Breakaway Trailer Brake System

[GooseHunter]

I have a 12K rated deck over trailer I haul farm tractors on. I bought it new five years ago from a local dealer that has since gone out of business. My tow vehicle is a 1998 Dodge Ram with factory installed tow package.

Recently I was having trouble with my electric brakes on the trailer so I started the process of isolating the problem. During that search I found that the hot wire in the six-pin plug from the trailer was not connected and the sixth wire in the cable was cut back from the rest of the wires. The manufacturer of the trailer never connected this wire. As a result the small battery that sets the electric brakes in the event of a breakaway, was dead.

I called the manufacturer, Paiute Trailers, and the representative told me that during that time of manufacture, they did not intend for that battery to be maintained charged. I should have recharged the battery as needed with an external charger, or replaced it when it died. I was never told this upon purchase and I could not find this information is the sale documents, or trailer documents. I assumed that the battery was in the charging system.

Does this sound right to any of you?

Now, if I connect the hot wire in the six-pin plug at the trailer hitch, direct to the positive wire into the breakaway system battery on the trailer, will this maintain the battery without over-charging the battery during long hauls? My concern is, does the dodge on-board computer have the ability to sense the state of charge in the trailer battery and only charge it to 12 volts, as needed? When I tow my 5th wheel RV the four batteries are never overcharged so I have a feeling that this is correct, but I do not know.

Thanks for any and all thoughts and comments.

BTW, the electric brake problem was due to corrosion on the pin in the plug on the tow vehicle. This corrosion was due to the spring loaded door being missing. I replaced this part with a new one from NAPA. Problem solved.

Dean

 

[Hoefler]

Verify that the hot lead does in fact connect to the positive terminal on the battery. Then hook it back up in the plug and you should not have any worries except for the periodical inspection of the system.

 

[GAmes]

The rep was blowing smoke up your (fill in the blank). Hoefler is correct.



You probably need to replace the battery. After 5 years of being dead I doubt it will take a charge.

 

[Cattletrkr]

There are "trickle" chargers out there specifically for those types of systems. I've never had one. My first trailer, the original battery lasted the full 4 years I had it, never charged. Second trailer it was dead in 6 mos. Not really a big deal. They're cheap batteries to replace. IIRC somewheres between $10 and $30.

No need to have a constant hot line hooked to the battery. I'd be more wary of that than a dead battery. If you feel the need to recharge it on a regular basis, hook it up to the TM feed. That way it's only charging when you have your lights on.

 

[jelag]

We have several trailers and we've pitched all those batteries... they are hard to take care of... hard to keep charged and the fail safe brake system never worked when tested... we went out and purchased 29. 95 garden tractor batteries... . and made a bracket to hold them and wired them in the circuit... and later installed lights in the trailers and some other accessories... this has worked for us... the charging system on the trucks keep them charged... . we check them for water once every six months or so...

 

[Road Dog]

The vehicle charging system is set up to charge the vehicle batteries. It's basically doing a slow charge to fill the battery after a start. There's no consideration for other batteries -- like on a trailer or camper. Hooking up the power to charge the trailer battery while driving might be fine or might overcharge and boil off the water (over a few months). The trailer battery needs to be maintained. The water level needs to be checked (if it's not sealed) and it needs a charge once every month or two if it's idle.

 

[cojhl2]

Overcharge?

Actually I think there is no issue regarding overcharge of that trailer brake batt. It is hooked to a 12V source that would have no more voltage than what your vehicle battery has. It's not like the voltage regulator is looking at the trailer battery and controling the charging of it.

 

[HGreen]

One of my trailers has a charger in the plastic box that is hooked up to the charge line in the 7 way plug. The instructions say that the charger prevents it battery from being overcharged. Check around for one of the break away kits with a new battery and charger and replace yours.

 

[steved]

I have the break-away battery charged by the truck during towing... never had an issue. In fact I have two setup that way, and I have never had a problem.

I don't see how you could overcharge a 12-volt battery?

 

[kenny61]

If your really worried about overcharge you can use one of these I ran it on my boat for a few years before I sold it. Worked great. Just keep in mind they are not waterproof and must be mounted in a fairly dry place



West Marine: Echo Charge Battery Charger Product Display

 

[Cattletrkr]

I don't see how you could overcharge a 12-volt battery?

In the days before alternators and regulators, it was quite common. Since the trailer battery has neither, I can see how it could happen.

 

[steved]

In the days before alternators and regulators, it was quite common. Since the trailer battery has neither, I can see how it could happen.

Your charging system only puts out enough to charge 12-volts and, as long as the trailer battery is in good condition, there should be no issue "charging" with the truck.



Following this logic, you should be burning up one of the two batteries under the hood since there are multiple batteries on a single system.

 

[JSchooley]

Your Dodge trailer tow package is designed to charge a 12V battery in any kind of trailer. Biggest problem is if the battery is very low or dead in the trailer you may blow a fuse in the charge line and the trailer battery won't get charged.

You still need to check the battery in the trailer every so often.

Just my two pesos,

John

 

[DGamelin]

I am a trailer dealer and you would be surprised how many manufacturers don't wire those batteries for charging. Even some of the dump trailers don't wire the service battery for charging. The manufacturer says it then makes them liable for the charging system on the truck. This is bull they're just being cheep. We make sure all of are dumps are wired for charging. We don't check the brake away battery, they are usually only good for two years at best when being charged. I have never seen one go bad from over charging. It's usually old age or lack of charging. This battery has nothing to do with how your service brakes work, it is for emergency brakes only (if you loose your trailer). In some stats it is a must this works in others its not inforce. There is one system with a test button on it that lights up a led light in different colors red, yellow, green for the DOT officer to check. You usually get what you pay for, high end or quality trailers are usually wired to charge the brake away battery.



_________________________

93 250 2wd xc 354 auto 264k

04. 5 3500 4wd cc dully 373 6speed 87k

 

[DennyDay]

GooseHunter - - From experience, I would make sure you are not trying to recharge a 12v lantern battery (dry) - - stick to lead acid lawn tractor batteries or go to Tractor Suppyl and purchase a complete breakaway kit with a built in battery maintainer - - probably in the time you have had your trailer the breakaway switch is corroded by now.