An update on Skoda Superb tow bar electrics. Previous threads discussed the issue that the standard Skoda factory and dealer fitted options for the Superb II did not provide for power via the 13 pin socket to enable caravan battery charging or fridge operation when the car engine was running - the usual regime for caravaners. When taking delivery of my Superb from Allams early in March, they advised Skoda UK had withdrawn approval to the electrics kit fitted, and my car would be retro-fitted with a compliant system in April. Since then I have been chasing Skoda UK and Allams, who, when they bother to reply at all, are unable to give me any information on when a solution might be available. Any auto-electrician with tow-bar fitting experience would be able to fit two relay switched correctly sized additional cables for pins 10 and 11 but my dealer and/or Skoda UK seem unwilling to do anything. Even direct contacts with Skoda UK this week have provided me with no definite information as to whether they are working on a solution, and what might be a date for retro-fitting it. So with last warnings issued to them both, it looks like July will mean appointing a specialist myself and if necessary seeking a county court judgement against the dealer to reclaim the cost. Perhaps a tirade in this and the many caravan forums and what-tow-car will stir someone into definite action. In the meantime if there are any prospective Superb II owners who want tow bars, beware of the Skoda accessory electrics - with it the car may not be fit for your purpose. A pity as the car is otherwise superb.

Dear Caravanman,

Thanks for this update. I'm considering a Superb (Combi) myself and spotted this problem while looking at the electric diagrams. Please keep us updated on any progress, because I might need the same solution whenever I decide it is really time for a new car.

Edited 6 June, 200917 yr by DGW
No need to quote OP.

Just out of interest, how much did you pay to have the tow bar/electrics as an option?

At least it means you can't block the road with your caravan

At least it means you can't block the road with your caravan

Uh-oh! :eek:

Ray

but my dealer and/or Skoda UK seem unwilling to do anything. Even direct contacts with Skoda UK this week have provided me with no definite information as to whether they are working on a solution

Now there's a surprise;)

I would always go aftermarket anyhow , often neater more practical options

I would always go aftermarket anyhow , often neater more practical options

Depends on if they need holes drilling in the body. OE ones rarely do, but having said that, good aftermarket ones often don't. I've always rated Thule Towing Systems, but quite often they make the OE ones anyway.

As far as electrics go, I have a thing about scotchloks and also about cutting cables, so if an OE kit exists which avoids it, that's a good thing. The best car I've ever seen for this was the Mk2 Golf, that had a set of spade terminals on the rear lights to connect to.

Just out of interest, how much did you pay to have the tow bar/electrics as an option?

Prices were as per the accessory catalog for factory fitted tow bar prep (£113); and dealer fitted tow bar electrics £127, actual removable tow bar (£200) and dealer fitting (£280). Yes, loads of money, but in my view the best engineered (except for the wiring!) and neatest on the market. Rapidly plugs and locks into a socket under the car, no bodywork mods, hinge down sprung Euro socket, and nothing shows at all when tow bar is removed. Even has its own designed storage space in spare wheel carrier. Have pics to show if you PM me.

At least it means you can't block the road with your caravan

Babs, I shouldn't really rise to the bait but of course the lack of connections to pins 10 and 11 doesn't stop me touring with the caravan - it is fully legal to do so. It does however give me big problems manouvering the van on sites and storage facilities - I would take too long to explain why here. I am sure I do hold up other cars on single carriageway roads - the law says I can only do 50mph, with a limit for some of 60. However you would perhaps be surprised how much I get held up on dual carriageways, trying to cruise at my legal limit of 60, with many cars and others crawling less than that. Of course I wouldn't want this thread to divert to the usual caravan/cars moan and take attention away from my warning of the Skoda problem and their appalling handling of it.

