6 pin to 7 pin trailer connector for electric brakes

[fourthclassC]

Working on getting the running lights fixed. Now to the original problem. Still need a working brake controller. Prodigy P3 / pigtail adapter. Brake controller does not work. Trailer tail, directional, brake lights work with installation of 7 pin outlet by switching over wires from 6 pin. Now thinking of just hard wiring (adding wires) to brake controller and eliminating the pigtail adapter.Does any one know what color wire to tap into on the brake light switch?
2003 Winnebago Mini 24V E350 Ford
Thank you

[fourthclassC]

"If you are pulling a trailer with electric brakes, you would do best to install the 7-pin trailer wiring connector, using the four useful lines from the 6-pin (TM, GD, LT, RT) and running wiring for your brake controller line and trailer charge line"

THANK YOU to all who replied. I am going to do the suggestion above. The explanation provided makes sense and I know what I am doing now. I hope I can help some one out this much one day.....

[tatest]

Where are you looking for a brake controller line? Pigtail where?

For the Minnie and Itasca Spirit that era, Winnebago did not run a brake controller line from the cab to the trailer wiring connector. Also, brake lights are not separated from turn signals, so that a brake light signal can't be tapped to provide a signal to activate an independently powered brake.

Diagram for the six-pin connector is on page 6-9 of the 120 page 2003 Minnie Owner's Manual (available free as a PDF under Resources/Manuals at the Winnebago site0.

Pins are, clockwise from notch, on the wiring side of a six pin plug you would build:

TM = tail lights and markers (at the notch)
GD = ground
LT = left turn/brake
RT = right turn/brake
S = unused spare
A (in center) = backup lights

These letters will be found on the face of the matching connector packaged with the manuals from Winnebago. An aftermarket 6-pin might be marked differently.

This wiring is really for pulling a towed motor vehicle, rather than a trailer. Six-pins for trailers might be wired differently. For this reason, an aftermarket 6 to 7 adapter might have been made using incorrect assumptions. For that matter, I don't recall the six-pin round being used for trailers, there was a six-pin bladed connector for that, before the seven pin came into use.

If you are pulling a trailer with electric brakes, you would do best to install the 7-pin trailer wiring connector, using the four useful lines from the 6-pin (TM, GD, LT, RT) and running wiring for your brake controller line and trailer charge line.

Power points designated for these these two purposes are included in one of the under-hood junction boxes of the E-series (look in the E-series owners manual), but you may have to install fuses or breakers and relays for these high amperage connections, as they don't go in at the Ford factory unless the chassis shipped with Ford's trailer towing package. Similarly, without the trailer towing package, you might have to run a line from the box to the cab for the brake controller, with the package it should already be a loose connector under the dash.

[RoyB]

You can find all of the standard connectors from ETRAILER.com but these are for connecting up towed trailers that are equipped with electric brakes etc... What you are doing is a mod of some sort I suspect...

Roy Ken

[WyoTraveler]

I guess everyone could guess. I would purchase a multi meter and check them out. In fact for checking wires when I know I am dealing with 12 volts I use the test probe that just lights up. Available at most auto parts stores. From experience I have found colors of those wires may not be the same. I wired my new MH on a Ford chasis. and discovered they used their own agenda for colors.

[j-d]

Try a search in Class C. IIRC, there are two connectors that pigtail CAN connect to. Two different colors. One is Brake Controller and the other is ??? I forget. I was wiring one of those on a Ford an thought the connector didn't go hot till the key was on. As a result I blew a fuse in the underhood panel. I decided to replace fuse with auto reset breaker, but the points I want to make are 1, You may have pigtail plugged into the wrong connector and 2. You may have a blown fuse supplying the controller. All you have is Battery, Ground, Brake Pedal and Brake Controller Output to Trailer.
If you want to test Output without a Trailer connected, you need to use a Light Bulb. An LED or DVOM isn't enough load for the Controller to "See" it.
Oh, do you have the Controller adjusted to PRODUCE Output? On a cheaper Tekonsha controller, we had no trailer brakes, checked, poked, prodded and kicked. They prayed. Realized the Control Knob had been set to Minimum.