Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch, 7" Lead Wires
(132 reviews)
Price: $11.64
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Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch, 7" Lead Wires
Item # HM20010
Retail:$20.90
Our Price: $11.64
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In Stock
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Hopkins Accessories and Parts - HM20010
- Trailer Breakaway Kit
- Switches
- Hopkins
Replacement Switch for Break Away Kits
- 7" lead wires
- Pin and cable included
NOTE: For replacement pin and cable, use HM20051.
20010 Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch, 7" Lead Wires
California residents: click here
Video of Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch, 7" Lead Wires
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Video Transcript for Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch Review
The Hopkins breakaway switch is a great replacement breakaway switch for your trailer. After a few years with the breakaway switch sitting out in the elements, depending on how it's stored, rust and corrosion can potentially occur fairly quickly if it is really exposed. And what will happen is if it is heavily corroded on the inside, when you pull the pin out, the contacts may not make good contact with another. They may not close all the way and touch and then it will not activate your brakes. So it is important that you test your breakaway switch before you go out. I usually just give it a pull and then just hop in the truck and throw it in gear without pressing the gas.
You should be able to usually roll a little bit forward or whatnot, maybe touch the gas a little bit if you're on some sort of an incline. And if it feels like your brakes are applied, then you know that you're good. You can insert your pin again and hit the road. But if you pull that pin, you hop in your truck, and it just pulls off, like you have no brakes, then you probably don't have a functioning breakaway switch or you could have an issue with your brakes. Obviously, if you got a brake controller, you can use that to verify if your brakes are working.
And if it works with the brake controller but not with the pin pulled, then you know that your switch here is no good and it needs to be replaced. Replacing your switch is easy, as it's only two wires, it just has a power wire and a brake output wire that goes to the electric brakes on your vehicle. And when the pin is pulled, it just jumps the contact between those two circuits together to send power directly from the battery back to the brakes. This switch comes in two different wiring length options. You can either get the 44 inch version, which is what we installed today, has 44-inch leads coming off the back, or you can get it in the 7 inch version which just has 7-inch wires coming out of the back.
So we'll begin our installation here by taking our switch. We've got two wires that we'll need to hook up and we'll need to mount it on the trailer with the tab there. To get this switch mounted up, we're gonna be using just a self-tapping screw. And then I did put a fender washer on it to increase the surface area, just to make sure that we've got good force on here. I also like that too 'cause it helps the switch, gives it kind of a chance to pivot a little bit better when it's in there.
So in case it's not perfectly straight, if you have a disconnect it can kind of pivot the switch to be straight with the vehicle and pull the pin out straight. So we're gonna mount it just on the bottom side of the trailer. We're gonna be putting it probably right here next to the switch box. That way it's close to the front. So that way our cable here will be long enough to be able to reach the vehicle and attach. So yeah, we're gonna put it in roughly that location there. And it's easier to just use the screw by itself to make the initial hole, and we can always zip it back out. So it is gonna take some pressure to get it to drill. There we go. And then we can just run it right back out, got our threads and everything made. We'll put our washer back on our bolt, line it up with our switch and then run it in there. That way you don't gotta hold a bunch of stuff together while you're trying to do this. And we've got our switch mounted and you can see it's got some pivot to it. So if it needs it, it can kind of transition to the best pull position for our vehicle there. So now we'll hook our wires up to our junction box here. I've already took the cover off the junction box. We have two wires here, a blue and a black. The black wire will go to power, so that way our switch has power going to it. And the blue wire will go to the electric brake, to the output that's gonna actually go to the brakes at the back. That way, if the pin gets pulled, it'll complete the circuit sending power from our battery down the black wire, through the switch, out the blue wire to our brakes at the back to activate 'em. So we're gonna push it through one of the grommets here on the side of our box. If you don't have a junction box and you don't wanna put one on, you'll just need to find your