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ugeesta's avatar
ugeesta
Explorer
Apr 05, 2020

Brakes Stopped Working after CW Visit.

Not sure what is going on. The brakes worked fine when the trailer went into the shop 5 months ago.

Had warranty work done, one of which was to change a leaf spring out. When we received the trailer, I noticed it had a new breakaway switch in the pin. Not sure why but didn’t ask and was not part of the warranty work.

On the way out the truck wave me a warning to check the trailer wiring so I played with the pigtail and the brakes worked. I got the notice on and off an the way home.

Yesterday I played with the pigtail but still have the problem but now I have no brakes more than having brakes.

Last thing I did before putting it away was pull the breakaway cord hoping the brakes wild lock. Nope.

So, I have no power going to the brakes. The light work fine.

I’m calling CW to see what the hell they did to the brake wiring. I know this will mean taking my trailer back to CW, but it’s a 3 hour round trip and God knows how much lost time in the shop. If it’s an easy diagnosis and fix, I’d rather do that.
  • CA_Traveler's avatar
    CA_Traveler
    Explorer III
    Apr 05, 2020
    ugeesta wrote:
    Had warranty work done, one of which was to change a leaf spring out. When we received the trailer, I noticed it had a new breakaway switch in the pin. Not sure why but didn’t ask and was not part of the warranty work.

    On the way out the truck wave me a warning to check the trailer wiring so I played with the pigtail and the brakes worked. I got the notice on and off an the way home.
    Did you drive without the breakaway cable? Hence the brakes were on, overheated and likely now ruined? Sounds like it.
  • Ranger_Smith's avatar
    Ranger_Smith
    Explorer
    Apr 05, 2020
    ugeesta wrote:
    K Charles wrote:
    Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.


    I checked all the connections at the brakes and they looked good.


    Looks are deceiving. Looking good and an actual good connection are 2 different things.
  • joebedford's avatar
    joebedford
    Nomad II
    Apr 05, 2020
    I get the check trailer wiring almost every time I hook up. I have to wrap a bungy around the 7-pin cable and connector to pull it tight up to the truck. I think the connector pins have spread and don't make good contact - time to replace that connector. You may have that problem.

    OTOH, if your trailer battery is charged, pulling the breakaway pin must give you brakes regardless of the condition of the cable/connector at the truck end.

    I've seen trailer brakes that were incorrectly wired in series instead of parallel. They don't work well that way.

    What does "I have no brakes more than having brakes" mean?
  • Ron3rd's avatar
    Ron3rd
    Explorer III
    Apr 05, 2020
    ugeesta wrote:
    K Charles wrote:
    Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.


    I checked all the connections at the brakes and they looked good.


    Check for voltage at the brake itself with a meter and the brakes applied
  • mbopp's avatar
    mbopp
    Explorer
    Apr 05, 2020
    One axle's brakes weren't working on our trailer. The wires are spliced using large weatherproof insulation displacement crimp connectors. Probing through the wire insulation with a "T" pin showed I had a bad connector. I cut the wires, stripped, spliced, soldered, and used shrink tubing on the splice. Problem solved.
  • ugeesta's avatar
    ugeesta
    Explorer
    Apr 05, 2020
    K Charles wrote:
    Maybe they broke a wire when they dropped the axle.


    I checked all the connections at the brakes and they looked good.
  • Ranger_Smith's avatar
    Ranger_Smith
    Explorer
    Apr 05, 2020
    Should be a fairly easy fix as there is only one wire that goes to the brakes from the truck.
  • ugeesta's avatar
    ugeesta
    Explorer
    Apr 05, 2020
    ^^^^^. I thought about that but the battery’s worked to move the landing gear when hooking up. That said, that are several years old and did not get charged over the winter.

    My initial thought was it was due to a dirty pig tail connection. Cleaning up the 7 pin plug didn’t help.
  • jkwilson's avatar
    jkwilson
    Explorer III
    Apr 05, 2020
    Before anything else, see what kind of shape the battery is in. If it went dead and froze while it was there, your breakaway switch might not work even with the truck hooked up. Won’t resolve the brake problem, but may help narrow down whether the problem is with the trailer or the connection/truck.

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