An update on Skoda Superb tow bar electrics. Previous threads discussed the issue that the standard Skoda factory and dealer fitted options for the Superb II did not provide for power via the 13 pin socket to enable caravan battery charging or fridge operation when the car engine was running - the usual regime for caravaners. When taking delivery of my Superb from Allams early in March, they advised Skoda UK had withdrawn approval to the electrics kit fitted, and my car would be retro-fitted with a compliant system in April. Since then I have been chasing Skoda UK and Allams, who, when they bother to reply at all, are unable to give me any information on when a solution might be available. Any auto-electrician with tow-bar fitting experience would be able to fit two relay switched correctly sized additional cables for pins 10 and 11 but my dealer and/or Skoda UK seem unwilling to do anything. Even direct contacts with Skoda UK this week have provided me with no definite information as to whether they are working on a solution, and what might be a date for retro-fitting it. So with last warnings issued to them both, it looks like July will mean appointing a specialist myself and if necessary seeking a county court judgement against the dealer to reclaim the cost. Perhaps a tirade in this and the many caravan forums and what-tow-car will stir someone into definite action. In the meantime if there are any prospective Superb II owners who want tow bars, beware of the Skoda accessory electrics - with it the car may not be fit for your purpose. A pity as the car is otherwise superb.

Hi Caravan_man

Sorry to hear about your problems, but I think I would prefer to do the job myself, I have seen wiring jobs done by both Dealers, and I hate to say this but even some tow-bar fitters(admitting not all) but the main problem is the size of the cable they use, its usually too thin, and when you take into account the run from the front of the car to the middle of the caravan, you need very thick cable, my suggestion is at least 10mmsq.

Admitting my system is a bit over the top, but I need to power a winch on the trailer I tow, but I have 50mm cable from the front of the car to the back and then into the Smartcom and into the sockets

but have very little volts drop when it gets to the Fridge/battery, I can make ice in the fridge after a short running time.

Radiotwo

I have 50mm cable from the front of the car to the back

Crikey. Where did you hide it?

Babs, I shouldn't really rise to the bait but of course the lack of connections to pins 10 and 11 doesn't stop me touring with the caravan - it is fully legal to do so. It does however give me big problems manouvering the van on sites and storage facilities - I would take too long to explain why here. I am sure I do hold up other cars on single carriageway roads - the law says I can only do 50mph, with a limit for some of 60. However you would perhaps be surprised how much I get held up on dual carriageways, trying to cruise at my legal limit of 60, with many cars and others crawling less than that. Of course I wouldn't want this thread to divert to the usual caravan/cars moan and take attention away from my warning of the Skoda problem and their appalling handling of it.

Just tell all that to the five separate imbeciles who pulled out on me on the M6, M5 and M50 last Thursday causing me to either perform an emergency braking manoeuvre or swerve to avoid the large fibreglass hell-holes strapped to the back of their cars, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there are other road users around them.

Lets hope Top Gear and Brainiac step-up their caravan-killing

50mm cable !!!!:eyepop:

Crikey. Where did you hide it?

Well Thats a good one, I am not using a Skoda for my towing, but the same princples are the same the thicker the better.

and as for hideing it, I don't (as such) I run it down the chassis leg from the battery, along the chassis (fastened with cable ties) and then up into the boot

As I have said that for most people 10mm is fine but dont skimp on connections.

10mm cable will take more power than a single 12v battery can produce , 50mm cable will run a electricity sub station !!!

10mm cable will take more power than a single 12v battery can produce , 50mm cable will run a electricity sub station !!!

You know too much about electric's then?

Radiotwo

I know that there is no application on a car which need 50mm cable :)

I know that there is no application on a car which need 50mm cable :)

I will just remind you :

Admitting my system is a bit over the top, but I need to power a winch on the trailer I tow, but I have 50mm cable from the front of the car to the back and then into the Smartcom and into the sockets

Just in case you did not read the first time

Radiotwo

I read it thanks but its bad advice for anyone thinking of fitting a towbar and will confuse some people into thinking that is what is required.

