Breakaway switch question

[BruceB]

I visited our 2005 Forest River Wildcat 25RKS at its storage space yesterday, and noticed that the breakaway plug was pulled out of the switch. I can only suspect that the yard maintenance crew snagged the wire with their weed eater equipment and pulled it loose from the switch.


Since this may have happened weeks ago, what is likely to have happened with the electric brakes applied for such a long time? The trailer has two Group 24 deep cycle batteries in parallel, and is always plugged into shore power when in the storage yard, so the converter/charger will keep them charged up and would provide plenty of amps to offset the drain from the brakes.



I haven't brought the tow vehicle to the trailer to test the brakes. I think I'm most concerned about the electric coils in each brake burning out, or possible something upstream failing, such as the brake wiring or possibly the breakaway switch itself.


If I was to test continuity of each coil, what resistance should I see, assuming each coil is disconnected from the system for testing? If it's open, that would be obvious.

[wmtire]

Were you able to reinsert the pin into the breakaway switch?

We many times actually see the breakaway switch itself melt when the pin is pulled for extended times as you indicated.

[BruceB]

Yes, I was able to re-insert the pin.

[NavyLCDR]

Here's a link to Dexter manuals, but it seems to be down at the moment:
https://www.dexteraxle.com/Resources/?type=70

[Lee-C]

Thanks for the Dexter link NavyLCDR. That was yet another equipment manual that was on my list to track down.

[BruceB]

I was able to get my tow vehicle to the trailer today to hook it up and check the brake function.


My 2001 F250 uses an old school brake controller; an under-dash controller plumbed into the truck's hydraulic system. The controller showed a normal green LED when the trailer was connected, and yellow to red when the brakes were applied. I applied the brakes manually using the slider on the controller, and was able to hold the trailer from moving with a moderate pull from the truck. This was on gravel so I didn't want to drag the trailer across the surface and create ruts.


I'm going to call it good for now. Once I can get it out on the road, I'll do further brake tests.

[richp]

A vandal yanked the wire and disengaged the plug, while my rig was in the storage yard a few years back.

No way of knowing how long it had been activating the brakes, but it fried the switch and killed my existing batteries -- cost me two new Trojan T-105s.

Rich Phillips