially once the VSR's both switch on, they are drawing from a common point anyway? Thanks in advance
I would avoid this and sharing one visa is like putting a T junction on a hose. The pressure will be reduced. The same is true for low-voltage applications
Extreme Auto Caravan and Camping. S.A. Sorry your response makes no sense. What issues? You aren’t going to pull more than 100amps through the VSR so it is nothing like a T junction on a hose.
@@georgethomas6541 Matt is correct. The issue is not the rating of the VSR. The issue is that the fridge pulls a high current continuously and creates voltage drop along any shared cabling. If the cable or VSR is shared with say a DC-DC charger, the DC-DC charger will see a lower input voltage and will de-rate. Trust me, I've been through this some years ago. Best that these circuits are separate all the way from the cranking battery. Rather than using a VSR, I prefer to put each circuit behind a 70A relay that switches on with ignition.
Matt, love your video. I am about to put an anderson plug on my sons old 1988 Jayco camper with a small 3 way fridge. Can I just tap into the power and earth wire and insert an anderson plug. Would that work
Hi Matt I have a battery box with a 150ah lithium battery and a 25a dc-dc charger and I plan to transfer it between my car and camper as required. If I were to run a separate Anderson plug from my starter battery solely for my 3 way fridge, is there a VSR that would be compatible with a smart alternator so that the fridge has constant charge? I know the smart alternators tend to switch off and I don't want to lose the power to my fridge.
Hi Matt the D+ wire when you say loop it to the vehicle do you mean connect it directly to the main power cable coming from the red Anderson plug? Kindest regards Greg
Hi. Can u use one smart voltage regulator say 120am for gray and red Anderson plug and wat about the fridge trigger wire. Or can you use a double adapter Anderson plug at the tow bar and connect to the caravan wiring
No always separate the circuits at the source. The source being the positive terminal of the starter battery. What you’re asking is the easy way out if you read it carefully. And that’s where and why people get issues
Great vid mate. You mention earthing at the rear. I'm worried I'm not going to earth properly there. The wiring kit I'm looking at has the twin cable that you earth at the source battery. Are there any issues with that?
The reason for the earth point at the rear is to eliminate the length of cable. It is much better to have only 5 m of cable rather than 10 m of cable with an earth return to the front. As long as you use a proper cable log drill a hole and go back to bare metal captive nut and then paint over it to protect it when you are done ✅
I have ordered a new caravan and a new towing vehicle. The van will have ALKO ESC fitted which I am advised will use the red Anderson plug. Can the red plug handle both the ALKO ESC and the fridge? The van comes with a 12 pin plug, which means I will need 12 pin on the car as well. Which plug should be used for charging the van's battery? The Mitsubishi dealer is likely to contract out the installation to a local auto electrician, so I guess I will need to speak to him, or the dealer or both. So if I have a 12 pin, and red and grey Anderson plugs what is your recommendation for ESC, fridge and battery? Thanks.
You should never run any high current through the twelve pin plug you will know soon enough why. the ALKO can be run via the 12 pin plug as it is low current that leaves your red Anderson plug for the three way fridge and the grey Anderson plug for charging the battery problem solved.
Funny how your saying a red ando olug for the 3 way fridge. My caravan came with a red ando plug for the Alko ESC. Still run the 3 way fridge from the 12 pin with no issues
Every caravan manufacturer does things differently. Some have the Akko esc through the 12pin. Others run the lippert, dexter, Tucson sway control which runs from the Caravan’s battery. That’s the point. The alko esc is not higher current than the 3way fridge so the only benefit of having it on its own Anderson plug is the ability to unplug it.
I would not exceed between 80 and 100 A from your alternator period, even though it can do slightly more pulling this much power from it, all the time would impact its life
Hi Matt my van has anderson plug to fridge only and solar to van battery but no car to van battery. I connected a positive and negative from car anderson plug to van battery with car volts showing up at battery and van regulator. I have yet to run with both anderson plugs connected as even though seperate lines i am not sure if there could be a internal conflict so wondering what your thoughts might be before i hook up.
