Breakaway Switch Wiring?

[Trainkarr]

I bought a used TM2619 from an individual. There was a battery box on the tongue, but the battery had been removed. What I had was a pair of heavy wires, black & white, going from the right (passenger) side to the battery box ; and a rusted breakaway switch with broken cable. The switch was connected to a pair of black wires tied to the 7-wire cable running under the left side. I bought a Takonsha breakaway kit that came with a tiny 12V battery & charger in a plastic case. I attached the black & white wires to the old battery wires, and replaced the breakaway switch with a new one just like it. This left a blue wire on the battery which I capped.

When I pull the breakaway pin, nothing happens. Wheels still spin freely. Battery has 13.28V. B/A switch tests OK with continuity check. Brakes work fine when being pulled- but nothing when detached and pin pulled. Any ideas what's going on?

[Bill]

When you pull the breakaway switch pin, the switch (if wired correctly) applies electric power from either the TM battery or the tow vehicle's charge line in the Bargman connector (or both if both are present), directly to the brakes.

The blue wire from the Bargman connector sends power to the electric brakes. So when you removed it and capped it off, it sounds like you completely disconnected the electric brakes from all sources of power. NOT GOOD, since you now have no braking at all on the trailer.

A question. The small battery you refer to will not power any of the internal devices in the TM. No lights, no furnace, no water pump, etc. Does your style of camping allow for this? Or would it be better to install a "real battery" and bring the wiring back to the original configuration?

Second question. I'm assuming that you bought the Tekonsha 1028 kit? I can't quite tell from the Tekonsha lit, but it appears to use the 12-volt battery charge line from the tow vehicle to charge the "tiny battery". Assuming I am right, the schematic on the left side of the installation instruction sheet is needlessly complex. It may be easier to follow the pictorial on the right.

I wonder why the previous owner disconnected and removed the battery from the original configuration? It is certainly possible that the wiring in his tow vehicle, or in the TM, was so messed up that he couldn't keep a battery charged. If so, you need to fix it, even if you decide to stay with the tiny battery approach. Are you handy with electrical stuff? It sounds like you are not. If that is correct, find someone who is. Whatever the problem is, it is not difficult to find and fix, but it is important to do so.

What is your tow vehicle? What is the model and year of your TM? What area of the country do you call home? You might consider adding these to your signature line.

Bill

[Trainkarr]

Thanks for the quick response Bill-
The TM is a 1998 Model 2619

Re: Camping Style- We plan strictly full-hookup parks and campgrounds, so we will always have 110VAC and running water.

Sorry I failed to specify which blue wire- I capped the one coming out of the battery box. I got the Tekonsha 50-85-313 kit which looks very similar to 1028 kit except with an all plastic box. There are three wires coming out of the battery+charger box, Blk/Wht/Blu. I couldn't follow the wiring diagrams with the kit because the factory installed battery and breakaway switch have all connections made inside the power module in the bathroom wall. I was assuming if I wired the little battery the same as the old full-size one that everything would work the same and the blue wire was just extra. I think the previous owner took the battery out because he wanted to keep it.

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the factory battery/12V charger/breakaway switch installation? If not I'm going to guess the blue wire from the battery box needs to connect to the UN-grounded side of the breakaway switch wiring- and see what happens.

Trainkarr
Upstate SC
1998 2619 & 2000 Toyota Sienna

[Bill]

A quick romp through the TM Technical Library brings up this thread
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ad.php?t=13839
In it you will find a wiring diagram for the 2002 TMs. No guarantee that it corresponds exactly to the 1998, but it will be very close in all areas that matter in this discussion.

Download the manual, open it up, and proceed to page 34 (not numbered on the page, but right after page 33). On the lower left you will see the 7-pin Bargman connector that plugs into the tow vehicle. At the 11 o'clock position in the connector, you see the pin that brings 12 volt from the car to the trailer. The wire from this pin splits, going to the right to the TM battery (labeled simply "battery"), and to the left to the breakaway switch. The other side of the switch goes to a box labeled "brake". This box shows 3 wires going into it. The first (the wire to the right) goes to ground (white). The second, the wire at the top (blue) goes to the 7 o'clock position in the Bargman, which is where power from the brake controller in the tow vehicle comes in. The third wire is the one from the breakaway switch. Since the brakes have only two wires, I believe this is a drafting error, and the second and third wire should be connected together.

When you connect these two wires, you can see that the brakes can get power from either of two sources. The first is from the brake controller in the tow vehicle, the second is from the breakaway switch.

Aside from the drafting error, this diagram is pretty simple and clear in the area that concerns you, so understanding it should be straightforward. Unraveling the strange wiring in your TM may be less so. But spend some time studying it, and you should be able to do it.

You should probably start with the assumption that the blue wire is not "extra". It had a purpose, and the diagram should help you figure out what it was.

Bill

[Bill]

By the way, I don't mean to nag, but this thread clearly belongs in the Electrical forum. It will move there in a couple days, and when it does, you will no longer be able to see it since your membership level has been changed to Registered Guest. If you still want to read and post in the thread, you need to become a Sponsor. Please read this post
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=1064
and then go to the front door of the Forum at
www.trailmanorowners.com
and click the link to Site Sponsorship.

Bill