more e-brake questions / need help

[Soundguy]

The controller plugs into a flat 4 pin cable.. so i just yank it of fthe tractor when not needed. I have seen a fellow that put one on the inside of an ammo box that was bolted to his fender.. he just poppe dthe lid open when he wanted to use it.. wires ran thru the bottom o fthe can, and had some rtv to goop up the hole.

Soundguy

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Glad you found your "gremlin".

After spending far too much time trouble-shooting trailer wiring gremlins over the years, when ever I have lighting OR brake troubles on a trailer, the VERY FIRST thing I do is check/ change out plugs. (Both truck and trailer) I've had terminals get slightly corroded and cause bad connections on a number of occasions. Also, when installing a plug, I've had ONE SINGLE STRAND of copper get "stray" from its connector and cause havoc, especially with brake wiring. (touches another connector, ect) The brakes will "work", just not right or consistantly. After that, check the ground connections at all points on the trailer. In about 99.99% of the cases, trailer brakes and light troubles are caused by a mere bad ground. Then, If ALL that fails to get results, start tracking wires. As you found, trailer wiring takes a lot of abuse. Last time I changed brakes on my gooseneck, I found three seperate wires with exposed copper where insulation was worn off or cut.

 

[Soundguy]

I replaced my ends about 2ys ago, and at the same time i added an auxilary ground wire fromt he trailer on a qd.. to the truck..that effectively solved the 'now and again' lamp or brake problems I used to have.

I also smear a bit of dielectric grease on the plug terminals before capping them.. that's another big issue.. most people don't have plug or terminal caps..

I'm glad mine was just a simple short and a few chaffed wires.. i didn't feel like pulling those dexter's apart for magnets..

Soundguy

Glad you found your "gremlin".

After spending far too much time trouble-shooting trailer wiring gremlins over the years, when ever I have lighting OR brake troubles on a trailer, the VERY FIRST thing I do is check/ change out plugs. (Both truck and trailer) I've had terminals get slightly corroded and cause bad connections on a number of occasions. Also, when installing a plug, I've had ONE SINGLE STRAND of copper get "stray" from its connector and cause havoc, especially with brake wiring. (touches another connector, ect) The brakes will "work", just not right or consistantly. After that, check the ground connections at all points on the trailer. In about 99.99% of the cases, trailer brakes and light troubles are caused by a mere bad ground. Then, If ALL that fails to get results, start tracking wires. As you found, trailer wiring takes a lot of abuse. Last time I changed brakes on my gooseneck, I found three seperate wires with exposed copper where insulation was worn off or cut.