brake away brakes
Question about the brake away battery/controller. I had a 16' flat bed trailer, with brake away system. If the pin got pulled the brakes came on. You needed to check the battery once in a while, and ...
Forum Discussion
mkirsch wrote:
They all do that (charge while driving), if wired properly and the charging line fuse is installed on certain trucks. What's this "built in charger" you were talking about earlier? Was that what you were talking about?
I was confused about this so looked up the Hopkins model linked to by Roy B. That break-away charger gets power from the towing vehicle. It has circuitry to limit the charge current delivered to a separate break-away battery. The reasoning is that the vehicle charge current may over-charge the small battery used for the break-away system.
I think Dusty's problem with the battery losing charge is probably a worn out battery. These small 6AH-12AH sealed batteries don't have very good longevity. An ammeter connected to the break-away battery when at rest would confirm this. No load on battery (break-away switch not active) should measure no current (amps) through the connections.
