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davidi
Newbie
Joined: 02 Jul 2017
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Posts: 8
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Topic: Brake wiring shorted and smoked. Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 3:35pm |
I need to rewire the brakes. I am familiar with electrical wiring in general. Do you think it is a job best left for a dealer? What is the complexity of it? Something shorted when the wires were cut under the trailer. Later, the emergency brake was pulled accidentally when the trailer was parked and the wire started to smoke melting the wire's insulation. I had to disconnect the battery to stop it.
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mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 3:39pm |
Is it under warranty? It is not more complicated than any other wiring, the materials are all available. I wouldn't suggest long trips without brakes. If you have wiring skills you can do it, issue will be finding the culprit.
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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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TheBum
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2016
Location: Texas
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Posts: 1407
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 3:49pm |
Sounds like a short to ground, i.e. the frame. It should be easy to check with a multimeter, assuming there's any wire left after the insulation burned off.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats
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davidi
Newbie
Joined: 02 Jul 2017
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 4:54pm |
Thank you all. It is not under warranty. I had a quick look under the frame and saw a couple of places where the insulation had gotten hot. So I was thinking to basically rewire the whole thing so not to miss any possible degraded insulation section. I think if I could get a wiring diagram it may be easier to do that. What do you all think?
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 4:56pm |
It is literally just a straight 12v circuit. Nothing tricky about it.
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 5:18pm |
+1 to what furpod said. There is just 12VDC going to the brakes. There is probably a junction/splice between the left and right side, but nothing more complicated than that.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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mcarter
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 07 Apr 2016
Location: Greenbrier, TN
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Posts: 3419
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 5:35pm |
The brakes are two wire, and it doesn't matter which wire goes to where. Some diagrams show a blue wire and a ground. Get rid of any short areas and wire it. There is no 12V and ground side at the brake. You can hook them up either way. Pretty cut and dry.
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Mike Carter
2015 178
" I had the right to remain silent, I just didn't have the ability."
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davidi
Newbie
Joined: 02 Jul 2017
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Posts: 8
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Posted: 03 Dec 2018 at 7:53pm |
The short must have been in the wires coming from the emergency brake switch because it all started smoking when that pin was pulled? uhm....
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
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Posted: 04 Dec 2018 at 7:19am |
Originally posted by davidi
The short must have been in the wires coming from the emergency brake switch because it all started smoking when that pin was pulled? uhm....
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The short can be located anywhere in the brake wiring. When that breakaway switch is activated, it sends maximum amps to the brakes. It's job is to stop the camper as fast and hard as possible, in case it has become unattached. So it energizes the entire system fully.
So you have the wires coming from the battery to the breakaway, the wires from the breakaway to the brake wires, the wires running to the brakes themselves. As noted above, the wires coming out of the brake housings are polarity blind. It's just a simple electromagnet, and the current can run either way through them. So start at the brakes themselves, and start following/tracing/checking the wires back towards the front of the camper. Replace or repair any wires that look iffy or are damaged.
This is kind of a basic TT owner skill.. "Stuff" hits the bottom of a vehicle way more often then we realize, and a TT has a higher number of hits because the tow vehicle is so close and can pick up stuff we don't even see on the road and bounce it under there, hitting exposed wires, tanks, etc.
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davidi
Newbie
Joined: 02 Jul 2017
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Posts: 8
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Posted: 04 Dec 2018 at 8:23am |
Thank you furpod!
Very much appreciated! So the brake controller pin must output different voltages from the brake controller... learn something new every day.
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