Trailer wiring question

   / Trailer wiring question #1  

bosshoss

Bronze Member
Joined
May 25, 2007
Messages
60
I have a project I'm working on and can't find answer to some Questions. On the standard 7-pin trailer connector #4 pin is 12V what does this do? I have heard it charges brake away battery? I know it can be used for interior lights in a cargo trailer, etc. I am putting a switch in the cab of truck to control power to this pin so I can switch power on and off to pin #4 from cab. Just didn't want to mess up anything else, like charging break away battery.
Thanks for any input.
 
   / Trailer wiring question #2  
99% of the time all it does is charge the break away battery. I would skip the switch and just wire it up with a relay and a 30 amp circuit breaker.

If you need lights in a trailer I would want them to run via the ships battery, not dependent on the truck. That way once you unhook you can still have lights.

Chris
 
   / Trailer wiring question
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Thanks Chris
What I'm doing is a backup camera it is wireless running off the backup lights for power. I want to be able to turn the camera on without being in reverse, so I can check load, etc. while going down road. I have a switch in truck already wired turn on and off pin #4 just going to hook it into wire running from reverse lights to wireless transmitter. So if switch is off cutting power to pin #4 I won't be charging brake away battery?
 
   / Trailer wiring question #5  
sounds like you need 2 relays. one for one way power to battery to charge and another to know when to turn off power to camera when number 4 pin is not charging battery.
 
   / Trailer wiring question #7  
If you don't have reverse lights on your trailer (very few do, it seems) you could tap into that wire (pin 7) to use as your camera circuit, perhaps. You would need to modify the wiring on the truck to do this, and it wouldn't be something you could move from vehicle to vehicle, plus the trailer wiring would be "special". You would need to cut the wire from the reverse lights and put a new wire connecting that pin to your dash switch.

Alternately you could perhaps just switch the pin 7 wire so it still acted as a reverse light unless you flipped the switch. Then your camera would be on either when your reverse lights were on or when you flipped the switch. This would be best done with the switch driving a DP relay to disconnect the reverse lights when you switch to activate the camera so nothing weird happens. Reverse wire to NC terminals and your camera power to the NO terminals and the switch drives the relay. At rest you get reverse lights and when in reverse your camera on the trailer would be on. When you flip the switch, the camera would be on, independent of the reverse lights. This is assuming you do not have reverse lights on the trailer (or don't care about them). If you do have them, then this solution would turn on the reverse lights on the trailer when you flipped that switch, but the truck's reverse lights would not be on (unless you were in reverse...)

Depends on how complicated you want to make it. I like that second solution, but then I like things complicated :)

If you switch #4 as you suggested, you will not be charging the trailer battery when it is off, which sounds like it would be most of the time.
 
   / Trailer wiring question #8  
I would go the relay route but a switch will work just fine.

Chris
 

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