Beak away brakes on trailer

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

Good evening everyone. I have a question to ask. My tractor hauling trailer; 16' long by 7'wide was burned in a
grass fire set by a neighbor and it got away from him. It also burned a storage building, 12 privacy fence trees
3 dogwoods and many azaleas and was with in 100' or so from my shop when the local fire dept finally got it
stopped. He had no insurance of any sort and the house belongs to his father who lives elsewhere. My home owners
covered most of it and he finally came through with paying my deductible on the claim.

The trailer is a 1999 model that originally came with brakes only on the front axle. I talked with a local firm
that builds trailers and he looked at it. They took it to their plant stripped it to the frame sand blasted it
replaced both axles with Dexter 3500# axles and all have brakes now. They replaced the fenders,did all the lights, springs and
suspension parts, new tires and rims including the spare tires and painted it for ~$500,00 less than buying another one. So now I basically
have a new trailer My question is this. It was upgraded to have the trailer breakaway unit with the battery. My trailer plug setup has the extra hot wire that is sometimes used for backup lights or something. This wire is a #
10 AWG wire that is connected to a circuit breaker that comes from the truck battery and then goes back to the plug for
what ever. If I connect this wire to the breakaway battery to charge it will it be too much or what and will it
need something like a diode in the line to prevent it from affecting the truck battery. This is my first time
dealing with a breakaway system on the brakes. Only name I could find on the unit is Phoenix Thanks for helping
me out. Gene Davis Tennille, Ga.

 

[Janicholson]

Make sure the ground is as capable as the supply. putting a 50 amp diode in the wire (truck side of connector)prevents feeding the truck with that battery. Jim

 

[Steve@Advance]

The trailer plug should have come with the break away battery charge wire already connected when you got it back.

There should already be a diode in the battery box.

The battery wire from the truck should already be connected to the truck receptacle. Just be sure it is on the same terminal as the break away battery, all will be good.

 

[Moonlite37]

I do not see how the brakes could get power if the trailer hitch comes loose from the truck.

 

[Jim.ME]

(quoted from post at 19:43:10 10/11/21) Good evening everyone. I have a question to ask. My tractor hauling trailer; 16' long by 7'wide was burned in a
grass fire set by a neighbor and it got away from him. It also burned a storage building, 12 privacy fence trees
3 dogwoods and many azaleas and was with in 100' or so from my shop when the local fire dept finally got it
stopped. He had no insurance of any sort and the house belongs to his father who lives elsewhere. My home owners
covered most of it and he finally came through with paying my deductible on the claim.

The trailer is a 1999 model that originally came with brakes only on the front axle. I talked with a local firm
that builds trailers and he looked at it. They took it to their plant stripped it to the frame sand blasted it
replaced both axles with Dexter 3500# axles and all have brakes now. They replaced the fenders,did all the lights, springs and
suspension parts, new tires and rims including the spare tires and painted it for ~$500,00 less than buying another one. So now I basically
have a new trailer My question is this. It was upgraded to have the trailer breakaway unit with the battery. My trailer plug setup has the extra hot wire that is sometimes used for backup lights or something. This wire is a #
10 AWG wire that is connected to a circuit breaker that comes from the truck battery and then goes back to the plug for
what ever. If I connect this wire to the breakaway battery to charge it will it be too much or what and will it
need something like a diode in the line to prevent it from affecting the truck battery. This is my first time
dealing with a breakaway system on the brakes. Only name I could find on the unit is Phoenix Thanks for helping
me out. Gene Davis Tennille, Ga.

I would ask the people at the place that upgraded/added it for the instructions for it. I have a couple Curt systems and they have small chargers in the battery boxes, with the batteries. The chargers are supplied by that auxiliary power wire you mentioned. It protects the battery from overcharge.

 

[Pete in MD]

There should be a breakaway switch on the trailer. If the the trailer breaks away the plug on the switch gets pulled out and connects the trailer battery to the trailer brakes.

 

[Gene Davis (Ga.)]

Have a #10 AWG white wire from the negative post on truck battery all the way back for the ground wire.

 

[Carlmac 369]

(quoted from post at 22:10:38 10/11/21) I do not see how the brakes could get power if the trailer hitch comes loose from the truck.

There is, or should be, a dedicated ground wire in the trailer plug connector. Anyone depending on the hitch for grounding lights and brakes is a fool.

There is a battery on the trailer that applies the brakes when the hitch disconnects and pulls the cable activating the break away switch.

That's what the discussed power wire is for, to charge that battery.

 

[Stephen Newell]

It would be alright. The battery needs to be connected to your charging system when in operation or every time you used the brakes it would drain the battery. You should also get a battery maintainer charger to keep the battery up when not in use.

 

[Stephen Newell]

There is a cable connected to the pulling vehicle that when pulled it activates a switch running off the trailer battery to activate the brakes. It's a little battery but only has to work the brakes once.

 

[Keith True]

Everything you need is built into the battery box for the little battery.You don't need to add anything.There is no connection between the little battery and the brakes until the bung is pulled out of the switch.That little battery has no effect on the regular operation of the brakes.The better kits have a button on the top and when you push it you get a red,yellow,or green showing the condition of the battery.I have a couple on trailers that I never bothered to hook up the charge wire.My old trucks didn't have a prewired accessory circuit.I just hook the trickle charger to it once a year.One warning I have is that if you are using a POD brand controller,do NOT pull that switch bung out with the trailer plugged in.It will blow the controller.I think it is a poor deisgned controller that lets that happen,but read the manual that comes with the controller.It spells it out clearly.

