VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Retrofitting a refrigerator to a Phaeton

Jump to Latest
101 - 120 of 130 Posts
#102 ·
Nope, I do not drink and drive, but being an avid Champagne collector I have to have a bottle in the car at all times. Just think of what it would do to my reputation if I came to visit someone and couldn't produce a cold one in a jiffy!

Here is the current-flow diagram for the fridge:

Image


/per
 
#106 · (Edited)
Ummm...

The SsangYong Turismo 4x4 MPV is two inches shorter than the Phaeton LWB, and look what they can do! (Don't try this at home!) :D

Chris


Image



PS - No, it doesn't have a Fridge... (trying to keep this on-topic!) :D
 
#108 ·
Anyone have a source for the fridge door? New / used?
Instructions would be nice also.

Michael posted parts list a long time ago, about getting the appropriate door and colour

I have fridge, the bracket, the white tunnel, but not the clear-blue door etc.... So far it is a very expensive anchor.
 
#109 ·
CLMims said:
I found a reference to the refrigerator in a wiring diagram in ElsaWin (search for the 2006 W12 with BRN motor) for "Fuse Assignment S, SB, SC, SD, SE (2 battery)" - it appears the left-side-battery fuse panel ("C") in the trunk uses fuse #SC5 to send power to an auxiliary fuse panel:

Image


This auxiliary fuse panel ("S") contains several fuses and a relay:
1. S333 - Fuse for DVD player
2. S334 - Fuse for Relay (fridge/fax/folding table)
3. J735 - Relay for Fax Unit and Refrigerator
4. S255 - Fuse for Refrigerator
5. S249 - Fuse for fax unit
6. S332 - Fuse for Folding table

From the wiring diagram below:
Fuse S255 has a red/blue wire going to pin 1 of the 5-pin Refrigerator plug;
Relay J735 has a black/yellow wire wire going to pin 3 of the 5-pin plug.
(The black wire from the relay connects to a blue/black wire going to Fuse SC22 in a subsequent picture, not shown here)

On the DVD Changer wiring diagram, I found an additional reference to the above mentioned pinouts, plus it had a brown wire going to pin 2 (it was tied to #249 "Earth Connection 2 in interior wring harness")

That is as far as I could get - not sure if the other two pins in the T5g plug for the J699 Refrigerator connect to anything else or not!

Chris

Image
Click to expand...

I Installed (partly) - (my fridge did not come with the clear blue door)... (Grrr to the seller) a bit not cool without all the parts... Shame on me for not researching more. Also missing the attachment to the trunk floor.

However, the euro wiring is quite simple. The fridge unit has 3 wires, THE CONNECTOR IS CALLED T5g
Pin 1 - battery voltage (through fuse S255 on the non-existing extra fuse panel in the NAR cars.) 10 amp fuse
Pin 2 - Ground - easy
Pin 3 - a controlled on/off voltage wire -this is a bit over engineered, the wire is switched by the relay in the missing aux fuse panel, then once in the fridge itself, this wire triggers a another simple relay to interrupt the battery power coming from pin 1. In the diagram,this is fused at 10 amps, but the only load on it is to close the relay mounted on the fridge. The actual fridge runs on the 10 amp circuit on pin 1 - this pin 3 power is ultimately controlled(before the relays) here by what is labeled as 299 and connected via the missing T8u plug (8 pin) (pin3) on NAR CARS

Basically on the fridge, as long as there is ground on pin 2, and 12 V on pins 1 and 3 the fridge runs. The lights inside are on all the time, even if the rotary temp control inside the fridge is turned off

There are 2 unknowns to me at this point,
First, - does the car normally shut down the power on pin 1 as battery power dies? I know the shutdown sequence is written somewhere, but not sure if this is done by the car on the main battery power (generally called terminal 30 in euro wiring) or it might be done by the the little controller within the fridge, or it might be done via the mystery wire on pin 3 going to the fridge.
Second, so far we have no idea about the on/off logic of the mystery wire (299) - when does the car decide to tour this off and on? Since it does not exist on the NAR diagram, I can't know, if I had a euro diagram I might trace it. If I could find out another wire that switches off early in the shut down sequence I will use it.

Now all this aside, I did the following:
I found a nice 3 wire connector, (male and female) and chopped off the factor plug (T5g) on the fridge.

Pin 1 - connected to the power in the trunk, cigarette lighter thing, it can easily handle the 10 amps, - is already fused, and it might, (MIGHT) already be part of the car's shutdown plan, it should be fairly early in the sequence, I can't see trunk aux power having very high priority.
Pin 2 - wired to ground point just aft of lhs battery, (near taillight)
Pin 3 - I wired a little manual switch from the power socket, over to pin 3 - this way, I can very simply shut the fridge completely off myself. Will mount this nicely, if nothing becomes of this message.

Might get daring and leave the thing running overnight, when I have time to recharge in the morning. (In case it never shuts down the aux power circuit as volts drop)

For now, I have cold drinks - and a simple on-off switch.
I don't have the clear blue door and appropriate thicker armrest - grrrr any help here appreciated. For now I am just cooling the factory armrest.
 
