Tekonsha Breakaway System w/ Integrated Multi-Stage Charger

[peislander]

In the the earlier thread I started called >> [a href="http://livinlite.proboards.com/thread/1069/breakaway-brakes-system-require-maintenance"]Does the breakaway brakes system require maintenance?[/a] << I noted I discovered my factory-installed breakaway system had a dead battery caused by my failure to maintain that system. I put the system's battery on a charger but it wouldn't take a charge & the charger indicated that battery is "Bad". Here in the semi-rural land of lawn tractors where I live I couldn't think of a local store where I could buy a replacement battery -- so I turned to Amazon. I ended up ordering a Tekonsha Breakaway System w/ Integrated Multi-Stage Charger with free shipping. I liked the feature that it has a test button to let you confirm it is charged & operational. The integrated charger works automatically when the trailer is being towed & when it doesn't need a charge it will maintain the battery. The alternative as suggested in the above-noted thread would have been to just forgo the small battery in my original breakaway system and wire the system to my trailer's deep-cell battery. I chose not to do that because I occasionally tow without the trailer battery installed and I liked the idea of the breakaway system being a self-contained independent safety system.

The new system had three wires coming out of it. The instructions at first look seemed very detailed but I soon found them practically useless. Likewise the excellent high-quality installation video & FAQs at eTrailer.com were practically useless too. The problem is all those sources assumed the unit would be installed on a trailer without a system. In contrast I wanted to use the wiring already installed from the system I was replacing. It took a bit of head-scratching, face-slaps, and frustration but I did get it installed without messing up the trailer's existing wiring. It wasn't a simple connect the blue-to-the-blue kind of thing. I had to figure out how the existing trailer was wired. It helped that the tongue-mounted junction box associated with the wiring coming in from the tow vehicle's seven pin connector, is located next to the breakaway system. That allowed the connections to be made to existing terminals and a tee-splice to be located inside that terminal block. As installed final setup utilizes the original factory-installed breakaway switch. The new unit came with a new switch so I'll save it and replace the old one as a maintenance thing in a year or two. 

[whoofit]

Looks like a better mousetrap in so many ways for sure.

[kath]

Very nice mod, PEIr. Seems like a great safety and convenience feature.

Maybe someday I'll attempt this, after I figure out how the electrical system is wired, a down-the-road project.

[jerrybeaird]

Hi PEIslander,

I was wondering which power source did you tap into to feed the 12v to for the internal charger.  If you tapped into the main 12v feed, which goes to the house battery, did you use a diode to prevent backfeeding into the breakaway battery?

Thanks!