"It is not so necessary any more that I know the answers, but now I desire
more to understand the questions."

Went out and pulled the wire harness loose from my trailer wheels. Blocked
it up. Took off the wheels and hubs. All looked good. Hooked up juice to
it, but nothing moved. Did find out how hot shorted 12v. wires get, and how
fast.

Aha, thinks I. Maybe the hub needs to be on there. So, I put the hub back
on, spun the wheel, hit the jumper, and it works like a charm. I guess the
activation of these brakes isn't really a many parts moving at a time thing.
Looks like they probably move 1/8" or so.

So, it looks like I need to just chase down the bad connection/ground.

Which brings us to the next question. It is said these need to be hooked up
parallel, not series. There are two greens coming out of the magnet. How
would I find the hot and the ground? Can I just run two lines, and jump
them at the first wheel, then run the wires to dead end at the second wheel?
The other wires to the bulbs are all in another housing, so it is only two
wires.

And do I bring it back and cut the ground near the tongue, and put on two
eye connectors, and screw them to the frame?

Looks like all is good, just have a break somewhere in the wiring, or it got
smashed somewhere. Looked formidable at first, but chasing it down one
component at a time, eliminating this, and that, and gaining another level
of understanding in the process is nice. Trailer lights have never been a
good thing for me. I thought brakes would be similar, but since there are
only two wires, not as much as lighting. There is more to the controller,
and the different things different controllers do. Now that I'm going to be
doing more heavy duty towing, it is nice to get an introduction to these
systems, wiring them from the start, and troubleshooting them after install.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

Steve B laid this down on his screen :
"It is not so necessary any more that I know the answers, but now I desire
more to understand the questions."

Went out and pulled the wire harness loose from my trailer wheels. Blocked
it up. Took off the wheels and hubs. All looked good. Hooked up juice to
it, but nothing moved. Did find out how hot shorted 12v. wires get, and how
fast.

Aha, thinks I. Maybe the hub needs to be on there. So, I put the hub back
on, spun the wheel, hit the jumper, and it works like a charm. I guess the
activation of these brakes isn't really a many parts moving at a time thing.
Looks like they probably move 1/8" or so.

So, it looks like I need to just chase down the bad connection/ground.

Which brings us to the next question. It is said these need to be hooked up
parallel, not series. There are two greens coming out of the magnet. How
would I find the hot and the ground? Can I just run two lines, and jump them
at the first wheel, then run the wires to dead end at the second wheel? The
other wires to the bulbs are all in another housing, so it is only two wires.

And do I bring it back and cut the ground near the tongue, and put on two eye
connectors, and screw them to the frame?

As far as I remember the Aus design rules forbid using the coupling as
the only ground. The ground must be a wire in the harness between the
two vehicles.

Looks like all is good, just have a break somewhere in the wiring, or it got
smashed somewhere. Looked formidable at first, but chasing it down one
component at a time, eliminating this, and that, and gaining another level of
understanding in the process is nice. Trailer lights have never been a good
thing for me. I thought brakes would be similar, but since there are only
two wires, not as much as lighting. There is more to the controller, and the
different things different controllers do. Now that I'm going to be doing
more heavy duty towing, it is nice to get an introduction to these systems,
wiring them from the start, and troubleshooting them after install.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

--
John G

Steve B explained :


Thanks for the help.

Steve

Be ever so nice if you kept the thread together and even modify the
title if that is really necessary.

Electrics 101 would be a good subject to study then you could save a
lot of angst.

--
John G

On 8/17/2012 5:13 PM, Steve B wrote:
"It is not so necessary any more that I know the answers, but now I desire
more to understand the questions."

Went out and pulled the wire harness loose from my trailer wheels. Blocked
it up. Took off the wheels and hubs. All looked good. Hooked up juice to
it, but nothing moved. Did find out how hot shorted 12v. wires get, and how
fast.

Aha, thinks I. Maybe the hub needs to be on there. So, I put the hub back
on, spun the wheel, hit the jumper, and it works like a charm. I guess the
activation of these brakes isn't really a many parts moving at a time thing.
Looks like they probably move 1/8" or so.

So, it looks like I need to just chase down the bad connection/ground.

Which brings us to the next question. It is said these need to be hooked up
parallel, not series. There are two greens coming out of the magnet. How
would I find the hot and the ground? Can I just run two lines, and jump
them at the first wheel, then run the wires to dead end at the second wheel?
The other wires to the bulbs are all in another housing, so it is only two
wires.

full marks.

It's a coil, Steve.
The hot side is the side connected to the positive battery terminal.

Brake and ground each fan out to each of the brake assemblies.
Hot side to the green wire, ground side to the other green wire.
(as you described)




Now that I'm going to be
doing more heavy duty towing, it is nice to get an introduction to these
systems, wiring them from the start, and troubleshooting them after install.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

On Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:13:51 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote:

"It is not so necessary any more that I know the answers, but now I desire
more to understand the questions."

