13 pin truck, 7 pin tintent?

[puddle hoppers inc.]

hi, looking thru the receipts that came with my truck last nite i noticed one for a 13 pin upgrade.....ive checked and it is 13pins, our caravan is the "normal"(i thought) twin 7 pin sockets! could someone tell me there is an adaptor???
thanks, mike.

[micktheshed]

Originally Posted by puddle hoppers inc.

hi, looking thru the receipts that came with my truck last nite i noticed one for a 13 pin upgrade.....ive checked and it is 13pins, our caravan is the "normal"(i thought) twin 7 pin sockets! could someone tell me there is an adaptor???
thanks, mike.

Yes you can buy an adaptor cable, they cost around £30 though!
It's much cheaper to convert the 'van: just be careful to transfer the wires correctly & seal around the wire entry point to keep water out.
13 pin plugs can be obtained from e-bay or you're local 'van dealers but be very careful not to buy cheap Chinese rubbish: they don't last! Get one with a green cap (seldom found on cheaper ones) as this cap keeps the weather out & allows you to line-up the sockets' innards if they move out of line (not as frightening as it sounds).
The 13 pin connection is more robust & electrically sound so worth doing.

[(RIP) PLANK]

or just put the 7 pin sockets on your truck, it's what i would do! I have changed more of these 13 pin plus in the last year than i have 7 pin ones in the rest of my life!

[Lazy-Ferret]

I got the converter lead when I got my car 1st car with a 13pin socket, but it was about 5 foot long, and so fiddly trying to make sure all the wires were loose enough not to pull, but far enough up not to drag, I got fed up with it... never did work out why it was so ridiculously long.

In the end, I terminated the plug wires of the caravan into 2 x 7 pin sockets, mounted on the A frame cover. On the odd occasion I need to tow the caravan with the old Volvo, which has 2 x 7 pin sockets on the car, I just use 2 Towsure curly plug to plug leads from the caravan to the car sockets.

For the cars that have 13pin sockets, I made my own converter lead using one end of 2 more curly 7 pin leads from Towsure. I took off the plugs at one end, striped off about 6inches of outer cover, then using heat shrink, brought them together as one cable, which I could then feed into a 13 pin socket.

The thing with the sockets on the caravan also means that when parked up, you take the leads right off, so there are no plugs hanging around, and if anyone does want to steal it, not only do they have to sort out the wheel, hitch and steady locks, but find a wire to power the lights before they can tow it away.

[mr tickle]

I bought a 7/13 adaptor plug. About a fiver off the fleabay.

Its cheap but it's worked for me for the last year.

[puddle hoppers inc.]

Originally Posted by mr tickle

I bought a 7/13 adaptor plug. About a fiver off the fleabay.

Its cheap but it's worked for me for the last year.

its in my budget! thanks everyone for replies, so glad i looked before i loaded up, screaming kids, luggage blah blah

[Lazy-Ferret]

Originally Posted by puddle hoppers inc.

its in my budget! thanks everyone for replies, so glad i looked before i loaded up, screaming kids, luggage blah blah

The only trouble with those is they only do the lights excluding the reversing light, and none of the Supplementary wiring.

OK for a trailer, or legally moving a caravan, but no Fridge, Battery charging, or anything else connected to it.

[puddle hoppers inc.]

Originally Posted by Lazy-Ferret

The only trouble with those is they only do the lights excluding the reversing light, and none of the Supplementary wiring.

OK for a trailer, or legally moving a caravan, but no Fridge, Battery charging, or anything else connected to it.

oh, not so good. i converted my 7 pin on the old vectra to have reverse lights, which i think are pretty up there in needs stakes! fridge hasnt been an issue as we have a 3 way what we throw in the boot. thanks for heads up.

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

its a shame that the current 13 pin was standardised, as there was another 13 pin system
where the centre of it was the 12n 7 pin, with the 12s pins around it so could used old
trailer on new car etc.

i'd leave 13 on car as is and get adaptor, or leave as is and wire 2 and 3 sockets to n and s to cover all options.

[zippy656]

Might be better to update the caravan

[micktheshed]

Originally Posted by PLANK

or just put the 7 pin sockets on your truck, it's what i would do! I have changed more of these 13 pin plus in the last year than i have 7 pin ones in the rest of my life!

Hence my remarks about not buying cheap 13 pin Chinese rubbish: they really are junk.

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

a good 13 is supposed to be better than the old 7 types, though not if you have more
than one trailer of differing ages.

nuisance with 12n and s is reverse is on s, if didnt have left and right tails split on n
there would have been room for reverse. after all not that many vehicles have optio
of parking lights on side lights to benefit. Other other use is to spread load of multiple
side markers on trailer i can see.