Replacement Break Away Box

[QRTRHRS]

The LED display on my break away box is getting pretty rough from exposure to the weather. When I used it last week or so, one of the wires broke off of the sealed charging circuit. So, I think I will just replace the whole box. The trailer mostly sits so I remove the 5 AH battery and put it on a trickle charger in my shop so it is always charged. My current box is a top loader and it is tight to remove and replace the battery. That likely contributed to the wires breaking off of the charging circuit. I am thinking a side loader may be work better? The four year old battery is still good but I can give that to a neighbor that tows a lot. I would like the replacement to have the LED's on the side also.

What brand would everyone recommend?

 

[mrmikey]

I've got a Hopkins on mine, never had a lick of problems, comes with the battery and has the LED's on the face of it. Trailer can sit for a month or more at a time in the summer as it's main use is hauling a 1100L water tank for my daughter. Battery's 4 years old and still going, mind you I take it off in the winter when I'm not using the trailer and put it on a maintainer. CAN$100 here at Princess Auto

 

[QRTRHRS]

Thanks. I'll look into the Hopkins. There are several makes on the market and it's not easy to get your hands on them prior to purchasing.

 

[WM75Guy]

I second the Hopkins brand. Here is one of mine. I like the push to test feature. It is easy to change out the side load battery. All 4 of my trailers that have break-away systems also have batteries for either hydraulic pumps, a winch, or interior lights that keep the small battery charged.

 

[Runner]

I second the Hopkins brand. Here is one of mine. I like the push to test feature. It is easy to change out the side load battery. All 4 of my trailers that have break-away systems also have batteries for either hydraulic pumps, a winch, or interior lights that keep the small battery charged.

View attachment 1797456

Hoping the group will indulge me for a dumb question. If you look at the "important notice" on the unit shown in the above pic, it says to make sure the battery is charged PRIOR to every trip. Given that most trailers sit around a lot, does anyone know of a way to charge this battery while it is inside the unit?

Does anyone make a trickle charger (something like a Battery Tender) that you just plug into the trailer plug to maintain this battery while not in use?

If the trailer has been sitting for a while, I would have to imagine that charging from the vehicle would take some time and that the breakaway system would not be functional until fully charged.

 

[mrmikey]

I just put a small fused pigtail on mine directly to the battery, I park it close enough to power that I can plug a maintainer into it to keep it topped up......when I remember LOL. I was going to make an adaptor that I could use the trailer plug to plug into the maintainer but I didn't bother.

 

[WM75Guy]

Hoping the group will indulge me for a dumb question. If you look at the "important notice" on the unit shown in the above pic, it says to make sure the battery is charged PRIOR to every trip. Given that most trailers sit around a lot, does anyone know of a way to charge this battery while it is inside the unit?

Does anyone make a trickle charger (something like a Battery Tender) that you just plug into the trailer plug to maintain this battery while not in use?

If the trailer has been sitting for a while, I would have to imagine that charging from the vehicle would take some time and that the breakaway system would not be functional until fully charged.

Get a vehicle end connector socket that fits your plug and wire it to your charger.

 

[Runner]

Get a vehicle end connector socket that fits your plug and wire it to your charger.

View attachment 1797480

Sounds like a good plan. I guess just wire the red from the maintainer to the blue (I think that's what trailer connectors use for power) and white to white (ground).

You would think that this is a common-enough problem that some enterprising company would make something like this.

 

[Fallon]

Amusingly I don't have a "break away" battery on either of my current trailers.

The travel trailer has a house battery that also is connected to the break away switch. It's plugged in when sitting & has 400 watts of solar. I pretty much have to test the battery every time, unless I want to camp in the dark.

My power tilt deck over has a deep cycle to run the hydraulic pump. Also plugged into the breakaway. 20 watts of solar for that & rarely need to plug it in (battery is shot, or solar wiring came loose). I can't load or unload without that battery, so it intrinsically gets checked every time.

I don't remember the last time I tested the breakaway switch on either. I should do that.

I had breakaway batteries on previous trailers. They should charge from the accessory pin on the trailer plug. I checked it occasionally, but not as frequently as I should have. Replaced a few of those batteries over the years. I'd wager a lot of those batteries on the road are never checked, much less replaced.