Went out and pulled the wire harness loose from my trailer wheels. Blocked
it up. Took off the wheels and hubs. All looked good. Hooked up juice to
it, but nothing moved. Did find out how hot shorted 12v. wires get, and how
fast.

Aha, thinks I. Maybe the hub needs to be on there. So, I put the hub back
on, spun the wheel, hit the jumper, and it works like a charm. I guess the
activation of these brakes isn't really a many parts moving at a time thing.
Looks like they probably move 1/8" or so.


Correct - the magnet is attracted to the turning drum, which drags the
lever forward, applying the brake.
So, it looks like I need to just chase down the bad connection/ground.

Which brings us to the next question. It is said these need to be hooked up
parallel, not series. There are two greens coming out of the magnet. How
would I find the hot and the ground?

Doesn't matter - they are not polarity sensitive

Can I just run two lines, and jump
them at the first wheel, then run the wires to dead end at the second wheel?
The other wires to the bulbs are all in another housing, so it is only two
wires.

And do I bring it back and cut the ground near the tongue, and put on two
eye connectors, and screw them to the frame?

GENERALLY one green wire from each magnet is joined together and
brought forward to the trailer connector, and the other green wire
from each magnet is connected to the trailer frame with an eye
connector and screw. 2 brakes on each side? you can connect the two
together and ground them on one screw. The ground from the trailer
connector gets fastened to the frame at the hitch - often using one of
the hitch (ball connector) bolts. Run all the wires in as protected a
location as possible - no good if they get torn off.

Looks like all is good, just have a break somewhere in the wiring, or it got
smashed somewhere. Looked formidable at first, but chasing it down one
component at a time, eliminating this, and that, and gaining another level
of understanding in the process is nice. Trailer lights have never been a
good thing for me. I thought brakes would be similar, but since there are
only two wires, not as much as lighting. There is more to the controller,
and the different things different controllers do. Now that I'm going to be
doing more heavy duty towing, it is nice to get an introduction to these
systems, wiring them from the start, and troubleshooting them after install.

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.

"Richard" wrote in message
news
On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.

PVC is some tough stuff, but then so is a piece of Goodyear hose. For me,
considering flexibility and longevity, I'll take the hose idea.

Thanks.

Steve

On 8/18/2012 5:58 PM, Steve B wrote:
wrote in message
news
On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.

PVC is some tough stuff, but then so is a piece of Goodyear hose. For me,
considering flexibility and longevity, I'll take the hose idea.

Thanks.

Steve



I didn't have any scrap hose...

"Richard" wrote

I didn't have any scrap hose...

I buy them at yard sales, particularly the very good ones for a buck or so
for just such things. And some of them, the good ones with the heavy brass
fittings, are worth the cost of fixing them. Right now, I just bought two
trees, and they will need guy ropes for a couple of years. Got lots of hose
to make protectors for the bark.

I get stuff from the trash, too. I found a 50' electrical cord in the trash
curbside the other day. It was cut about a foot from one of the connectors.
Really heavy copper extension cord. I'd say it was a solid $25 retail.
Fixit plug, $4. My truck has this auto pilot thing, and headed straight for
it. One day, got two graphite rods, one with an Ambassadeur reel on it.
Guess someone had parted company, and the other was disposing of unwanted
items. I pile stuff up, and twice a year, have a big gar(b)age sale, most
of which is profit.

Steve

On 8/18/2012 5:58 PM, Steve B wrote:
"Richard" wrote in message
news
On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.

PVC is some tough stuff, but then so is a piece of Goodyear hose. For me,
considering flexibility and longevity, I'll take the hose idea.

Thanks.

Steve




Here is an idea that has worked well for me on my 1/2 dozen trailers.
The part that usually gets damaged, shorted, ripped, or whatever is the
relatively short piece of wire between the truck and the trailer. I
mounted an electricians 4square box on the trailer and ran conduit (I've
used both plastic and EMT - the EMT needs a lot fewer clamps and
fasteners) back to the axles and other pieces on to the lights. Use a
heavy multistrand lead from trailer connector to 4square and stranded
copper wires in the conduits. Put a blank plate on the 4square with the
colors marked with a Sharpie. Make all the connections with twist locks
so they can be changed or checked easily. Chasing down problems is
sure a lot more simple with this set up. I've not needed to change out
any of the stranded, but it would be really easy.

