Brakes on my Argosy

[Apache_Camp]

My Argosy's brakes are not working.
The brake controller in the Wagon is working (its working my other trailers brakes) and is not showing a defect (the red light is not coming on or shooting any fuses).

The main blue wire seems to be intact all the way to the rear brakes from the front to the rear in the wiring harness. I installed a new wiring harness on the front of the trailer (no help).

Does the blue wire have to be connected to my new inverter to work the brakes during normal towing or just for the brake away switch?

It was connected to the previous Univolt, but I did not re-connect it to the new converter..because I thought it only needed to be hooked up to the conveter to work the brake away switch. I installed a new brake away switch, which didn't help.

I have not pulled the hubs yet, I relied on the tire shop to check them out when I had my new tires installed. I assume I'll be pulling the hubs?

I can easily stop the trailer with my tow vehicles brakes....but I want to be safe and have my brakes working on the Argosy.

[Silverhobby]

Sounds like you may have a bad ground going to the trailer brakes. The brakes do need to be checked at each of the wheels. In most cases, a tire shop will not check the hubs.
If you took the break away switch out of the brake system, you might have accidentally disconnected the brake feed wire to the trailer.
This gives you a few places to start with to check out the brakes. Good luck.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Apache_Camp

My Argosy's brakes are not working.
The brake controller in the Wagon is working (its working my other trailers brakes) and is not showing a defect (the red light is not coming on or shooting any fuses).

The main blue wire seems to be intact all the way to the rear brakes from the front to the rear in the wiring harness. I installed a new wiring harness on the front of the trailer (no help).

Does the blue wire have to be connected to my new inverter to work the brakes during normal towing or just for the brake away switch?

It was connected to the previous Univolt, but I did not re-connect it to the new converter..because I thought it only needed to be hooked up to the conveter to work the brake away switch. I installed a new brake away switch, which didn't help.

I have not pulled the hubs yet, I relied on the tire shop to check them out when I had my new tires installed. I assume I'll be pulling the hubs?

I can easily stop the trailer with my tow vehicles brakes....but I want to be safe and have my brakes working on the Argosy.

The blue wire is the "charge line".

That wire is supposed to go the the connector that goes to the tow vehicle, and to the trailer battery.

The break away switch is supposed to be wired to it and to the hot side of the brakes.

Home Depot has cheap volt meters.

Using one will help you find the cause of your no brakes.

Andy

[Apache_Camp]

On the wiring charts I have, the blue wire is for the "brakes". On both my Apache & my Argosy the blue wire runs from the wiring harness to the brake hubs. Both were like this when I bought them. Is that right?

[Apache_Camp]

So do I need to hook the blue wire back up to the converter to get the brakes to work?
I'm still a little confused, on my previous trailers and my current popup (with a break away switch) the brakes work without being hooked up to either a converter or battery....just the the tow vehicle.

[silverleeper]

This might help too. First is the wiring for the around 78 and the second is the current standard.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Apache_Camp

On the wiring charts I have, the blue wire is for the "brakes". On both my Apache & my Argosy the blue wire runs from the wiring harness to the brake hubs. Both were like this when I bought them. Is that right?

I would not use a wiring diagram for your tent camper, and assume the Argosy is ther same. It is not the same.

I will post a wiring diagram for you when I get to my office later this a.m.

The colors of the wires on your Argosy, are as follows.

Blue = charge line
White = ground
Green = clearance and tail lights
Red = left turn
Brown = right turn
Black = backup
Yellow = brakes

If you using a flat blade connector, I would suggest you get rid of it, as they cause tons of connection problems, especially for high currect circuits, such as the brakes and charge line.

The brake circuit, obviously, is one that should be 100 percent reliable, always.

Round pin connectors are the best, but do cost more.

Andy 8.2

[Argonaut20]

Sounds to me like you need to do some detective work with a continuity tester. Find out where the brake wire from the connector goes. It should join with the wire from the break away switch so power is thrown to the brakes when you put the brakes on in the tow vehicle. The break away switch completes the circuit supplying power from the battery if the trailer 'breaks away'. In my Argosy, the positive wire to the brakes is yellow. There is a point in the trailer where three wires are joined together, one of them the yellow lead to the brakes, the other two are the break away lead and the lead from the tow vehicle. Check the power from the tow vehicle at this point. If you have current when there is power applied to the appropriate connector in the pigtail, then the problem is between the three way and the brakes. Double, triple check that you have the connector wired correctly. Does the break away switch activate the brakes? Assuming you have the battery hooked up, have someone get near the brakes when you pull the pin out of the switch. You can usually hear the magnets hitting the drum. If no buzz or other sound, then the circuit to the brakes is bad, probably misconnected.

I find a continuity tester consisting of a battery powered light with long leads to be a very effective way to test where current is flowing. Connect one lead to one end of a wire, the other lead to the other end, and if the wire is good, the light turns on. If there is a break, no light. Disconnect from all other power sources before using. To be honest, I think time spent finding out where each terminal of the connector sends power will be time well spent.

An alternative is to take your trailer battery out and use it to power each part of the connector while the negative is connected to ground on the trailer.