Quote:
Originally Posted by nrgtrakr
|
A terminal block is good idea..But.... it is harder to protect from corrosion, road stuff, etc. It also does not do well as vibration can still affect the clamp force and vibration fatigue.
When using proper wiring, properly soldered and sealed/protected, I have found a higher reliability. We did this on all our boat and horse trailers which tended to have harsher environment exposure than our AS (with exception of towing AS on 'treated' roadways or coastline service.
On our 1999, we have ONE pair of wires running from umbilical to the axle area which then 'splits' to feed each side.
It is key to have good 'grounding' for the brakes to operate reliably. However, I am a fan of having a 'return' ground to the Tow Vehicle (TV) for several reasons:
1- ground necessary for high current flow of brake magnet operation
2- frame 'ground' can be 'intermittent' between TV and Trailer... having a dedicated 'ground' helps resolve this possible loss of 'ground'.
3- good feedback to the 'brake controller' for control of brakes
4- good 'ground' between TV and Trailer help reliability of 'trailer signal lights', and 'charging' circuits, too.
We once had a horse trailer (1960's) with electric brakes and at times the trailer brakes would 'grab'....causing great disturbance to the horses we were transporting.
We had used the 'we have always done it that way' of 'frame grounding', depending upon the physical clamping force on the TV / Trailer connection.
We cleaned rust off the ball and coupler...
we removed all grease from the ball and coupler...
we found corrosion between the bumper and frame of the TV which had a high 'resistance'... even tho all the bolts were tight...
Finally, I wired a 'dedicated' ground from the battery to the trailer... and the problem disappeared. My dad said "the horses quit acting up", that it was not a wiring/ground issue...
Ok, Pop....