Discussion starter · #110 ·
Hi Bruce:

Just a 'head's up' for you - that additional fuse panel referenced in the first illustration you posted above is not standard fitment on Phaetons. I've only ever seen it installed on vehicles that have factory-installed fridges, DVD entertainment systems in the front seat headrests, fax machines, work tables, etc. I've never seen it installed in a NAR (North American Region) specification Phaeton.

Below is a photo - not a particularly good one - of that panel. I took this photo of a Phaeton in a wrecking yard in the UK in 2007. It had several of the above-mentioned items installed.

Michael

Supplemental Fuse Panel
 
#111 ·
Yup, no question I have no aux fuse panel.
The reason I included that pic was to be able to make reference to the ROW cars.

The secret to getting this working in NAR cars is to figure out where that little 299 wires comes from. It has not been discussed as far as I scoured.

Do ROW cars with fridge have any fridge on/off control via infotainment?
 
#112 ·
I installed in my P the DVD system that Michael mentions removing from the wreck in his post above. With it came the aux fuse panel as photographed. As I recall the way the unit works is as follows. If the DVD system is used without the engine running it powers off when voltage drops below a preset level. I do not believe this is controlled by the normal Phaeton power management function, but by a small module associated with the DVD system. However I can't be certain if this module was in the Aux fuse panel, or in the wiring loom for the DVD player, however my best recollection (90%) is that was in the wiring loom, clipped onto the back of the DVD unit. It appeared to be a relay that opened below a preset voltage to prevent power drain. Not sure if this helps on the fridge, but might be a pointer.
Hugh
Dublin
 
#113 ·
Yes, according to the diagram, the relay J735 will kill power to all three (fax, fridge and DVD) at the same time.

This happens when "mystery wire" 299 drops down. (J735 opens)

There is a possibility that the units themselves turn themselves off too, but for the fridge, I am pretty suspicious that is done by "299"
I say this because the lights inside the fridge will stay on all the time, as long as 299 is high (relay J735 - closed) even with the temp knob all the way off. Seems to me there should be some car logic to shut this circuit down, even based on a long time, not necessisarily based on voltage alone.

Thanks for the info about the DVD - hopefully someone pipes in with more info about 299, it would be nice to find a common point in the electrical diagram between NAR and ROW cars - then I could activate my relay with e proper power source.
 
Discussion starter · #114 ·
Bruce:

Help me out here, because I am having trouble identifying the '299' wire you refer to.

I see a couple of wires labelled J699, and a series of tracks from track 253 to 266 on the diagram you posted, but no '299'. Are you referring to a wire number or to a track number that is off the diagram (meaning, to the right of the page of the diagram that you posted)?

If you are referring to the number 299 that is in the rectangle on track 263, that rectangle means "go to track 299 and the continuation of this wire will then appear there".

Michael
 
Discussion starter · #115 ·
#116 ·
Ok.
That helps haha
On that drawing, looking at track 263, the wire in Question continues on track 299

It is the +ve 12V going to the relay

Trying to figure an equivalently controlled signal on NAR cars

I hope this is helping others - not just adding confusion :)
 
#117 ·
referring to the parts diagram below...
Has anyone found a way to buy just part number 44?
If anyone out there has a ROW parts ETK, can you try to send me the actual part numbers for the parts 37,39, 41, and 44, 45, 46

I will start scouring the world for the right door for the fridge. but having the part number would help.

Image
 
Discussion starter · #118 ·
cbh123 said:
Trying to figure an equivalently controlled signal on NAR cars
Click to expand...
Hi Bruce:

I think that what you want is a source of "terminal 15" power, in other words, power that is switched on and off with the vehicle ignition.

If you have a look at sheet 1/13 of Phaeton wiring diagram 1 (Fuse and relay locations), you will see that fuse 20 above the left battery is open. This is terminal 15 power, used for the trailer towing controller (not offered in North America). But, it is only a 5 amp source of power. Perhaps you could use that fuse location to power a relay that switches on and off terminal 30 power that you source from somewhere else. For example, fuse 5 in that same location is open, it provides terminal 30 power, rated for (presumably) a high amperage, considering its location and the size of fuse it takes... maybe that could be the primary power source for your fridge.

Michael
 
#119 ·
I might do that, however, since I am a bit of a tech geek, it is appealing to me to find the appropriate circuit that is somewhere in the shutdown hierarchy - for the times I drive to an afternoon BBQ, some cool refreshments would be nice to have on standby - without the car running. I can always recharge when I get home
 
#120 ·
Does anyone know of any of these fridges for sale or of any vehicles being broken up that has one in? I'd love one for the four seater I've just acquired.

Are they still available from VW? Although I doubt I'd pay dealer prices for one, it's a possible option.
 
101 - 120 of 130 Posts
About this Discussion
129 Replies
40 Participants
Last post:
AJL44
VW Vortex - Volkswagen Forum
posts
85M
members
1.5M
Since
2001
A forum community dedicated to all Volkswagen owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, builds, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, new releases, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
The Car Lounge Golf IV & Jetta IV Golf III & Jetta III Golf II & Jetta II Golf IV/Jetta IV Parts