Hi tjay, You must keep these circuits separate. Always run directly from the starter battery for both 3 way fridge circuit and caravan charging circuit. You will not have any issues done this way.
Your caravans anderson may have voltage at it. (Non isolated) if so, your 3 way fridge would then draw from this side of the single VSR. This is why we use two seperate circuits for two seperate devices.
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I've searched high and low for this info. Straight up, no bull shit. Answered my question perfectly, thanks, mate. 👍
no worries thanks for the feedback I will try and listen to people's questions a little more often It's content and there's a lot of wish washy do it yourself stuff out there
Nice simple setup as a starting point, then add the bells & whistles as required. Cheers from Michael. Australia
I love you.
You just saved me $650.
I did this through my 12pin.
Thanks Matt good straight forward advice. I’m all set to install the wiring from my Suzuki Grand Vitara to a small Camper trailer.
I have three circuits to do.
A 25amp dcdc charger in the trailer, a three way fridge and an Alko ESC.
In this video you say we can earth to the back of the car chassis which makes things simpler and less cable run.
Does that apply to all three circuits?
My concern is that both the fridge and the Alko ESC wiring diagrams specifically say to run black cables to battery.
What do you think?
Hi Matt, thanks for this great vid. Earlier this year I followed you advise on my MY14 3.0lt Grand Cherokee. I ran two red lines (8 B&S) from the battery (under the drivers seat) to the area at the rear behind the spare wheel well. I then ran the earths from a 10mm bolt holding the rear seats down. I used Midi fuses at the battery and 75amp Bosh relays on each line down to the Anderson plugs. I picked up a 12v ign on feed from the rechargeable torch location for the relays. I also wired a rocker switch to turn the van charge off if I don't need it, say after being on a powered site and the van battery is charged through the Victron 240/12 charger.
I also used a 3 pin grey anderson plug for the van battery charging and also used the 12v feed from the torch as an ign source to the left hand pin to future proof my handy work.
I ran 8B&S direct from the fridge to the draw bar and am happy to report it took the voltage from 11.4 (existing wiring) to 13.8v while the engine is running.
The fridge has run perfectly on a 6k trip and have noticed it drop up to 2deg while on long stints.
My Van is an Eco-Tourer and had the the 3 way running off the then 100ah AGM....After the old Electro Charger cooked the battery I fitted the Victron 240V charger and a new 120ah AGM, I also fitted a Victron 500ah Shunt ( best thing ever)
I'd just like to say again, thanks for this great video and your time to make it easy and clear to understand. Well done.
Cheers Trev
PS: just like to add i've done over 10k with this setup and neither the vehicle or van has had an ounce of problems. 👍👍
Excellent video and tutorial 👍🏻
Thank you! Cheers!
Hi Matt, liked you vid on keeping fridge separate from battery charge (red and Greg Anderson plugs. I’m purchasing a 2010 Jayco and want to make sure the fridge is on whilst driving. My question is from the red Anderson plug on the van is there only the positive cable running to the fridge from the draw bar and the fridge is already earthed? Or should there be both positive and negative cable running to the fridge from red Anderson plug at the draw bar
Thanks in advance Kelvin
Hi Matt , a great video mate nice and straight forward. A question I have is I have just got a Hybrid with a 7 pin and anderson plug ,3x100ah batteries and dual zone fridge (not a 3 way) My ute has a 12 pin and no anderson plug , so is it a case of simply adding a grey only anderson to my ute as per the video allowing me to charge the batteries while driving and keeping fridge cold.? The 12 pin was added for a previous caravan I had by an auto elec. Thanks Michael
Great video also watched on bcdc.
Question
If I do as you have shown with the bcdc can I connect the red Anderson to the red arc sbi12 that’s also used for second battery in the front of vehicle ? Piggy back ?
