Very little trailer brakes

Old-Biscuit wrote:
.054 Output????

Either poor measurement/reading (not getting good contact + & -)
Meter on wrong setting
Bad wiring/connection
OR brake controller output bad

Check brake controller output at truck receptacle'
If good keep check downstream until lost.

Using manual lever output should be close to full 12V and roughly 2.5A + at each brake magnet wiring

HERE is a good electric brake manual (by Dexter but info applies to all electric braking)
How to adjust
How to burnish new shoes
How to set up braking
Troubleshooting

Great tutorial. Much obliged. /CC

I know the newer Ram IBC senses the trailer being connected and doesn't send out any power to the brakes if it's disconnected so that could be why you aren't reading any voltage at the connector, assuming that's where you're making the measurement. As I recall my 2011 was the same, but I can't specifically remember if that's the case or not. If your trailer is new, it takes quite a few brake applications to break in the brakes. Recommended procedure should be in the instructions for the axles. Voltage should be a full 12vdc with the slider at full braking and the controller set to 10. If you have a clamp on meter that works on DC you can check the current, which should be approximately 3 amps per brake drum on the larger brakes.

I had a similar issue with my current trailer. It had very little braking since new! What I found was I had weak magnets! I replaced all 4 magnets and the braking was remarkable! If all else checks out, that would be where I would go next! It will take some miles of "burnishing" the magnets to the drums. It took me 10 miles of trailer brake only to burnish them.

One area that a lot of folks ignore are the wires at the actual connection point, on the vehicle side, no one seals the entrance of the wires to the connector nor do they twist the wires and add a little solder so that the miniature screws actually clamp down instead of acting as a guillotine and severing the wires one by one with the shaking.

Not water proffing or sealing the connectors lets water and road grime in and this corrodes the copper wires, therefore creating resistance, the same goes for the trailer connector, some folks let it hang so that water and condensation run down into the plug.

Other problems stem from diconnecting or connecting by moving the connectors either side to side or up and down or both, doing this ensures that the female ends are spread out and the male ends are pinched in, creating intermitent contact or if pluging and unpluging with power on, a nice arching resistance track is created on the ground pin.

If the connectors are ok, check another favorite dumb thing that trailer manufacturers do, using what are called scotch connectors, these are used to join one wire to another, one small to one long, they work by placing one wire next to the long one and using pliers pinching both wires with metal inverted W that cuts through the insulation and some of the wires on both cables, then a plastic tab is closed on top, over time they corrode.

If the connectors are OK then there is a wiring problem, make sure that wires have not been pinched by clamps or rubbed by being loose undder zip ties, or rubbed against any metal, same goes for the pull vehicle.

navegator

.054 Output????

Either poor measurement/reading (not getting good contact + & -)
Meter on wrong setting
Bad wiring/connection
OR brake controller output bad

Check brake controller output at truck receptacle'
If good keep check downstream until lost.

Using manual lever output should be close to full 12V and roughly 2.5A + at each brake magnet wiring

HERE is a good electric brake manual (by Dexter but info applies to all electric braking)
How to adjust
How to burnish new shoes
How to set up braking
Troubleshooting

Brake adjustment would be my first guess. Manually adjust brakes to wheel lockup. Back off three to no more than five clicks, and give them a try. My experience says any more than 4 clicks on my trailer and I have little braking power.

I had a problem with my brakes not getting power. It was intermittent. After much hair pulling and some parts replacement, I discovered that the brake wire going to the truck's umbilical connector had suffered some road damage and the copper inside the wire jacket had parted. On a Ford pickup with OEM connector, the brake wire is the bottom-most wire leading into the connector. I disassembled the connector, stripped to good wire and reassembled.

You can check the connector with a meter or pull the breakaway pin on the emergency switch and compare voltages.

The box will tell me there is a short or problem with trailer. It did when I had a problem on my old trailer.

Hi there,

Grease was going to be my 1st thought but sounds like you are pretty sure that isn't the case. You should have nearly 12 volts at full output from the brake controller. It's possible one of the magnet wires got pinched inside the drum and is shorting out. Also check for wire chaffing along the brake wire under the trailer, especially where it enters or exits the axle tubes. With low voltage I'm betting on a short somewhere, but your brake controller should indicate a short in that case...