Electric Brakes - Part 2

[rb_beachcpl]

I'm really confused now. I made an appointment to have a brake controller installed. In the mean time, the guy we bought the PU from emailed me and said that it did not have electric brakes. But all the specs for the 2002 Taos says it does. So I went under the PU and took a few pics.

Can I email them to one or two of you experts and maybe you can tell me if these drums are brakes, or just part of the tires?

I owe you a six pack!

Thanks

[BuxCamper]

I'm really confused now. I made an appointment to have a brake controller installed. In the mean time, the guy we bought the PU from emailed me and said that it did not have electric brakes. But all the specs for the 2002 Taos says it does. So I went under the PU and took a few pics.

Can I email them to one or two of you experts and maybe you can tell me if these drums are brakes, or just part of the tires?

I owe you a six pack!

Thanks

From what your describing it sounds like you definietly have brakes.  If there is a wire separate from the bundle that goes to the Bargman connector that goes through a small plastic box on the pop-up's A-frame and then on to your battery, then that is the breakaway switch.  There should be a lanyard attached to plastic key/pin that gets inserted into this to open the connection.  The idea if the hitch fails and the trailer completely gets away from the tow vehicle, this pin/key will be pulled and trailer battery voltage will be applied to the brakes to slow and stop the pop-up.  If the wires are cut or its not connected to the battery, then the brakes just sit there and do nothing.

The axles that Dexter makes for these trailers all come prepped for brakes but that doesn't include the drums or the actual mechanism.  I've heard several times adding them is a pretty easy job and not that expensive.

BTW, I post very regularly over on PUX but only occaisionally check-in here.

- Mark

[AustinBoston]

I'm really confused now. I made an appointment to have a brake controller installed. In the mean time, the guy we bought the PU from emailed me and said that it did not have electric brakes. But all the specs for the 2002 Taos says it does. So I went under the PU and took a few pics.

I'll bet he is confused, not you.

Can I email them to one or two of you experts and maybe you can tell me if these drums are brakes, or just part of the tires?

Post them once here as an attachment; you will probably need to shrink them a bit to get the site to accept them.  If that doesn't work, my "safe" email address is tacooper260@hotmail.com.

The axles that Dexter makes for these trailers all come prepped for brakes but that doesn't include the drums or the actual mechanism.

For his model year, all Coleman/Fleetwood trailers came with electric brakes.

Austin

[AustinBoston]

I've seen your pics, and unless someone really screwed up, this trailer has brakes.  The dark round cylinders are the drums; inside each are shoes, an activating armature, and a magnet.

It's actually a cool system, figuring it hasn't changed in more than half a century.  A magnet, when energized, is pulled to the face of the drum.  Movement of the drum applies pressure to the magnet, which pushes on an armature.  a small movement in the armature pushes the shoes apart, aplying the brakes.  There is no way the power that could be pushed down the wire could ever apply the brakes; the system uses the rotational energy in the drum to apply the brakes.

The armature is designed in such a way that it will apply the brakes no matter which way it is moved.  The result is 1) the trailer has brakes while backing up and 2) the same mechanism can be used for either side of the trailer (the system does not need a "left side" and "right side" mechanism).

The design also results in a system that is somewhat speed dependent; it responds with a little more braking at high speeds than low speeds.

Among inertial controllers, I believe only the Tekonsha Prodigy provides braking while backing up.

Austin

[rb_beachcpl]

You rock Austin....and thanks to you all! I'm having the brake controller installed on the 26th and will take it out for a spin before our first trip next month.

[AustinBoston]

I took another look at those pics this morning, and saw something I did not like.  Basically, you do not want to leave all that wire just hanging loose without some kind of protection on the underside of your trailer.

I'm looking mostly at the blue and white wires (blue wires on a trailer should always be brake wires) that are running across the trailer.  

There are different ways to deal with it, but here's what I would do.  I'm not sure what it's called, but there is a kind of flexible tubing that has a slit along it's length so you can put wires in it without having to disconnect one end or fish it through.  I believe you can get it at any autoparts store.  I would use that for the wires running across the trailer, then I would use twist ties or tiewraps wherever I could to secure it to the trailer.  Then I would wrap electrical tape around the shorter sections (near the brake drums).  I know those wires across the middle are just begging to get snagged.

Near the drums, you want to make sure there is no way it can come into contact with moving parts.

Austin

[Steve-o-bud]

I took another look at those pics this morning, and saw something I did not like. Basically, you do not want to leave all that wire just hanging loose without some kind of protection on the underside of your trailer.
 
I'm looking mostly at the blue and white wires (blue wires on a trailer should always be brake wires) that are running across the trailer.
 
There are different ways to deal with it, but here's what I would do. I'm not sure what it's called, but there is a kind of flexible tubing that has a slit along it's length so you can put wires in it without having to disconnect one end or fish it through. I believe you can get it at any autoparts store. I would use that for the wires running across the trailer, then I would use twist ties or tiewraps wherever I could to secure it to the trailer. Then I would wrap electrical tape around the shorter sections (near the brake drums). I know those wires across the middle are just begging to get snagged.
 
Near the drums, you want to make sure there is no way it can come into contact with moving parts.
 
Austin

The tubing that Austin refers to is called 'split loom'. It will help ensure the wires are protected, stay neatly organized, etc.

[rb_beachcpl]

Thanks guys. I plan on working on all the wiring this weekend. Another problem I ran into was internal wire issues. There are two "white" wire connectors inside (one under the sink and one under a bench) that are not plug into anything and seem rather short. I may be missing a connector that connects them both together. I found this out after charging the new battery, and the internal lights did not work. That's a problem!

[BuxCamper]

One thing to remember most RVs use house wiring color coding.  For the 12V DC system white is negative (or ground) and black is positive.  Coleman/Fleetwood does this and often I've had to stop and think. :banghead:

On my battery I wrapped a piece of red and black electrical tape around the positive and negative wires just to remind me which should go where.