--


___________________________________

Keep the whole world singing . . .
Dan G
remove the seven

"DanG" wrote

Here is an idea that has worked well for me on my 1/2 dozen trailers. The
part that usually gets damaged, shorted, ripped, or whatever is the
relatively short piece of wire between the truck and the trailer. I
mounted an electricians 4square box on the trailer and ran conduit (I've
used both plastic and EMT - the EMT needs a lot fewer clamps and
fasteners) back to the axles and other pieces on to the lights. Use a
heavy multistrand lead from trailer connector to 4square and stranded
copper wires in the conduits. Put a blank plate on the 4square with the
colors marked with a Sharpie. Make all the connections with twist locks
so they can be changed or checked easily. Chasing down problems is sure
a lot more simple with this set up. I've not needed to change out any of
the stranded, but it would be really easy.

I have a lot of extra electrical parts, and that sounds like a good idea.
Thanks.

Steve

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:49:55 -0500, Richard
wrote:

On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.
The garden hose doesn't break when it flexes. Particularly when cold.

On 8/18/2012 9:36 PM, wrote:
On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:49:55 -0500,
wrote:

On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.
The garden hose doesn't break when it flexes. Particularly when cold.


what's that? Cold?

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:36:04 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:49:55 -0500, Richard
wrote:

On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.
The garden hose doesn't break when it flexes. Particularly when cold.


Ayup. I use PVC simply because in MY world..it never freezes. Clare
does indeed use the proper stuff for his.

The current trailer I did with EMT. Simply because I planned on high
winter elevations.

Gunner

One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not
agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my
earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure
- and in some cases I have - that any man who offers violence to his
fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy.

- Jeff Cooper

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:22:05 -0700, Gunner Gunner Asch wrote:

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:36:04 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 18 Aug 2012 10:49:55 -0500, Richard
wrote:

On 8/17/2012 9:41 PM, wrote:

I generally run the wires through a peice of garden hose down the
tongue and frame and strap the hose solidly to the frame with conduit
straps.


That's an excellent tip.
I ran mine through PVC tube.
The garden hose doesn't break when it flexes. Particularly when cold.


Ayup. I use PVC simply because in MY world..it never freezes. Clare
does indeed use the proper stuff for his.

The current trailer I did with EMT. Simply because I planned on high
winter elevations.

Wiring the trailer in conduit down the chassis is a good thing - But
there's a much better way to handle the connector whip.

I put a 6-pin Round Commercial socket connector on the tongue of the
trailer, and wire up a Male-Male cable for between the tow vehicle and
the trailer, just like the Nose-Box on Commercial trailers.

This allows for different wiring between the two - My cars are all
wired with the 6-Pin Round but I have cables that go 4-Flat or
7-Round Commercial to 6-Round Commercial also.

Keep an extra chunk of the proper 14-5/12-1 PVC Jacket Trailer Lead
Cable on hand with one 6-Pin Round end already attached, and you can
always make what you need given a few minutes time. Or just Hotwire
it to the car harness with Bullet Connectors and quick-taps... Ugly,
but effective.

All trailers get wired Commercial style too - 2 sets of red
taillights. Two for Stop/tail, and two for Turn/Tail. If you hook up
to an American car it just uses the two Turn lights for Stop/Turn, and
if you hook up to a Japanese/European car with a separate Stop circuit
you do not need a light converter, it just plugs in.

-- Bruce --

On Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:13:51 -0700, "Steve B"
wrote:

"It is not so necessary any more that I know the answers, but now I desire
more to understand the questions."

Went out and pulled the wire harness loose from my trailer wheels. Blocked
it up. Took off the wheels and hubs. All looked good. Hooked up juice to
it, but nothing moved. Did find out how hot shorted 12v. wires get, and how
fast.

Aha, thinks I. Maybe the hub needs to be on there. So, I put the hub back
on, spun the wheel, hit the jumper, and it works like a charm. I guess the
activation of these brakes isn't really a many parts moving at a time thing.
Looks like they probably move 1/8" or so.

So, it looks like I need to just chase down the bad connection/ground.

Which brings us to the next question. It is said these need to be hooked up
parallel, not series. There are two greens coming out of the magnet. How
would I find the hot and the ground? Can I just run two lines, and jump
them at the first wheel, then run the wires to dead end at the second wheel?
The other wires to the bulbs are all in another housing, so it is only two
wires.
First try checking continuity between each wire and ground - the brake
body. If no continuity try hooking them up one way and testing the
brake and then reverse the connection and test again. The polarity of
the brake wiring may not be critical to the operation of the brake.

And do I bring it back and cut the ground near the tongue, and put on two
eye connectors, and screw them to the frame?

Looks like all is good, just have a break somewhere in the wiring, or it got
smashed somewhere. Looked formidable at first, but chasing it down one
component at a time, eliminating this, and that, and gaining another level
of understanding in the process is nice. Trailer lights have never been a
good thing for me. I thought brakes would be similar, but since there are
only two wires, not as much as lighting. There is more to the controller,
and the different things different controllers do. Now that I'm going to be
doing more heavy duty towing, it is nice to get an introduction to these
systems, wiring them from the start, and troubleshooting them after install.

Thanks for the help.

Steve

Cheers,
John B.