LED caravan lights,any issues?

[skodacol]

Hi , just in the process of changing my caravan and my new Swift van is fitted with led lights. I have heard that some vehicles fitted with vehicle specific trailer wiring do not recognise the very small voltage drop from an led light so assume they are not on.

My 2018 Kodiaq has a new dedicated wiring kit . Has anyone encountered any issues towing a van with led type lights?

Thanks

[silver1011]

26 minutes ago, skodacol said:

My 2018 Kodiaq has a new dedicated wiring kit.

 

Do you have:

 

1) Factory fitted tow bar

2) Factory fitted tow bar preparation

3) Aftermarket tow bar

 

The only reference I can see in the manual on the effects of LED trailer lights is related to the operation of the anti-theft alarm...

 

Edited 18 November, 2018 by silver1011

[SuperbTWM]

I would assume that if the caravan has factory fit LED lights they will be designed in a way which works with factory fitted towing electrics otherwise that is pretty poor

 

If the lights don't work you will probably get the bulb warning light on the dash presuming you have factory electrics.

[lowedb]

On 18/11/2018 at 23:13, SuperbTWM said:

I would assume that if the caravan has factory fit LED lights they will be designed in a way which works with factory fitted towing electrics otherwise that is pretty poor

 

If the lights don't work you will probably get the bulb warning light on the dash presuming you have factory electrics.

You would assume wrong I'm afraid! Bailey for example had to go back to bulbs after a lot of trouble. Swift I believe have a box available. I've not heard of any issues with Skodas, but that doesn't mean there isn't. Mostly it was issues with JLR products that I saw reported. The problems are caused by the low current draw (rather than voltage drop) and the Sergeant boxes increase the current to fool the car electrics. I believe Swift charge for the boxes. It does mean though you don't get a warning if the lights do fail, though they shouldn't fail.

[skodacol]

Thanks for the replies, I am trying the car with the caravan next week so will see how it works. Further investigation finds that a Sergeant led adapter box is around £40 but only takes a few minutes to plug in to solve the problem.

[silver1011]

I followed a Land Rover Discovery towing a trailer with a climbing wall on the back with LED trailer lights last week.

 

Both indicators were flashing really fast but at about half brightness (presumably the car was checking the function of the rear lights, much in the same way most other manufacturers do, by sending a low amount of power to them and checking for resistance). With regular non-LED bulbs the filaments wouldn't illuminate, but as LED's require much less power to work, they were visibly flashing. When actually indicating they operated as expected.

 

Ironically the Discovery itself was fitted with LED rear lights. You'd think if anyone was going to get it right it would be a company that prides itself on it's towing abilities.

 

Clearly a lot of drivers don't check the operation of their trailer lights before starting their journey either.

 

Edited 21 November, 2018 by silver1011