trailer brake wiring on your 7-way. It is typically the blue wire that's on your 7-way. And the black wire is typically the power from your 7-way. So for example, if you we're looking for trailer brake wires, you didn't have one of these boxes, here's our 7-way wiring. We hooked it into our box, but a lot of times that 7-way wiring, if you don't have a junction box, it'll just kind of go into the frame and my hole like this, or just run down the side of the frame back to your brakes and you can find the wiring there. So blue wires are gonna be brakes on ours. And again, that's usually the standard on most trailers is the blue wire. So we've got our blue here. This etrailer junction box simplifies things and gives you an easy way to hook a bunch of stuff up 'cause all of our 7-way wires have coloring on them and it matches up with the coloring on the end of the studs here. So it makes things just easy to make your connections. You can get this box here at etrailer and I do highly recommend it 'cause it protects all your connections from moisture and just really makes your trailer installation a lot neater and easier to work with, easier to add accessories and stuff like that in the future. So we're gonna take our wiring here. We're gonna trim it down. I usually recommend the 44 inch, people that have junction boxes just 'cause you don't know what kinda length you're gonna need to be able to go around, in, and then up. Sometimes it does exceed the 7 inch. If you're just hooking into like your 7-way here at the front and you're just gonna tap into it, then usually the 7-inch is good enough so you can mount the switch next to that. And then just reach right in here where you can splice into 'em. Both of these wires, we're gonna put ring terminals on. We've got our ring terminals connected. We just crimped it onto the wires. We can make our connections here on our breakaway, or in our box, or junction box here. So I'm just removing the nut for the blue stud here. And then oftentimes in these boxes you'll have a little washer on there. So just slide your little washer off. Then we'll hook up our circuits. Our blue is gonna go over here to this connection point. So we'll just slide that in place. We can then put our washer back on and then our nut. After we hooked up our blue wire we just hooked the black wire to the black post. Again, that's our battery positive. If you are doing this on your box, be careful when hooking it up to the black wire, because that is a live circuit that's hooked to the battery. One way you could make it safer is you could just disconnect the positive or negative side from your battery. I recommend usually the negative side, just disconnect the negative side of your battery. That'll remove power from your whole trailer once that negative side's disconnected and then this wire won't be live so you can make your connections without having to worry about any shorts. After we've got that connected up though, we're just gonna reinstall the cover on our box and then we'll test everything out. There's a couple of ways you can test it. We can verify the breakaway switch. You can do it right here on the junction box that you we're in, with your test light to see that it's getting output. And you can also verify that it's working by actually checking your brakes. That's the best way to do it. So you're verifying that your brakes are also working, but if you know your brake's working, you just need to check your switch, then you could do it with a test light. So we'll do it with a test light right here. And then we'll go back to the brake and show you that it works there as well. So I have a little breakout wire that I've got here to go inside the box to be able to check the brakes. So we're just gonna poke it in there and I'm gonna pull the pin and you can see that it's sending current back to my brakes right now. Put the pin back in and it stops. So what we're gonna do now is I've jacked up the trailer on the side. If I go back here and spin the wheel, you'll see that it's gonna rotate. I'm gonna pull the pin and it should have stopped the wheel from rotating. And then if I try to rotate it now, I'm unable to rotate it, the brakes are applied. When I put the pin back in, you should hear the brakes release. And we heard it release back there. We'll double-check to make sure that it did release and our brakes did release, so our breakaway switch is working properly. Our brakes are working. We're ready to get out and go on adventures again..
Customer Satisfaction Score:
100% were satisfied with this product
0% of customers were not satisfied
Customer Reviews
Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch, 7" Lead Wires - HM20010
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars (132 Customer Reviews)
by: Frank11/15/2023
Identical replacement. Quality is the same as the original! Nice experience!
by: Linda 02/12/2024
Ordering was quick and easy and the product was just what we needed.
by: Thom05/21/2023
It was the identical replacement…awesome!
It turned out that it was the Key along with the cable that I had to replace and not the switch…so no wiring was necessary.
