A Warning about Tow Bar Wiring

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  • January 4, 2015 at 11:48 pm #11334
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    Some of the members will remember me recounting my experience when I had a Tow Bar fitted to my Mercedes, and the antics of the PILLOCK who fitted it, Just two weeks ago I wheeled out the trailer to go and collect the Trusty that I had bought, I connected the trailer plug and checked that all the lights and indicators worked, pulled into the road, put on the hazard lights while I locked the gates to the barn, I then noticed smoke pouring out of the car! I ran over and opened the boot and flames shot out of the right hand side(by the wiring loom) a good samara tan stopped and called the fire brigade, while I tried to smother the flames without success the big worry was the 50 Litres of petrol that I had in the tank, I remembered that I had a bucket of water inside the barn and used that to put out the fire.

    The car is a write off, so not a good start to Christmas week for me! the insurance payout is a joke, so ma very expensive lesson for me, !/ make sure your towbar wiring is done by a trained workman 2/ always carry a fire extinguisher! £/ always inspect the wiring on your trailer. Im short , I have no idea why it all went up in flames, I thought that car fuses were there to prevent wires from overheating? any ideas?

    January 5, 2015 at 8:50 am #11337
    charlie
    Keymaster

    Very sorry to hear of your loss.
    A fuse will only blow when the current drawn exceeds its rated limit, usually caused by a short circuit to earth. Two possible causes of fire, insulation on wires rubbing through and exposing conductors; this can happen if wiring goes through hole in bodywork without a proper grommet. Another possibility is high resistance joint, where trailer wiring is teed in, this could overheat without fuse blowing. If the cause of the fire can be proved to be due to poor workmanship of towbar fitter then there might be a chance of claiming from his insurance.
    Don’t accept first offer from insurance company, argue a good case for them to pay what you need.

    January 5, 2015 at 11:01 am #11339
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    Sorry to read about your troubles, I have an extinguisher in a caravan, from now on I will transfer to the car when not using the van. Follow charlies advice on that first offer.

    January 7, 2015 at 8:35 pm #11360
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    I wonder if it is possible to rig up a separate fuse board between the loom in the car and the socket? I was thinking that in the old days you had a simple fuse holder for the radio power lead, could I have a number of those , one for each wire going to the socket? that would prevent a fire wouldn,t it? might sound daft, but I am picking up the replacement car tomorrow, and I never want to see another one bunt out!

    January 8, 2015 at 9:59 am #11363
    charlie
    Keymaster

    Simplest option would be to buy a fuse holder like this and mount it in the boot. A 6 way will do as the 7th wire is an earth. Fuses will need rating to handle load but not too much more. Amps = Watts/V eg if trailer brake lights are rated at 21W each both are fed from pin 6 so 2×21=42Watts, 42/12=3.5A a 4A fuse should do it.
    Disclaimer, I can not guarantee any of my calculations are 100% correct.

    January 9, 2015 at 10:54 pm #11394
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    That is very good advise Charlie, I will do it, the fuse holder seems just the job, I still cant get over the shock of the fire, not something I ever thought about!

    January 14, 2015 at 2:06 am #11440
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    You can get wiring kits for most cars now, how old was your car??

    Most need an extra booster box as the standard wiring is not man enough to take extra load if you just clip any old wire up to it with a good old scotch lock

    Fitted a tow bar to my works van before Xmas, the kit was just a plug & play.

    Sounds like, who ever fitted your electrics is at fault

    January 14, 2015 at 7:56 am #11441
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    I had tow hitch fitted to a VW two years ago. To cut down wire cost the stop and rear light is a single wire and bulb. Fitter told me the brake light switch sends higher wattage along the single wire to brighten it for the stop light. As mentioned needs the right wire kit. Might be your replacement car has the two wires set up.

    January 16, 2015 at 1:28 am #11458
    vhgmcbuddy
    Member

    Well , Thank you all for your comments, I did buy the correct wiring set when I bought the towbar, I dont know if the fact that i put the hazards on was the problem, perhaps it overloaded the loom? I must say i phoned the towbar supplier up for their opinion, (They did not fit the towbar) but thought the relay should have prevented the overheating, but i dont think the chap was a specialist electician, I think seperate fuses as mentioned above is the way I will go with the next one, It,s been a very expensive Christmas this year! ps I have just bought a Fire Extinguisher!

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