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Old 06-01-2008, 07:35 AM   #21
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Brake ground wire problem work around

Well my wiring is OK from the TV to the 7 way connector and there is no problem with the brakes themselves, but the ground wire still tests as hot. So the problem must be located between the 7 way and the brakes. For some reason yet to be determined the ground wire becomes charged when the left turn stop wire is charged, which cancels out the brakes. Short of tearing the trailer apart I can't thhink of a way to find the exact problem.

I still have some unanswered quesitions about the connections around the 7 way:
1. There are 2 red wires attached at the 7 way connector left turn stop light position. Could one go to the little turn signal indicator on the side of the trailer that you can see in the side view mirror?
2. The manual shows heavy white ground wires grounded to the shell with the bolt that attaches the 7 way to the skin. They are not. Maybe a PO dissattached them because of the left taillight/ brake ground short, or maybe somehow it is part of the cause of it?

Anyway thses problems have been around for a while (and there is a good chance I have been towing without brakes for a while) and the coach has not burned to the ground so I am going to leave things until I am feeling more anal about tracking the problem down. I would rather go camping.

I now have brakes that work. Albeit a chewing gum solution for now. Since I have no problem with the + black line to the brakes and the only problem is with the ground, after hooking up the + line I ran a short line from the 2nd brake lead grounded to the belly pan. Also a back up ground line across the axle so each brake is grounded individually to the belly pan and shares the ground with the other brake on the axle. I fugure since each brakes only draws 2 1/2 - 3 amps this is a safe workaround.

Incidentally while crawling around under the belly of the beast like a worm from hell I found some belly pan rivets that had pulled through and one bolt on one of my stabilizer jacks had broken off. I fixed the rivets with 3/16" wide head blind rivets and may tackle the stabilizer jack today if I feel ambitious.
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Old 06-01-2008, 07:43 AM   #22
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I have no idea what the extra wire could be. The indicator on the side of the trailer uses fiber optics and no electricity. There is no telling what a PO may have done in the past.
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Old 06-01-2008, 07:59 AM   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lumatic
Help me understand this somebody


I checked the 11 o'clock position on the umbilical while disconnected from TV and connected to trailer. This position tests hot with a test lamp. However, the diagram in the service manuasl show this position is the ground line and identifies the center position and the charge line. The center position does not test hot. Are these results as they should be? The 7 o'clock postion is the correct postion for the brake controller line.

This is exactly why I earlier assumed the ground and charge line had reversed wiring. To me the implication was the ground line (11 o'clock) should be negative and the charge line position (center) should be positive. Now it appears that my wiring tests out as Howie described and this polarity is normal. Vat is das?
The input connector on the front of your trailer does not have the same pin configuration as the new RV standard plug with the flat 7-pins.
You are looking at Airstream's way to configure the pins. Modern 7-way flat connectors are wired in a different configuration.
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Old 06-01-2008, 08:11 AM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by uwe
The iinput connector on the front of your trailer does nothave the same pin configuration as the new RV standard plug with teh flat 7-pins.
You are looking at Airstream's way to configure the pins. Modern 7-way flat connectors are wired in a different configuration.
Early in this thread I said it appeared the ground and charge line had been reversed. It appeared this way because of the wiring configuration difference Uwe describes above. Either changing the wiring confiuration in the trailer side of the umbilical or at the 7 way will make the accomodation, but will be out of sync with the schematics and may lead to confusion (did with me) for someone working on the system if they are not aware of this issue.
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Old 06-01-2008, 08:20 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lumatic
Early in this thread I said it appeared the ground and charge line had been reversed. It appeared this way because of the wiring configuration difference Uwe describes above. Either changing the wiring confiuration in the trailer side of the umbilical or at the 7 way will make the accomodation, but will be out of sync with the schematics and may lead to confusion (did with me) for someone working on the system if they are not aware of this issue.
Just keep the truck side of the umbilical cord to the new RV standard, and make a note of which wire does what, by color. Button it up...
Now, take Airstream's version of thow hings shoulda been wired in 1971, and put the wires in place according to their plan. This is not difficult, and will work just fine. Your trailer is already wired from the input connector on back, so it's just a quick adaptation.
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Old 06-01-2008, 08:21 AM   #26
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Actually, you might want to get onother set of plugs, and make a spare umbilical cord. Being that it is removeable, it might get removed.....
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