Breakaway battery install.

[dodge man]

I have a car hauler trailer that didn't have a breakaway on it. I installed it yesterday. It is suppose to charge the battery when its hooked up. I hooked it up to the black wire on the trailer. I am curious if the battery is actually being charged. My only idea on how to check it is to hook a voltmeter up the battery without a truck hooked up. Then hook the truck up and see if there is a slight jump in voltage. Any ideas on how to check if the battery is actually getting charged?

Also what is the best place to hook up the breakaway wire?

 

[newbury]

Where does the "black wire on the trailer" go to?

If you've a 7 pin trailer connector

Check the #4 pin and path to the battery.

 

[grsthegreat]

the easiest way to be sure is with one of these....Hopkins Towing Solutions Engager Breakaway Kit with LED Test Light | Brake Controllers| Northern Tool + Equipment

they actually have a built in test and charge indicator system. i have them installed in all my trailers. I also hooked it up the the circuit that runs continuously while the truck is running, ckt #4 as described above.

 

[dodge man]

I'm not sure what I have it hooked up to. The breakaway kit said to hook up to the black wire. You would think that would be ground but the wiring diagram showed white as ground. When I broke into the wiring on the trailer it had wires splice off but not hooked up to anything. I was pretty sure this was the hookup for a breakaway but the trailer didn't come with one. I know the breakaway works when I pull the plug on the switch I just don't know if the battery is charging or not.

Edit, I checked my truck and it looks like the above picture. I looked at the wiring on the trailer, I can't see the color of the wires at the plug but just behind it, there is no red wire.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Best way round check is the volt meter. Do it with the tailer not on the ball, just the plug hooked up. This eliminates getting a bad ground through the hitch.

Chris

 

[newbury]

I'm not sure what I have it hooked up to. The breakaway kit said to hook up to the black wire. You would think that would be ground but the wiring diagram showed white as ground. When I broke into the wiring on the trailer it had wires splice off but not hooked up to anything. I was pretty sure this was the hookup for a breakaway but the trailer didn't come with one. I know the breakaway works when I pull the plug on the switch I just don't know if the battery is charging or not.

Edit, I checked my truck and it looks like the above picture. I looked at the wiring on the trailer, I can't see the color of the wires at the plug but just behind it, there is no red wire.

Check etrailer.com

In my limited experience black is hot and white is ground in 120V and under.
In my experience with trailers they could have been hooked up by blind people. On my 7 way plug the leads were not all hooked up. On the trailer side they were cheap and left the battery charging wire out of the harness.

Hook up 2 long wires and with clips so you can test each individual wire if necessary, from start to end. It's a pain but unless you make sure what each wire does your working at a disadvantage. Also be SURE all connections are GOOD.

On my vehicle hook up

blade 3 had been broken before I bought the truck. Whover "fixed it" just glued it back together and that was inside the plastic of the vehicle connector, not visible.
It would USUALLY make a connection but sometimes NOT. Took me a while to trace that down. Reflecting on that pain I would have been many hours ahead by just replacing all plugs to start with.