Dmaacleo - Yes it is working. The light on the battery box comes on when I plug the trailer in and the truck is running. Thanks.
Charging Trailer Brake Battery
- Thread starter covefarm
- Start date
Doughknob, I have a 2 amp setting on my regular charger. I'll give it a go. Thanks.
MillWeld, That is my understanding as well. Thanks
Dmacleo
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from the sounds of everything it seems there is no issue.
you can see if battery works by disconnecting from truck, yank out the pin from break away switch and try towing. if brakes on trailer locked up all is working as it should.
you can see if battery works by disconnecting from truck, yank out the pin from break away switch and try towing. if brakes on trailer locked up all is working as it should.
Fwiw, your battery is toast if it's 10 years old.
You checked, you have a 12v available lamp lit.
To check the brake you have to pull out the lanyard (well, the pin) on the switch mounted to the tongue. It's a good thing to test in any case.
It may break. They can be bought at a lot of places. Iirc, there may be more than one type. Fairly easy to replace the switch if you have to.
Then (working battery, pin removed and switch closed) pull the truck forward. The brakes should come on.
They will be at 100%. Do this on softer ground and have a helper note which wheels lock up (or, don't lock up).
You checked, you have a 12v available lamp lit.
To check the brake you have to pull out the lanyard (well, the pin) on the switch mounted to the tongue. It's a good thing to test in any case.
It may break. They can be bought at a lot of places. Iirc, there may be more than one type. Fairly easy to replace the switch if you have to.
Then (working battery, pin removed and switch closed) pull the truck forward. The brakes should come on.
They will be at 100%. Do this on softer ground and have a helper note which wheels lock up (or, don't lock up).
timbatrader
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What I have is a small solar panel battery charger hooked up on an Anderson plug it sits on the trailer deck when the trailer is not in use it keeps the battery topped up makes the battery last much longer
Yesterday I had about 2500 lbs of lumber on my trailer to be delivered so I decided to check its battery voltage before pulling because it had been about 1 or 2 months since the trailer was towed. I measured 12 VDC. Good, I thought - now can it deliver the current to lock the wheels? I said in an earlier post that the battery is about 10 years old - I really don't know when I bought it but it was certainly between 5 and 10 years ago. I disconnected the plug to the truck battery and pulled the lanyard to disconnect the trailer battery and started to pull it and all 4 trailer wheels locked. Wow - pretty good for and old battery. I bought it from eTrailer - see pic below.
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Fallon
Super Member
I've got a power tilt deckover & the battery for the hydraulic pump is also the emergency battery. Makes it handy to monitor the battery condition. If it tilts to load/unload the emergency brakes will still work. Have a 20 watt solar panel & charge controller to keep things working. Never use the 120v on board charger as the solar keeps it topped up.
The +12v line on the trailer plug should charge the trailer battery(s). In RV power draw & battery charging situations the power loss due to small wires between the alternator & trailer batteries often prevents good battery charging. That shouldn't be a problem for a small emergency battery though.
Many trucks lack a fuse or relay to energize the +12v line on a trailer plug. My 2009 Tacoma was that way. Easy fix just checking the plug with a multimeter, then adding the fuse or relay. The truck usually needs to be running or at least on. A relay usually cuts out to prevent a trailer from killing the battery on the truck while off.
The +12v line on the trailer plug should charge the trailer battery(s). In RV power draw & battery charging situations the power loss due to small wires between the alternator & trailer batteries often prevents good battery charging. That shouldn't be a problem for a small emergency battery though.
Many trucks lack a fuse or relay to energize the +12v line on a trailer plug. My 2009 Tacoma was that way. Easy fix just checking the plug with a multimeter, then adding the fuse or relay. The truck usually needs to be running or at least on. A relay usually cuts out to prevent a trailer from killing the battery on the truck while off.