Trailer brake problem?

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PAThwacker wrote:
On my scenario my brakes were working and then not. Go down road and they worked. Still puzzled

Dollars to Doughnuts I would bet your problem and the OPs problems are one in the same..

Wiring.

Two major wiring trouble spots are the connections at each backing plate and the wires that are run inside the axle tube.

Frame manufacturer will run the wiring down one side of the frame to the first axle, splice in the backing plate, the wire inside the axle tube and a jumper to the next axle.

At the next axle they wire the jumper to the backing plate and the wire in the axle tube..

The wires in the axle tube are loose. Since they are loose they move around inside the tube which can rub the insulation off exposing the bare wire to the tube creating intermittent shorts or eventually breaking the strands of wire until you have no connection or shorted wires.

That can cause the controller to shut off the output causing no brakes condition depending on where the wire in the tube is at any given moment.

Investigate the connections at the backing plates, if in doubt about the condition of the connections, cut the splices and re do all of the connections.

Manufacturers typically do not use weatherproof splices, water gets in to the copper wire and over time the copper wire corrodes enough to no longer make a good electrical connection. And yes, copper wire does degrade with repeated or constant exposure to water/moisture. Moisture exposure with copper creates a oxide coating on the wire surface which does not conduct electricity very well..

If your axles have the wires running through the axles, cut all connections to those wires and run new wire outside the axle tubes to the backing plates on the other side. You can wire tie the wires to the tops of the axles or across the frame.

On my scenario my brakes were working and then not. Go down road and they worked. Still puzzled

mdcamping wrote:
I pulled into the shop with just the back brakes working. This was a scheduled service as 1st tech did the repair. I hooked up trailer to truck, tested brakes and they were not working at all. I "never" left the shop with the trailer.

What they have told me was they have a senior tech that has now been working on the trailer the past 2 days taking it out for some test rides trying to figure where the problem was and my last conversation was they got half the brakes back working and yeah they mentioned that the problem could be the magnets. Hope tomorrow this gets resolved.

I have never worked on brakes my whole life, rv or auto as this is something I have always had a service shop do.

My last 2 trailers never had issues with brakes. My present trailer sat for 5 years unused as owner had run into a hardship and had to sell. so my guess this probably contributed to the brake problems?

This weekend we are supposed to go to the catskills in NY, so my trip is in jeopardy... not a happy camper...

Mike

Hopefully, you aren't paying for the re-work because you can get the whole new assembly that just bolts on for not much more than the cost of a brake job...

No idea if this matches your trailer but gives you an idea of how cheap they are:

https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/etrailer/AKEBRK-35R.html?feed=npn&msclkid=b8b4bb65056e18c801dcd9ce42011a0d&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Bing%20%7C%20Shop%20-%20Accessories%20and%20Parts&utm_term=4577266908256386&utm_content=Trailer%20Brakes

Ouch. No comment on the shop, as it's obvious. electric trailer drum brakes are about as simple a system as it gets. Either there is power going to them or not and worst case, slap whole assemblies on all 4 corners. They're like $40-60 per wheel, pre assembled ALL components hide hair and feathers.

Use this info dispute any egregious charges.

1. Good wire from trailer plug back to the axles where it splits 4 ways to each wheel.
2. Good wire from there to each wheel.
3. Good magnet and properly adjusted at each wheel (or $34.99/wheel for a whole new pre-assembled 10" brake assembly including backing plate is almost a foregone conclusion if one needs to replace ANY of the components of a wheel brake.

Hope this helps with your ability to get fair and competent results with the shop.

I pulled into the shop with just the back brakes working. This was a scheduled service as 1st tech did the repair. I hooked up trailer to truck, tested brakes and they were not working at all. I "never" left the shop with the trailer.

What they have told me was they have a senior tech that has now been working on the trailer the past 2 days taking it out for some test rides trying to figure where the problem was and my last conversation was they got half the brakes back working and yeah they mentioned that the problem could be the magnets. Hope tomorrow this gets resolved.

I have never worked on brakes my whole life, rv or auto as this is something I have always had a service shop do.

My last 2 trailers never had issues with brakes. My present trailer sat for 5 years unused as owner had run into a hardship and had to sell. so my guess this probably contributed to the brake problems?

This weekend we are supposed to go to the catskills in NY, so my trip is in jeopardy... not a happy camper...

Mike

valhalla360 wrote:
A break check

It was already broken.

Always do a break check when pulling out for a day's run (pulling out from brake work...doubly so).

You should feel a strong pull from the trailer when you activate them manually. If you don't, stop and figure out what's wrong.

Did they work before, aside from the hot/cold thing?

Could be several things, fortunately trailer drum brakes are one of the simplest mechanical assemblies on a "vehicle."

First, if it appears that none of the brakes are working at all, then greater chance it's the power supply, wire, trailer plug, even brake controller, somewhere upstream of the individual brakes.
Other things.
Could be all are mis adjusted very loose and not enough travel to even engage.
Could be bad magnets, shorted wire to a brake.

There are many published diagnostic procedures, if you're actually trying to diagnose yourself rather than just haul it back to a shop.

Hope ya get it figured out easily!

I believe you are missing nothing. Consider getting another shop to verify your TT brakes were fixed correctly.