Breakaway breakaway switch

[brroberts]

Yesterday I pulled the breakaway switch out on my brand new E19 to check it. When I did, the whole bracket and switch came right off the tongue. I had to hold the switch to pull the pin. Tomorrow I guess I get to figure a better way to reattach the breakaway switch so it stays attached to th trailer.

[Brian B-P]

Could you tell what failed? For instance, was it held on with one screw, and did that screw break or come out?

[brroberts]

It was held by one self tapping screw which pulled out of the tongue. I’ll try to look at it later today.

[brroberts]

Ran a larger screw in and drilled for a second screw. Sprayed the frame with a little rust reformer and reattached it.

Dustin at ETI said thanks and they’d check to see they are not over torquing them.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by brroberts

It was held by one self tapping screw which pulled out of the tongue.

Thanks

Originally Posted by brroberts

Ran a larger screw in and drilled for a second screw.

A properly installed larger screw makes sense to me.
These switches are normally installed with a single screw and left loose enough to rotate (with some difficulty). This way, when the cable is pulled the switch lines up with it so that the plug can pull out instead of bending and possibly breaking.

Originally Posted by brroberts

Dustin at ETI said thanks and they’d check to see they are not over torquing them.

It does seem likely that either the hole was drilled oversize, or the screw was over-torqued to strip the minimal thread engagement that a self-tapping screw in thin material like this gets.