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ewarnerusa's avatar
ewarnerusa
Nomad
May 12, 2022

Explain how emergency trailer brake gets power?

I recently did some battery wiring maintenance on my TT and it occurred to me that I don't see where the emergency trailer brake gets its power. I mean the emergency pin that gets pulled out should you have a trailer separate from the tow vehicle that should energize the trailer brakes. I had suspected that there should be a direct connection to the battery, but the only OEM connection was to a circuit breaker on the tongue which feeds the electric jack and the main 12V to/from the main power center. Does the emergency trailer brake get power from the main power center?
  • BB_TX's avatar
    BB_TX
    Nomad
    May 12, 2022
    Agree with above. You should always be able to measure +12 vdc on one side of the breakaway switch. If not something is wrong.
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    May 12, 2022
    Unless someone rewired it...should be direct from the battery to the breakaway switch and then on to the brake magnets.
  • MNRon's avatar
    MNRon
    Explorer
    May 12, 2022
    Pretty sure that emergency trailer brakes are direct connected to the battery through the break-away switch; no fuses, no breakers, no other switches etc. If you pull the break-away pin they should supply full battery power to the brakes.

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