trailer breakaway battery

[joelrand]

What kind of maintenance should I do for my breakaway brake system battery for a trailer that is used infrequently? Should a trickle charger be kept on it, or should the battery be replaced every so often? I probably don't have the trailer hooked up long enough to charge it in my short trips.

 

[souNdguy]

You could always throw a low amp charger on it the night before you make your trip.. that and keep the connections clean and greased.. periodically load test it to see if it still cuts the mustard enough to make the brakes engage a little.. .. all it needs is enough juice to make em grab for a few seconds.. cuz then the trailer locks up, slides around and blocks off the rest of the 4 lane for the other 300 vehicles behind you to hit it.. etc (wink).

soundguy

 

[Mathias NY]

Kind of related, NEVER test the breakaway system while it is plugged into your truck. The electric brake controler in the truck doesn't react well to it. Don't ask me how I know...

 

[ScottyHOMeY]

A coupla thoughts.

One is assuming you've got a six- or seven-pin connector. Many, but not all, factory breakaway setups have a small charger wired in that draws off the 12v hot wire that charges the breakaway battery when the trailer is hooked up. Often, but not always, this charger is right in the box with your battery. If you have such a charger, you should be all set. If not, a periodic slow charge with a last charge before a trip will do the trick.

Never hurts to test the system. Check the charge on the battery. If the charge appears good, hitch up a tow vehicle but DO NOT CONNECT the electrical plug from the tow vehicle to the trailer. Pull out the breakaway pin and pull forward. The trailer brakes should be locked and the trailer dragging. If that's the case, everything is working fine. Don't forget to put the breakaway pin back in!!!

If you try that test with the trailer electrics plugged in, you run a good chance of smoking your brake controller if you touch the vehicle brake while the breakaway pin is pulled. (I'm no electrician, but I think it has to do with having too much voltage running through, as you would be drawing 12v+ from the breakaway battery plus whatever voltage your controller would be applying to the brake if you should engage it.)

Hope this helps and . . . Happy Motoring!

 

[John M]

Im sure there is charger made for these things, but I have always used my regular 12 volt charger on the 2 amp setting. I ran an extra wire from the positive side of the battery with an alligator clip to connect to my charger lead, then the NEG goes to the frame.

 

[RobMD]

I forgot I even had a breakaway battery in my trailers. Doubt if my neighbors even remember, either. We stopped hooking the breakaway cables up. Oh well.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I would ues a float charger that is designed for Gel cell batteries, which is in most break away systems. Too much application of a charger that is not a maintainer charger will burn up the little gell cell, no charger ever, will sulphate the little battery to death.

 

[souNdguy]

I wasn't advocating hooking up a 200amp semi-truck starter/charger booster to it overnight.. but tather a low amp charger.. like a .5a to 1.5a charger just for the few hours previous to use to freshen it... big difference...

soundguy