Thanks again 👍
Matt, love the presentation/education. I have watched all your videos and have enjoyed them. Just a couple of Q's, The Red SB50 is designated for the 3 way fridge use (I agree), why do others also use a Red SB50 for Anti-Sway Control I wonder, should the fridge or Sway Ctrl be changed to a different colour SB50 ?? I have done the Grey SB50 (16mm2) on the car & van as well as Red SB50 (10mm2) on both. Red for 3 way fridge, Grey for DCDC charger in van, I also added a Blue SB50 (8mm2) on the drawbar for portable solar input to the DCDC charger in the van. There is another separate run for a Grey SB50 inside the car for a DCDC/25A. Is there any standards that should be observed wrt SB50 colour codes for designated purposes, I know that Anderson specify different colours for various voltages, but it seems that the RV/4x4 industry have done it their own way. :-) Looking fwd to the next video, Cheers
Thanks for your reply Peter.
Regarding the AL KO the reason behind the Anderson plug is so you can unplug it when going off road. This is becoming less common as people move to a Dexter/Tucson sway System which uses the Caravans power system. It doesn’t really matter what color Anderson plugs you use it’s just a standard that I try to adhere to unfortunately there are no Regulations here stating what color to use. The main objective behind using the Anderson plug system over the traditional 7 or 12 pin is to allow items that require a higher current to function correctly. It’s great that you are using a combination of different colors this illuminates possible problems.
Great vid mate clear up what I wanted to know.
Glad it helped
What if you have Gray and red(ESC) and fridge is on the 12pin plug on my van. Van has a AC to DC charger with 1*100ah AGM battery. Can I swap the ESc from the red Anderson plug to the 12 pin and but the fridge on the red Anderson. I have vsr on each Anderson plug from the car battery like how you have in your diagram.
1:50
Hi Matt smart alternator question were do you usually pick your ground/ neg point up on a start battery. Wanted to run a common neg buss bar for negative points believe it should be body side of the neg battery post after start battery shunt.
Hi
Great video, many thanks. Please advise if I could use a single appropriately rated isolation relay and run 2 separately fused cables to the Anderson plugs at the rear of the vehicle. Also, not really sure why they cannot be interchangeable if they are not feed via VSR's
Hi Matt...have found your Videos on 12-Pin connections (especially relating to AES Fridge), very informative. One question I have in relation to the Whiteboard representation above is to do with the 'D+' trigger wire. Assuming you have the DC set-up you have shown above (that is, Power via an Isolator), would it not always be better to run the trigger wire directly to the 'Vehicle' terminal behind the fridge, rather than the 'House Battery' Terminal ?
Hi Garry, You may have mis-understood me there.
You do NOT connect the d+ wire to the HOUSE 12v+.... You CAN connect this to the VEHICLE + behind the fridge as long as the line is isolated when the starter battery shuts down.
Hi, I’m upgrading our tow vehicle to new and therefore it will have smart alternator.
1) will this set up work with a dc/dc charger located in van, and current coming through dedicated ‘grey’ Anderson line?
2) will the smart alternator produce enough voltage for ‘red’ dedicated 3 way fridge line?
Thanks for the very informative videos.
Hi,
Just a follow up, to my question below:
Will a voltage sensitive relay work with newer smart alternators for the ‘red’ and ‘grey’ Anderson set up as described in your video?
Or do you have to use ignition switching relay to build the system you describe in your video?
Thanks again 👍🏻
Hi Matt, quick question. I am talking about the fridge line here, you mentioned creating a negative to the car chassis near the red Anderson plug from the car end, my question is, where is the best spot to create a negative connection to the red Anderson plug from the caravan end? I am assuming that this format will work with a smart alternator as well. Thanks, heaps for the video. Very informative.
Depending what the red Anderson is for. If it is for the three-way fridge heater element then both negative and positive must go to that point at the rear of the fridge
Hi Matt, appreciate the video. 2 questions. Are you suggesting just to run the positive wire to the Anderson Plug from the car batter and negative to the chassis, why can I not run the negative wire from the battery to the Anderson plug?
