break-away

[diane]

How difficult is is to change the wire for the brake-away? Mine looks a little frayed. I'm afraid it will snap and the brakes will lock-up while in tow. Also I think I remember reading on a post here that if you don't have a battery hooked up the break-away won't work if the trailer does somehow break free .

[Jeremy]

Taken from here

• A battery on the pop up.  Once it becomes disconnected                   from the tow vehicle you will need a source of electrical                   current back there.
• Electric brakes installed on the trailer.  The method I                   am describing here will not                   work with surge brakes, so if you have surge brakes you can                   stop reading now and stop by your dealer.  Surge brakes                   have different requirements for a breakaway system.
• The switch itself. The switch will be a normally closed                   switch, which has a plunger inserted to open the switch.                    When the plunger is pulled, the switch closes and current                   flows.  These switches are available at almost any RV                   parts dealer.

[ScoobyDoo]

Are you talking about the leash that hooks to the TV to pull the plunger if you come disconected? Can't be that hard, just make sure it is strong enough to work.

[AustinBoston]

How difficult is is to change the wire for the brake-away? Mine looks a little frayed. I'm afraid it will snap and the brakes will lock-up while in tow. Also I think I remember reading on a post here that if you don't have a battery hooked up the break-away won't work if the trailer does somehow break free .

First, if you have electric brakes, then you have to have a battery on the trailer for them to work.  If you have hydraulic surge brakes, they have a passive system that only requires an intact chain/cable between the tow vehicle and the breakaway activation mechanism.

The rest of this only applies to electric brakes.

If the "wire" that looks a little frayed is the cable that goes between the tow vehicle and the breakaway switch, then there is a risk that the breakaway brakes will not activate in the event of a disconnect.

If the "wire" is the electrical wire that goes to the switch mounted to the tongue of the trailer, there are three possible outcomes:
1) The hot wire could short to the trailer frame, blowing a fuse and making the breakaway brakes inpoerative.
2) The load wire shorts to the trailer frame, reducing the effectiveness of the regular trailer brakes (possibly making them completely inoperative) and possibly damaging the brake controller.
3) The two wires short to each other, immediately applying full or intermittent trailer brakes.

In any case, replacing the switch and the cable is not a big deal.  A new switch should cost less than $20 for the switch itself.  If you have someone replace it for you, typical labor rates should apply.  I would expect to spend more time buying the switch than doing the replacement work myself.

Austin

[diane]

the wire is the cable, not electric. So my understanding is that the wire needs to be intact in order to pull a pin that activates the electric brakes and that I also need the battery hooked up for all this to work. UUH  :eyecrazy:   I haven't been even bringing my battery because I usually go to campgrounds with hook-ups, guess I better charge it up and start using it.

[tlhdoc]

When my cable looked bad, I purchased a new cable with the plunger attached.  Just pulled the old plunger out of the switch and plugged the new one in.  Simple and didn't cost too much.  You can also just replace the cable.  I don't have a crimping tool, so for me buying a new one was easier.

[diane]

Thanks that sounds easy enough

[dademt]

As with any time you are changing a switch make sure that the power is disconnected first especially since ( and feel free anyone to correct me if I am wrong...) but I believe you risk activating the brakes which could cause them become damaged.  The switch acts as a "break" in the power circuit to the brakes and when the plunger is pulled it will cause the brakes to engage.  
 
Long and short, just hook up the battery after you are done and don't have the landline plugged in either just in case.

[AustinBoston]

( and feel free anyone to correct me if I am wrong...) but I believe you risk activating the brakes which could cause them become damaged.

Generally good advice, but wrong in one detail.  The brakes would not be damaged, but it is possible to damage the brake controller if the breakaway switch is wired improperly.

Austin

[tknick]

also, if you do not disconnect the battery when you pull the plunger it will apply full braking force to and drain your battery very quickly.  if left unchecked, that could potentially ruin your battery requiring you to replace that as well.

travis