4 wire to 7 round adapter

[dcs02d]

Hi all,

I'm picking up a new Scamp 13 in a few weeks... I did not order electric brakes for the trailer but I see the trailer still comes with a 7 way round connector.

Can I simply purchase a converter and use my flat 4 pin connector or do I need to go ahead and install the 7 pin connector and wire it up to the van?

[sokhapkin]

You need to install and wire 7 pin connector on the van. 4 pin connector misses battery charge line and backup lights circuits which Scamp needs.

[BillE]

Don,

You can use a 4 pin (car) to a 7 pin (trailer) adapter. Being there are no electric brakes it wont matter. IF you had ordered brakes, they would not work.

The adapter will allow operation of brake and tail lights.

That is how I towed mine home last year.

Have fun..see you on the road.

Bill

[dcs02d]

Thanks for the replies guys... I'm watching the owner manual videos now

It looks like I can run the fridge on gas, 120V or 12V

I suppose if I want to run the fridge on 12V while driving I need that plug to charge the battery but if I only need legal trailer lights the adapter is just fine.

Is that correct?

[BillE]

Don

you are right....if you want the battery to charge during driving....you will need a 7 pin plug.

Bill

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by dcs02d

I suppose if I want to run the fridge on 12V while driving I need that plug to charge the battery

However, if you run the fridge on 12V while driving there will not be enough additional charge delivered by the tow vehicle to charge the trailer battery. So, if your battery is depleted when you leave one camp, it will be in the same state when you arrive at the next.
Which is why I went with a 120V/propane fridge instead of three way and I sometimes run the fridge on propane while driving.

[rdickens]

I picked up a Hopkins MultiTow adapter at Northern Tool.

It has a 4-pin plug that plugged into my vehicle and adapted those wires to both another 4-pin flat and a 7-pin round connector. I then ran a 12v hot wire from the 7-pin round connector up to the engine compartment. I didn't try to tap into the backup lights wiring or the brake pedal circuit.

Good luck! 😊

Ray


Sent from my iPad using Fiberglass RV

[ZachO]

As Glen said, not a good idea to run the fridge on 12V while driving. Others have different experiences, but I drove 8 hours at highway speeds with the fridge off, and the amount of charge my battery received was pretty much unmeasurable.

If you know a little about electricity you'll know that the little 14gauge wire they supply with the brake controller kit, run from your engine compartment all the way down the length of your tow vehicle, through several splice/connections to your camper battery isn't going to charge anything. Could hardly even be called a trickle charge. So if you run the fridge, you're draining the battery. If done correctly with very large wire you can get some charge, but if you get the typical kit it's pretty much useless as far as battery charging goes.

And yeah, the adapter will work.

[dcs02d]

Ok... it sounds like I just want the adapter and I suppose I can run the fridge on propane while driving?

Do other people do that aside from the potential fire hazard in a crash does it matter?

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by dcs02d

Ok... it sounds like I just want the adapter and I suppose I can run the fridge on propane while driving?

Do other people do that aside from the potential fire hazard in a crash does it matter?

I do that. When I started 4 years ago, I followed the advise that Scamp gives, i.e. turn off the gas while driving. The fridge will stay cool for a long time after the contents are cold, and we always start with frozen water bottles in the freezer compartment.

However, some of our ten-hour days are too long for that. So I run the fridge on propane while driving. One thing to watch out for is that sometimes the pilot goes out due to turbulent air flow on windy days (especially with head winds).

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by sokhapkin

You need to install and wire 7 pin connector on the van. 4 pin connector misses battery charge line and backup lights circuits which Scamp needs.

"Backup Lights"? ParkLiner puts rear lights on with backup lights.
But I can find no state regulations where they are required.
The 7th pin is marked "Auxiliary" which could be used for reversing lights, but my SUV has no such connection.

[sokhapkin]

BU lights are not required, but are handy when backing up the trailer in the dark. Battery charge line is not required too, but you need it :-)

[Raz]

Originally Posted by ZachO

I drove 8 hours at highway speeds with the fridge off, and the amount of charge my battery received was pretty much unmeasurable.
.

Check your wiring. While the size of the charge line does determine the charging current even an undersized line should charge a battery given enough time. If wired correctly the voltage across the battery should increase when the vehicle is running. If not you don't have a good connection.