Also
Can I take the wires for the fridge straight from the 12 pin plug to make the Anderson Plug? Really appreciate your help
Hi matt, would a 50 amp vsr be ample for a Dometic 4601 fridge on a stand alone red Anderson plug line?
Great info Matt. I have a BT50 2009 TD 3.0 Ltr with a 7 pin socket and one grey Anderson plug connected to my starter battery and runs through one Redarc SBI. I have ordered a new caravan that has a 3 way Auto fridge also has a 12 pin plug and one grey Anderson plug. I have not opened the new caravan plug as yet, but I have there wiring for there vans, they have the AES sense wire on pin 12 and the fridge heater wires on pin 8 power and 10 ground. witch I will change to a Blue Anderson plug, as I will run a new line form my start battery through another Redarc SBI. My question is, were will I connect the Pink AES wire from the 12 pin plug when I fit it to my BT50. My Alternator is NOT Computer Controlled. Hope you can understand this post. Keep up these Great Video Posts.
Oh I like this question,
If your vehicles fridge line is isolated then you can loop the D+ trigger wire to the fridge line on the caravan that way when your isolated line shuts down in the vehicle the fridge will operate as it should. Alternatively you can run an ignition trigger wire to a relay and then off to Pin 12 in the vehicle
@@extremeacc101 Thank you Matt.
Hi Matt, question! Your diagram showed red and grey plugs so how many wires in each line as each plug has 2 connections
Hi Matt. Great videos. Got a good one to test your brain! From the U.K. so have different setups to you guys but I will simplify. Modern car with smart alternator and modern caravan although none are setup for smart alternators. It’s a know fact the house battery and 3 way fridges don’t charge and operate optimally with smart alternators over here. (Not surprising looking at the standard fit wire gauge used!) I was thinking about using Anderson’s as you have suggested in this video, however in the U.K. they always steer you towards using a DC to DC charger as it’s the only way to will get the alternator to output. Is this correct? What am I missing? If I substitute the tiny wires as suggested will the house battery charge at sufficient amps and will the fridge pull 17+ amps all from the vehicle bath and smart alternator? Thanks in advanced
Thanks for the response
What I would suggest is running an ignition control relay to your three-way fridge via an Anderson plug .
Then have another Anderson plug to take care of the DC to DC charger .
Remember your separating the circuits from the source (starter battery)
The smart alternator once it senses a heavy load will remain in a charging state. This will happen via your three-way fridge ignition controlled circuit..
The DC to DC charger will either need to be on an ignition control circuit also or run the trigger wire through your trailer plug.
Hi Matt, I find your videos very helpful. Thanks! I have a dual battery system already in my car. Should I follow your diagram but run everything off the 2nd (deep cycle) battery so the fridge can keep running if we do stops on our travels?
Here is a link to diagram of what I am thinking based on your video (docs.google.com/drawings/d/1KwDsIJ7FS_6xICAkEcPHy_s07wNFM7l4EiDzZxg2J_s/edit?usp=sharing). I would love to know your thoughts. I would place fuses as close as practical to each battery.
Qns:
1) Is an ISO needed on the grey anderson line that runs to my DC/DC charger in my caravan?
2) If I was running my car connected to the caravan with car starter battery + 2nd car battery + 2 caravan batteries + solar, would I be able to run my caravan A/C?
Hi Matt what size vsr should be used for the fridge connection
Hi Matt love the videos can you tell me what size cable to use for set up as you described, car to caravan using the red and grey Anderson plugs. Thanks
I’d go 6bns these days.
👍👍👍👍
Hi Matt what size fuses to run - I have bought jayco swan 90 litre domestic. 100amp lithium battery in jayco. And thank you very much for all this valuable information.
Think to run a fuse to 12 pin connector as well, is that a good idea ?
