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04-13-2010, 09:21 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 81
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Testing Emergency Break-Away Switch
The other day I decided to see if my brakes needed adjusting and to test the emergency break-away switch on our trailer. I didn't have any reason to think it would not operate properly, but I figured knowing it would work would be better than finding out the hard way that it didn't. The trailer was not connected to the tow vehicle. It was plugged in to external power. I lowered the jacks on both sides until each tire could spin freely and pulled the switch pin. I then tried each tire and, to my surprise, they both still spun freely. No clicking, humming, no sound at all. My first thought was that, for some reason, it needed to be unplugged from the external power. No change. Next, I figured the switch or the wiring of said switch was somehow bad. I replaced the switch pin and checked the wires coming out of the switch. One wire showed 12 volts (this one apparently coming from the batteries) the other one was "dead" until the switch pin was pulled and then it too showed 12 volts. That proved that the switch itself was functional. I then found the blue wire inside the trailer that exits to the outside to attach to the brake drum on the street side. This wire tested hot when the switch pin was pulled, so I knew the wiring was good to that point. I then checked it outside the trailer at the drum and that tested hot also. Meanwhile, the wheels still spun.
So, what am I overlooking? Am I incorrect in my expectations? Could it be that the brakes only need adjusting? To the best of my knowledge the brakes have always worked properly thru the tow vehicle.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks...
__________________
Steve and Tali plus Dogs: Reacher, Rocky and Lucy
2008 Outlaw Oliver Legacy Elite
2014 Outlaw Oliver Legacy Elite II
2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD Diesel 4x4
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04-14-2010, 07:23 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Calgary, Alberta
Trailer: 2017 Escape 5.0 TA
Posts: 15,532
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Re: Testing Emergency Break-Away Switch
When using your brake controller alone, do the trailer brakes engage? If not, it would prove that the brakes need adjusting. That would seem like the obvious problem given you have proven power to them.
This is a good reminder to others to check the operation of the breakaway switch, and the adjustment of their brakes.
__________________
2017 Escape 5.0 TA
2015 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5L EcoBoost
2009 Escape 19 (previous)
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln
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04-15-2010, 08:43 PM
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#3
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 81
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Re: Testing Emergency Break-Away Switch
The brake problem is solved. It was simply that the ground wire attached to the brake system had lost its connection. We had an axle upgrade last fall and maybe it occured then. At any rate, I ran a new ground wire to the brakes and that solved the problem. Now everything works as it should. The brakes had always worked fine under tow because the ground was being supplied by the vehicle. It was only when I tested the system unhooked from the Tahoe that I discovered the problem. At first I thought it was not getting power from the on-board batterys or that the switch was bad, but all that tested OK. The only thing left to be wrong was the ground, and so it was.
Thanks everybody for your input and advice.
Steve
__________________
Steve and Tali plus Dogs: Reacher, Rocky and Lucy
2008 Outlaw Oliver Legacy Elite
2014 Outlaw Oliver Legacy Elite II
2022 Silverado High Country 3500HD Diesel 4x4
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04-16-2010, 08:26 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: St. Thomas not BVI., Ontario
Trailer: 2014 Escape 5.0TA / 2016 Ram Eco Diesel 4X4
Posts: 8,035
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Re: Testing Emergency Break-Away Switch
Hi: scubarx... I tested ours by accident. First night out with the 5.0 and backing into a camp site when I couldn't move the rig!!! Thought I'd hit a tree so jumped out to look and noticed a plastic pin with a wire att. laying in the box of the truck. What's this Then the light went on. The brakes held fast...till I pluged the pin back in. Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie
__________________
Quote Bugs Bunny..."Don't take life too seriously, none of us get out of it ALIVE"!!!
'16 Ram Eco D. 4X4 Laramie Longhorn CC & '14 Escape 5.0TA
St.Thomas (Not the Virgin Islands) Ontario
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05-27-2020, 03:00 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Ladysmith, British Columbia
Trailer: 2017 Escape 19
Posts: 216
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scubarx
The brake problem is solved. It was simply that the ground wire attached to the brake system had lost its connection. We had an axle upgrade last fall and maybe it occured then. At any rate, I ran a new ground wire to the brakes and that solved the problem. Now everything works as it should. The brakes had always worked fine under tow because the ground was being supplied by the vehicle. It was only when I tested the system unhooked from the Tahoe that I discovered the problem. At first I thought it was not getting power from the on-board batterys or that the switch was bad, but all that tested OK. The only thing left to be wrong was the ground, and so it was.
Thanks everybody for your input and advice.
Steve
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Thought I would revive this thread by asking owners if they check the operation of their break-away brakes? Just finished my upgrading of 12v wiring electrical with separating off the brakes to wire directly to batteries. Got me thinking after testing 12v system if the only thing I hadn't checked was the power to break-away brakes.
If you test brakes how do you proceed?
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05-27-2020, 09:06 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Front Range, Colorado
Trailer: ?
Posts: 739
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckBC
Thought I would revive this thread by asking owners if they check the operation of their break-away brakes? Just finished my upgrading of 12v wiring electrical with separating off the brakes to wire directly to batteries. Got me thinking after testing 12v system if the only thing I hadn't checked was the power to break-away brakes.
If you test brakes how do you proceed?
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In preparation for our upcoming trip, I did that today following the guidance of the people from e-trailer.
https://www.etrailer.com/faq-tb-11-0...ay-system.aspx
Plus lubed the plug.
Everything seems to be working.
Ed
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05-27-2020, 09:26 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Burlington Twp., New Jersey
Trailer: 2010 Escape 19
Posts: 7,126
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EdColorado
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This is what Escape has in the Owner’s Manual. Same as etrailer guidance.
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06-10-2020, 07:10 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Carrollton, Texas
Trailer: 2017 Escape 21, 2017 Toyota Tundra 5.7L 4x4
Posts: 549
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I test my emergency break-away switch when I adjust the brakes every 3000 mi. With the wheel off the ground, I pull the emergency break-away pin and then try to spin the wheel. One time when I did this, one of the wheels spun freely. I found the connection under the trailer between wire feeding the brake and the wire from the hub had pulled free. Once that was repaired, it worked.
__________________
Rick and Vicky Reed
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06-10-2020, 09:17 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Trailer: 2015 Escape 19 "Seventy Degrees"
Posts: 3,495
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Good info, thanks.
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