13 pin trailer extension cable for 2014 XC60 to caravan

[Brighousewood]

I am looking for a cable so I can use the car's battery when on a none mains electric caravan site. I used a 7 pin one on my old car and van.

I am very much aware of the technicalities of Volvo cars and I would like advice on this extension cable which I have seen on Ebay please.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13-Pin-Tr...EAAOSwtVde7a72

Thanks,
Brighousewood

[moosehead74]

My 2017 XC60 has a dealer supplied/fitted towbar and 13 pin electrics and I can confirm there is a live output (can't remember which pin) for the trailer. On the recommendation of another member I bought a 13 pin to CTEK adaptor so I can charge through the towbar electrics so I guess there's no reason why the extension cable won't work.

I would be careful about using your car battery to power your van on site. My understanding was that car batteries don't like to be heavily discharged unlike the leisure batteries that our fitted. I've been plagued with low battery messages since I got my vehicle and that's just having the radio turned on whilst the engine is off!

[Adrian888]

I agree with the above - be very careful and personally i would avoid such an option. What if you flatten your car battery?

[Brighousewood]

Originally Posted by Adrian888

I agree with the above - be very careful and personally i would avoid such an option. What if you flatten your car battery?

I would call out my break down service.

If I use too much from my van battery my motor mover may not work when I get back to the storage compound. It's just a matter of getting the right balance.

Thanks for the comments.

Brighousewood

[alf27]

Have you thought about increasing the battery capacity on the van ? The cable you link to should work as it says, if the batteries are getting low on the van you could always charge with the engine running. Do you have a volt meter on the van to keep a eye on the state of charge ?

[Baxlin]

Originally Posted by Brighousewood

I would call out my break down service.

If I use too much from my van battery my motor mover may not work when I get back to the storage compound. It's just a matter of getting the right balance.

Thanks for the comments.

Brighousewood

Obviously I don’t know the layout of your storage area, but assuming you can get the car close to your ‘pitch’, that’s the time I would use the extension lead, with car engine running, to power your motor mover if the van’s battery is too low.

It’s a while since my towing days, but isn’t it possible to arrange so that the van battery charges while driving, if it doesn’t automatically? If so it wouldn’t be flat on arrival at home base. (Edit: see post #2)

As others have said, the car battery isn’t designed to withstand heavy discharge

[SwissXC90]

One other aspect to consider is using a vehicle battery charge monitor.

I use the CTEK Battery Sense, which is a small device that connects directly to the car battery, and collates battery charge state every 5 minutes

You can then approach the car and once within bluetooth range, view the current and historical charge state in the CTEK app on your phone.

Very useful to monitor the charge state and know when to disconnect the caravan or to connect a charger.

[Whyman]

As others have said be careful.

Not sure whether the cars system which will switch off things such as the radio after a few minutes sitting in the car would automatically disconnect the trailer socket if the battery gets too low? Running the cars battery low will shorten it’s life.

The car will recharge the caravan battery when you are on the move but only once the cars battery is charged. If you have only a short trip back to the storage then the caravan battery may not be fully charged.

I assume you have a solar panel on the caravan?

[moosehead74]

Originally Posted by Whyman

As others have said be careful.

Not sure whether the cars system which will switch off things such as the radio after a few minutes sitting in the car would automatically disconnect the trailer socket if the battery gets too low? Running the cars battery low will shorten it’s life.

The car will recharge the caravan battery when you are on the move but only once the cars battery is charged. If you have only a short trip back to the storage then the caravan battery may not be fully charged.

I assume you have a solar panel on the caravan?

It stays live all the time (at least on my 2017 XC60) hence I can use the CTEK to charge via the trailer electrics. Mine also charges the van battery when the engine is running so the extension lead would enable you to get the vehicle close enough without actually hitching up. Even still I would be reluctant to run the van from the vehicle battery with the possibility of being stranded in a remote field somewhere plus vehicle batteries aren't designed to cycle up and down like leisure batteries. I'd be inclined to get another leisure battery especially as they are not that expensive.

[moosehead74]

Originally Posted by Brighousewood

I would call out my break down service.

If I use too much from my van battery my motor mover may not work when I get back to the storage compound. It's just a matter of getting the right balance.

Thanks for the comments.

Brighousewood

If the socket has been wired correctly vehicle should charge your van battery when connected with the engine running and should be charged when you get back to storage compound. You can check this by putting a voltmeter across the van battery when your trailer electrics are connected and the engine is running. The charging voltage will probably be lower than what you would normally measure across the battery of the vehicle due to pd drop across cables.

Sometimes my mover struggles if I hook up to van at storage area and battery hasn't been charged for a while. By the time we get to site its fully charged.