50mm is far to big and not required as (if you read my post properly) much smaller cable can draw more than a normal car battery can physically supply

are you sure you dont mean 5mm ??

back to the point..

we bought an OEM skoda towbar but NOT the electric kit. My local aftermarket towbar guy will be fitting the bar using a wesfalia VAG wiring kit which is vehicle specific. It does all the fancy stuff - disable rear parking sensors, activates railer stability control, disables fog lights, and importantly provides fridge/charging as required. The bar is the genuine skoda one but will still require a bumper cut . The removeable bit will fit the cut out in the spare wheel well.

all in all I get the best of both worlds. I sympathise with your predicament but stress that there is a LOT of info on this subject on here and as a result of this very good info I chose not to spec my car with the factory wiring kit. Even my local dealer told me not to bother with the skoda kit as they were aware of the wiring issue (they have a trailer with a winch and discovered it did not work -the aftermarket guy who is fitting my bar sorted their extra wiring out for their winch for them.

This problem is not unique to skoda - i have read about audi and VW customers with the same problem. its down to the fac that EU spec is different to UK spec. Its pretty poor that they done convert it for the UK market - afterall they move the steerign wheel to the correct side so a couple of extra wires shoudl be no problem !!!

Allams - they are great until they have your money...then their afersales is ...well...lets say "variable". like you say "when they bother to reply" . I have had many promised phonecalls that simply did not happen and I have had to chase them re my alarm problem. you would think that as I am one step from rejection they would bend over backwards to phone me when they say they will.

I read it thanks but its bad advice for anyone thinking of fitting a towbar and will confuse some people into thinking that is what is required.

50mm is far to big and not required as (if you read my post properly) much smaller cable can draw more than a normal car battery can physically supply

Sorry Richf

"much smaller cable can draw more than a normal car battery can physically supply"

I don't think so, a battery can supply in the region of 1000Amps, you drop a spanner across the posts and it will glow red within a few secs

But its not bad advice, I said I have fitted to mine for a reason, as I need to draw approx 200 amps over a cable run of 6/7 Mts, if I run any thing less it would just burn out.

but again as I said, for a setup for supplying electrics to the sockets for a towcar you need something at least 10mm.

examples of current draw:

fridge >10 Amps

battary charge >20 Amps

the new ATC system >10 amps

so unless I have left any thing out, thats 40 amps over a length of about 7mts

the recomondation is:84/0.30mm, 6mm2, 42amp, but that only for a short length, so for anything over a couple of mts, this needs to be thicker the longer you go.

So yes I think 10mm2 is not too thick for todays caravaning systems

Radiotwo

Edited 7 June, 200917 yr by RADIOTWO

Just tell all that to the five separate imbeciles who pulled out on me on the M6, M5 and M50 last Thursday causing me to either perform an emergency braking manoeuvre or swerve to avoid the large fibreglass hell-holes strapped to the back of their cars, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there are other road users around them.

Lets hope Top Gear and Brainiac step-up their caravan-killing

Your not wrong there Babs,I live in the shadow of snowdon and from april till october these plastic sardine boxes make our lives a living hell my son is in the armoured royal engineers and he said he'll fit surface to air missiles on the front of my superb I will be the welsh stealth fighter "nuke em":thumbup:

Sorry Richf

"much smaller cable can draw more than a normal car battery can physically supply"

I don't think so, a battery can supply in the region of 1000Amps, you drop a spanner across the posts and it will glow red within a few secs

But its not bad advice, I said I have fitted to mine for a reason, as I need to draw approx 200 amps over a cable run of 6/7 Mts, if I run any thing less it would just burn out.

but again as I said, for a setup for supplying electrics to the sockets for a towcar you need something at least 10mm.

examples of current draw:

fridge >10 Amps

battary charge >20 Amps

the new ATC system >10 amps

so unless I have left any thing out, thats 40 amps over a length of about 7mts

the recomondation is:84/0.30mm, 6mm2, 42amp, but that only for a short length, so for anything over a couple of mts, this needs to be thicker the longer you go.

So yes I think 10mm2 is not too thick for todays caravaning systems

Radiotwo

creating a dead short on a battery is NOT the same as drawing current from it .

50mm cable is simply ridiculous there is not enough power in the cars system to allow you to draw a constant 40amps