Don’t have any battery in my Hilux 2023
Hi Matt,
I have purchased a van and today have worked: out the wiring for the fridge and battery. I have a grey Anderson on my car and van that run to the onboard battery of the van. I have a 12 pin plug that has the issue you spoke about with melting wire and want to put a red Anderson plug in. The 12 pin only has the active there for the fridge? Based on Todds query is an extra negative required To run back to the fridge or is the existing earth ( wherever it may earth to) ok. So the Anderson would only have an active wire. Does the fridge earth to the van chassis. Hope this makes sense.
Extra negative yes.
Hi what size vsr should you use for the fridge
Hi Matt. Great video. I have a red anderson for my ESC. Can I run the fridge off the same red anderson by connecting in to the ESC wire. Thanks
No. Unfortunately, the ALKO stability control is a low current circuit.
With this two plug system , where does the fridge ignighter draw power from when running on gas and not connected to vehicle?
Firstly great video. I have enjoyed watching your other ones as well. I have set up as you have in your diagram and I have had running for nearly 10 years. But for the last 1year, I plug my air compressor in and it cuts in and out. It never use to. I know have a caravan that I need to plug into and charge the battery in their. What would be the problem do you think? I have the Narva Iso.
Cheers foe any advice.
Sounds like low gauge of cable, insufficient, sizing and voltage threshold issues. You may be better off with a latched relay.
Hi what size fuse do u recommend and realy amp rating
Hi Matt thanks for the informative video. I am about to set my ute/caravan with the setup you describe in your video to run the fridge while travelling. (nothing worse than warm beer after a day on the road!) At a later date I want to wire up to charge the house batteries. Is there any reason why I can't use one VSR to power both cables, as essentially once the VSR's both switch on, they are drawing from a common point anyway? Thanks in advance
I would avoid this and sharing one visa is like putting a T junction on a hose. The pressure will be reduced. The same is true for low-voltage applications
The red arc VSR is rated to 100amps (400 amps surge). It is not going to be a limiting factor. You don’t need two separate VSRs.
You do if you want to run two separate circuits.
Exactly what you described above is where people are having issues also.
Extreme Auto Caravan and Camping. S.A. Sorry your response makes no sense. What issues? You aren’t going to pull more than 100amps through the VSR so it is nothing like a T junction on a hose.
@@georgethomas6541 Matt is correct. The issue is not the rating of the VSR. The issue is that the fridge pulls a high current continuously and creates voltage drop along any shared cabling. If the cable or VSR is shared with say a DC-DC charger, the DC-DC charger will see a lower input voltage and will de-rate. Trust me, I've been through this some years ago. Best that these circuits are separate all the way from the cranking battery. Rather than using a VSR, I prefer to put each circuit behind a 70A relay that switches on with ignition.
Hi Matt,does this work with a smart alternater on a Ford Ranger.
Hi Matt,great video,is the fuse operated by ignition.
It is,
Ignition controlled
Matt, love your video. I am about to put an anderson plug on my sons old 1988 Jayco camper with a small 3 way fridge. Can I just tap into the power and earth wire and insert an anderson plug. Would that work
You can but you’ll find it’s only on 6mm cable.
I’d run a twin 8bns cable from the rear of fridge to an anderson plug.
@@extremeacc101 jayco have the one power cable for fridge and lights. Can I do the same if I run that 8bns together with the lights cable?
@@jeffhale713 you sure can 👍
Can I put the fridge in with the AL-KO anti sway unit supply on the Anderson plug? Thanks
No,
The Alko Esc will need to be powered by its own supply
Hi Matt I have a battery box with a 150ah lithium battery and a 25a dc-dc charger and I plan to transfer it between my car and camper as required. If I were to run a separate Anderson plug from my starter battery solely for my 3 way fridge, is there a VSR that would be compatible with a smart alternator so that the fridge has constant charge? I know the smart alternators tend to switch off and I don't want to lose the power to my fridge.
In this situation I’d use a large ignition controlled relay
Hi Matt the D+ wire when you say loop it to the vehicle do you mean connect it directly to the main power cable coming from the red Anderson plug?
Kindest regards
Greg
Yep, nailed it.
