No 5th wheel brakes or lights, Bad Wife

[Jetson]

On an 8 hour trip in the rain 2 weeks ago, I noticed that I could not see the trailer marker lights burning, the LED on the Jordan controller was out also. I stopped and checked the trailer connector, but it didn't help. I was about 30 miles from Palo Duro Canyon, where I was headed, and it would be dark in about an hour so I kept going. The road down into the canyon was a challenge with no trailer brakes. My wife was having a fit and stomping the floor to help stop.



When we set up at the campsite the trailer battery was dead. When we plugged the electricity in, my wife went into the trailer and found that she had turned on the 12v lights in the bedroom area when she put chemicals in the black tank, and had forgotten to turn them off. This burned out the 40 amp fuse in the PDC, and we had run on the trailer battery until it ran down.



So 4 extra 12v lights were enough to overload the trailer tow circuit.

 

[RustyJC]

You might want to check your 7-pin connector - the factory one mounted on the receiver. After a run in the rain, our 2002 started showing some funny symptoms. The "connected" LED on our Jordan brake controller was glowing dimly - with the truck sitting in the garage!



Long story short - after disassembling the factory 7-pin connector, I found it packed with water and road grime/grit. This was creating a high resistance short between the pins in the connector and would have ultimately run down the truck batteries if the truck had stayed in the garage for a few weeks. I flushed everything out with WD-40, packed it with dielectric grease and put the connector back together - no more problems!



Rusty

 

[klenger]

The trailer running lights and brakes should work w/o an RV battery. The only thing the RV battery is used for is for the brakes if the brake-away cable is pulled. You have other problems.

 

[GAmes]

The brake controller and the hot wire to your trailer battery are two separate circuits. I agree with Rusty, the 7 pin connector is the prime suspect.

 

[Jetson]

Good Idea

I don't use that connector any longer, so it could be gunked up. I have dielectric grease on the bed connector.



My first thought when I started having problems was about the splices the shop put on the wiring harness for the bed connector. They were going to use Scotchlocks, but I insisted on soldered connections. They said they always use the Scotch connectors, so I wondered if they knew how to solder.

 

[Jetson]

FYI, I did not check the fuse in the PDC until I got home. I did check the pins in the bumper 7 pin connector with a voltmeter, when we first had trouble, and none showed anywhere near 12 volts.



After being connected to shore power a couple days, we drove to OK City, stayed there a few days and then drove to Houston. Brakes and the trailer battery worked the whole way, but the trailer lights were not on (inside or running lights), like that day in the rain.

 

[RustyJC]

I don't use that connector any longer, so it could be gunked up. I have dielectric grease on the bed connector.

I don't either, but it's still in the circuit unless they cut the wires or routed them to the bed connector. When I put my bed connector in, I soldered and sealed the splices into the factory harness, and I haven't had any problems with it. It would surely be worth a half hour to tear that factory 7-pin connector apart and see if it's not full of crud between the outer shell and the inner widget with the terminals on it. While I was in the neighborhood, I'd solder the splices to the bed connector as well.



Good luck!



Rusty

 

[klenger]

Might be a missing ground.

 

[Fireman]

Good advise Ken, the first thing I would do would be to check the ground.



Fireman

 

[Ron Bissett]

No lights ,Brakes, etc

On an 8 hour trip in the rain 2 weeks ago, I noticed that I could not see the trailer marker lights burning, the LED on the Jordan controller was out also. I stopped and checked the trailer connector, but it didn't help. I was about 30 miles from Palo Duro Canyon, where I was headed, and it would be dark in about an hour so I kept going. The road down into the canyon was a challenge with no trailer brakes. My wife was having a fit and stomping the floor to help stop.



When we set up at the campsite the trailer battery was dead. When we plugged the electricity in, my wife went into the trailer and found that she had turned on the 12v lights in the bedroom area when she put chemicals in the black tank, and had forgotten to turn them off. This burned out the 40 amp fuse in the PDC, and we had run on the trailer battery until it ran down.



So 4 extra 12v lights were enough to overload the trailer tow circuit.

First the trailer has a thirty amp braker next to the converter . five lights will only add twenty five wats and the battry will not go down if its charged and the charge line is hot. Clean the post male and femal of the cord and reseptical then spray with WD 40 let dry or blow air to dry. When hooking up the trailer turn on the marker lights then plug in the cord to the trailer see if the markers on trailer work if not ,plug and un plug several times and see if this makes good contact. after things are working take a amp meetre to the battry and you should get 13 to 14 volts . The braker next to the converter is self adjusting and will return to on after cooling . Look for it on wall two post one steel one brass (brass to load ) . Other fuses protect the truck. Use rubber band on flip top to keep cord pluged in . when testing the lights (pluging in ) the brake light should shine bright on the controler. Do not pull the brake a-way cord to test the brakes until you unhook the power cord from the truck to keep from burning out the controler. Skipper entry level over fifty years.