 

[Jim.ME]

Like about everything in this world not all are the same. True the battery can charge from the aux power wire, if hooked up correctly. Some systems do have recommended chargers that go in the battery box. They can be included or optional. I think their biggest function is battery protection and stabilization of the charge the battery receives.

Getting the instruction for the brake controller and breakaway system is important.

This post was edited by Jim.ME on 10/12/2021 at 03:13 am.

 

[John M]

Yes, use the hot wire in the plug to charge the small battery. Wont hurt anything if everything else is wired right.

 

[showcrop]

If you are like many of us and your trailer sits for five months a year it is a good idea to bring the battery in and put it on a float charger for the off season.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Better call Rogers Brothers and tell them theyre
doing it wrong. Been grounded through the hitch for
40 years.

 

[Jim.ME]

(quoted from post at 09:51:01 10/12/21) Better call Rogers Brothers and tell them theyre
doing it wrong. Been grounded through the hitch for
40 years.

You might want to check with them yourself. The Rogers trailers I have worked on were wired to SAE 7 pole configuration and include a ground wire in the plug going to the trailer frame. (Which matches the 7 pole socket on the trucks/tractors which include a ground wire.)

 

[Carlmac 369]

(quoted from post at 11:51:01 10/12/21) Better call Rogers Brothers and tell them theyre
doing it wrong. Been grounded through the hitch for
40 years.

Right. Sure they have.

That statement calls into question the accuracy of any other advice you may tender.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 06:51:01 10/12/21) Better call Rogers Brothers and tell them theyre
doing it wrong. Been grounded through the hitch for
40 years.

Fritz, yes it CAN ground through the hitch, but most people have a strong preference for "will" over "can", LOL.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Ok. All the trailers you worked on dont. All the
trailers I have, do. That better? I never said they all
did, or that it would go on forever. Hitch grounding
is desirable in our area because of the corrosion
factor. Running a ground through 3 plugs is too
much trouble when they get dirty. Ground the lights
to the trailer and run the tractor ground to some
easily inspected/ maintained place on the frame.
Eliminates 3 possible faulty ground connections. As
the lights go out you have only to inspect the
ground for that light or group. Also with trailer
grounding, you dont lose the whole dang trailer to
a bad ground when its dark and youre trying to get
home.

 

[Jim.ME]

I agree dirty connectors can be a problem. I didn't say they won't ground through the hitch. Unless a hitch is made of non-conductive material, trailers will all ground through the hitch, but it can be intermittent during travel. My point was there has been a ground wire included in trailer wiring connectors for over 50 years I know about. The SAE configuration for trailer connector including the 6 and 7 pole ones, which most heavy trailers, such as Rogers, use designates a ground contact in the connectors (in a standard position) for each style connector, and they do run a wire through that contact to ground the trailer frame, when they wire a trailer. I believe this is the answer Rogers, or any trailer manufacturer will give; not that the hitch is the only ground needed. Are you saying you remove and/or don't run the ground wires in the connectors, relying totally on the hitch? It is intended to be a redundant system between the metal to metal contact thru the hitch and the ground wire in the light cable which goes to the trailer frame.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 17:17:20 10/14/21)
I agree dirty connectors can be a problem. I didn't say they won't ground through the hitch. Unless a hitch is made of non-conductive material, trailers will all ground through the hitch, but it can be intermittent during travel. My point was there has been a ground wire included in trailer wiring connectors for over 50 years I know about. The SAE configuration for trailer connector including the 6 and 7 pole ones, which most heavy trailers, such as Rogers, use designates a ground contact in the connectors (in a standard position) for each style connector, and they do run a wire through that contact to ground the trailer frame, when they wire a trailer. I believe this is the answer Rogers, or any trailer manufacturer will give; not that the hitch is the only ground needed. Are you saying you remove and/or don't run the ground wires in the connectors, relying totally on the hitch? It is intended to be a redundant system between the metal to metal contact thru the hitch and the ground wire in the light cable which goes to the trailer frame.

Jim, I nearly responded to Fritz' answer but then I saw that it was pointless.

 

[Jim.ME]

(quoted from post at 08:21:18 10/15/21)

(quoted from post at 17:17:20 10/14/21)
I agree dirty connectors can be a problem. I didn't say they won't ground through the hitch. Unless a hitch is made of non-conductive material, trailers will all ground through the hitch, but it can be intermittent during travel. My point was there has been a ground wire included in trailer wiring connectors for over 50 years I know about. The SAE configuration for trailer connector including the 6 and 7 pole ones, which most heavy trailers, such as Rogers, use designates a ground contact in the connectors (in a standard position) for each style connector, and they do run a wire through that contact to ground the trailer frame, when they wire a trailer. I believe this is the answer Rogers, or any trailer manufacturer will give; not that the hitch is the only ground needed. Are you saying you remove and/or don't run the ground wires in the connectors, relying totally on the hitch? It is intended to be a redundant system between the metal to metal contact thru the hitch and the ground wire in the light cable which goes to the trailer frame.

Jim, I nearly responded to Fritz' answer but then I saw that it was pointless.

Fritz is free to do as he pleases. I just don't want other people, who may read this, to think it is correct to omit connecting the standard ground wire run through connectors for/on trailers. There are multiple diagrams of the industry standard connector configurations on line - and they include ground wires.