Trailer brakes are 'locked'

[Kvmsp8]

Hi,

I have a Heartland Wilderness 2550 RK. I had it all packed up ready to leave for the Labor Day weekend but when I went to leave it would only go forward about 6 inches.

I tried to get hold of a mobile repair tech, he was out of town but suggested the breakaway switch. I did replace it but have the same issue.

The other odd thing is that my brake controller (Tekonsha P3) reads '13' when the truck brakes are applied. It was set by me for '6'

Any thoughts on what the issue might be? This was going to be the first time out since mid-July.

Thanks,

Kevin

[braindead0]

So then I'm guessing the battery charge wire ended up making a connection with the brake wire? I think that would be the only path...

[djousma]

Kvmsp8 wrote:
Problem solved! The 7 pin cable to the truck had been pinched and a couple of wires had broken.

All fixed now...

Kevin

Kevin, that's great news. I've seen that wire get pinched when folks run the 7pin cable between the spring bars, and the trailer frame. The wire gets pinched on turns.

glad you found the problem.

[Kvmsp8]

Problem solved! The 7 pin cable to the truck had been pinched and a couple of wires had broken.

All fixed now...

Kevin

[trail-explorer]

It doesn't really sound like a wiring short. If something was shorted, fuses would blow (but that can't happen because brakes lines aren't fused) or the rig would be in flames.

[Kvmsp8]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! The breakaway switch seems to be OK and I suspect it's a short somewhere else in the wiring.

At this point, I'm going to call in a mobile RV tech but can't get him here until next week. I'll update this thread once we've found the issue.

The good news is that my batteries seem to have survived their 'ordeal'.

Kevin

[hohenwald48]

allen8106 wrote:
Make sure the break away pin is inserted correctly. They can be inserted 90 degrees off and will not work.

I'd bet on this being the problem. Quickest way to confirm if it's the switch is to simply cut one of the wires to the breakaway switch. If brakes release then you either have a bad switch or the pin is not correctly inserted.

Water in the breakaway switch will not cause the brakes to apply. If it did then every TT in the country would be locked up by the side of the road every time it rains. :E

Also, pulling the breakaway pin while the TT umbilical is plugged into the TV will sometimes result in a fried brake controller further confounding the problem.

[Need-A-Vacation]

If checking the pull pin doesn't seem to fix the issue, unhook one of the wires going to the break away switch. Due to manufacturing tolerances, maybe you bought a bad switch???? Just a crazy possibility!!! Or maybe the pin itself is "bad" from when it was molded. If you have the old switch compare the two pull pins.

If you have a volt/ohm meter, check the switch for continuity once you unhook it. Or check for voltage on both sides of the switch if you don't want to unhook it.

Hope you get it fixed quick!!!

[allen8106]

Make sure the break away pin is inserted correctly. They can be inserted 90 degrees off and will not work.

[haddy1]

Another possibility is water in the break away switch is causing it to complete the circuit.

[RoyB]

Try pushing in the plastic key pin again. IT takes alot of pressure to go between the spring loaded key capture. It will make a loud clunk when you get into the locked position. Then it take a rather hard pull to get back out again. All of this is necessary to keep from accidentally pulling the plastic key pin out.

Now that you know you are draining your good batteries leave the negative cable disconnected until you get all of this figured out... You don't want to further kill your brand new 6VDC batteries...

Well now we all know a little more of the mystery which is good hehe...

Roy Ken

[Kvmsp8]

OK. Here's an update...

I did go out an buy a compass and it does 'deflect' when placed near the wheels. Then I tried disconnecting the negative cable from the batteries as suggested by opnspaces.

As soon as the cable was disconnected I heard a clunk and the brakes released. Hooked the negative back up and they're locked again...

Kevin

[budwich]

Potentially, you didn't install the plastic "pull stick" right in the new switch and thus the connection is not being broken when it is inserted OR you didn't push the stick in far enough.

[RoyB]

Sure hope you brand new batteries survive all of this ok... Once you go below the 50% charge state all bets are off the batteries will ever be as good as new. Everytime you go below the 50% charge state (discharged more than 12.0VDC level) you drive another big nail in the batteries performance cycles.

Roy Ken

[opnspaces]

Just read your reply to TvMan and RoyB.

The wiring on the breakaway should not matter. The plastic pin basically separates the two wires from each other and it you pull the pin the wires touch making a connection.

On second thought to my post above. It is possible that you have wired the breakaway wrong. If the wire from your battery positive terminal to the breakaway has any splices in it, you would be feeding 12v from the splice to the trailer brakes and bypassing around the pin in the breakaway. The emergency breakaway should use a single fused dedicated wire from the battery to the switch.