Hi. Can u use one smart voltage regulator say 120am for gray and red Anderson plug and wat about the fridge trigger wire. Or can you use a double adapter Anderson plug at the tow bar and connect to the caravan wiring
No always separate the circuits at the source.
The source being the positive terminal of the starter battery.
What you’re asking is the easy way out if you read it carefully. And that’s where and why people get issues
@@extremeacc101 Thanks will do
Mi Matt. If your van batteries are being charged by solar, is there still a need to run charge power from the car to the van batteries.
Both is better. More charge, faster charge.\
Great vid mate. You mention earthing at the rear. I'm worried I'm not going to earth properly there. The wiring kit I'm looking at has the twin cable that you earth at the source battery. Are there any issues with that?
The reason for the earth point at the rear is to eliminate the length of cable.
It is much better to have only 5 m of cable rather than 10 m of cable with an earth return to the front.
As long as you use a proper cable log drill a hole and go back to bare metal captive nut and then paint over it to protect it when you are done ✅
@@extremeacc101 cheers mate will do
It’s all about keeping the cable as short as possible with absolutely perfect connections
@@extremeacc101 And no fuse needed after the VSR? Some setups seem to have that.
@@mattmullens3215
Fuse point as close to the battery positive.
Either end
Hi again Matt. Is that Isolator with the blue label a NARVA, the Redarc is a bit pricey.
Sure is 👍👍
@@extremeacc101 Thank you Matt. Stay Safe.
I have ordered a new caravan and a new towing vehicle. The van will have ALKO ESC fitted which I am advised will use the red Anderson plug. Can the red plug handle both the ALKO ESC and the fridge? The van comes with a 12 pin plug, which means I will need 12 pin on the car as well. Which plug should be used for charging the van's battery? The Mitsubishi dealer is likely to contract out the installation to a local auto electrician, so I guess I will need to speak to him, or the dealer or both. So if I have a 12 pin, and red and grey Anderson plugs what is your recommendation for ESC, fridge and battery? Thanks.
You should never run any high current through the twelve pin plug you will know soon enough why.
the ALKO can be run via the 12 pin plug as it is low current that leaves your red Anderson plug for the three way fridge and the grey Anderson plug for charging the battery problem solved.
Funny how your saying a red ando olug for the 3 way fridge.
My caravan came with a red ando plug for the Alko ESC.
Still run the 3 way fridge from the 12 pin with no issues
Every caravan manufacturer does things differently.
Some have the Akko esc through the 12pin. Others run the lippert, dexter, Tucson sway control which runs from the Caravan’s battery.
That’s the point.
The alko esc is not higher current than the 3way fridge so the only benefit of having it on its own Anderson plug is the ability to unplug it.
Hi matt what size fuses would you use for this setup?
Fuse sizing is based on your cable rating.
Will this system work on a 2015 Amarok with a smart alternator?
Yes,
I would not exceed between 80 and 100 A from your alternator period, even though it can do slightly more pulling this much power from it, all the time would impact its life
Hi mate what size fuse is required for grey anderson plug setup for just battery charging??
Cable depending.
What gauge?
@@extremeacc101 I’ve currently got 6mm running from car battery to rear just need to run to caravan for charging
??
Hi Matt my van has anderson plug to fridge only and solar to van battery but no car to van battery. I connected a positive and negative from car anderson plug to van battery with car volts showing up at battery and van regulator. I have yet to run with both anderson plugs connected as even though seperate lines i am not sure if there could be a internal conflict so wondering what your thoughts might be before i hook up.
Hi tjay,
You must keep these circuits separate. Always run directly from the starter battery for both 3 way fridge circuit and caravan charging circuit. You will not have any issues done this way.
@@extremeacc101 Thanks Matt, connected as per your video and all is working fine. 😀😃
@@tjaypatterson6774 great to hear,
Thanks
why can't you use just 1 VSR
Your caravans anderson may have voltage at it. (Non isolated) if so, your 3 way fridge would then draw from this side of the single VSR.
This is why we use two seperate circuits for two seperate devices.