Passat b7 estate towbar relay wiring

[jeepster1961]

hi all, fitted a towbar to my passat and started the wiring today. I use a by pass relay and 13 pin socket.

Ive wired all of the connections then used a temporary lead from the battery to power the relay so that i could do some testing. At the moment just wiring the lights.

I have read a couple of posts where people wired the 12 volt feed for the lighting relay to the cars 12 volt boot socket. I appreciate that this isnt a permanent live but what do you think about doing this and what did you do, the alternative is to wire from the battery directly to the relay or find a spare permanent 12 volt fee in the fusebox.

If I was wiring a relay to power a caravan fridge or charge the caravan battery then i would run a wire to the battery. If i do go down that route then i will have to find a way of getting the wire into the engine bay from the glove box or fusebox

[Flash2]

I appreciate that this isnt a permanent live but what do you think about doing this

There is no real problem with doing that, except that the lights that you might want to use without the ignition being on wont work on your trailer/caravan. If you break down, for example, and need the hazard lights. The hazard lights on the trailer wont work unless the ignition is on.

[jeepster1961]

hi, picked the van up yesterday, ended up running a wire ( with fuse) direct from the battery to the 7 way relay.

All working great, will probably fit a cut off switch under the bonnet as this wire is permantely live down as far as the relay in the boot, and thanks for the input

[Flash2]

will probably fit a cut off switch under the bonnet as this wire is permantely live down as far as the relay in the boot

Hopefully you fitted the fuse up at the battery? If so there is no need for a cut off switch. The fuse will automatically cut off the power if a problem develops anywhere between the fuse and the relay.

[jeepster1961]

Hopefully you fitted the fuse up at the battery? If so there is no need for a cut off switch. The fuse will automatically cut off the power if a problem develops anywhere between the fuse and the relay.

Hi flash, the relay has 2 fuses fitted before the relay, one for each side of the car, , ive seen a kit made for my car by a company named ecs and will probably be fitting one of them