Thanks etrailer.com
by: Jesse 05/31/2023
Yes, i rec'd my order of break away switches. Thank you
by: Harry 11/30/2023
It’s always nice to have extra cords just in case. Where better to buy them then here.
by: Mike R09/22/2014
Seems to be reasonably well-made and is easy to install. When adding brakes to a trailer the constant recommendation is to use 10-gauge wire. Odd, then, to see smaller gauge wire on the brakes themselves and on this switch. Since it, at worst, only has to work once, I suppose it isn't a big deal, and it does make splicing those short little wires easier.
by: Christopher08/28/2018
I accidentally let my Breakaway unit go with a Jeep I sold. Therefore I needed a new one for my new Jeep which I tow behind my motorhome. Brake Buddy wanted close to $80 for a replacement Breakaway unit and this one cost me less than $10 and a little bit of wiring. Works great.
Sally C.
8/29/2019
Great
by: Robert09/08/2017
Great quality, much better price than I could get for an original switch and will serve the same purpose. This switch is to replace the one that was missing from a Brake Buddy that I bought used. Fast shipping and would recommend this product.
Robert
9/9/2018
Still working as good as original equipment. Great quality, would buy again
by: Bud M01/22/2016
I discovered etrailer.com scrolling for parts for trailers and am very pleased with the very prompt reply that my order is being filled and shipped in a day or two and it was, I received the order sooner than I expected and it is exactly just right to replace my broke Break-Away Switch, I have not installed the new Switch yet since the trailer is not in use at this time. THANK YOU etrailer.com
by: Jeff 01/08/2020
excellent replacement breakaway switch for my snowmobile trailer. accidentally pulled the original one out with the lawnmower, this on replaced it exactly. Thank you!
by: vern v07/19/2016
This product works excellent and is many times less expensive than the one you can purchase from the supplemental brake system manufacturers.
The service was excellent and I look forward to checking out other etrailer products.
by: Allen S07/27/2020
Great addition to my military surplus trailer. Substituted the Hydrastar for the old surge brakes, and works like a champ!
by: Ron02/23/2017
Emergency break-away brake switch.....
Lets hope we never have to use it!
Remember to make sure it works before every trip...
A little silicone keeps it working smooth and reliable.
by: Brad08/28/2019
Nice price for this needed item. I do wish that Hopkins would make them with a ring on the end. I always cut the cables and put a ring in them for use with the coiled breakaway cable I have. This is about the 4th vehicle I have installed one of these, always having to cut the cable. Cable is Item # FA80-01-2140 at eTrailer, by the way.
by: Nicholas 01/10/2022
Used this to replace an existing break-away switch on a horse trailer. Was basically a direct one-for-one replacement of the existing unit. Easy to put in, and worked fine once soldered and wrapped.
by: Christopher 12/09/2022
The part was the right one. Shipping was fast. I will buy etrailer for all my trailer needs
Thank You Shawnee E
by: Lee05/16/2017
Installed OK - haven't had breakaway occur so cant say that it does or doesn't work when the going gets tough.
Worked OK Manually.
by: Amy11/27/2017
Didn't want to spend $70 for one of these for my brake buddy. Crimped these onto the correct ends and it works perfectly.
by: Randy S.12/15/2010
7 point wiring plug & Safety brakeaway for e-brakeVery pleased with the turn around time and they sent exactly what I ordered. They are also very concerned about the end of the project in the fact it is working right. It really great when you find a caring company like etrailer.com over the internet. etrailer.com will go on my list of favorites.
Thanks again
Randy
by: Valerie 05/22/2021
Arrived in good time and installation was easy enough. The 7" lead wire for the brake was too short and I had to add wire to make it reach.
by: Allen02/13/2020
Wet similar to the failed switch on my KZ sportsman. Wires were not the same color, wiring diagram is for Hopkins system. It comes with. I instructions but easily found on line. Just wanted to confirm the blue wire was the same as original orange wire on my old switch.
by: Bill04/03/2015
Price is very good compared to Brake Buddy replacement. Delivery was good, as well. I have not installed or used product, yet.
by: Charles03/20/2015
I'm very pleased with this break away switch. Replaced my old broken one with this, and it appears to work as expected.
by: Jeremy06/29/2017
Easy install, used as replacement for one that the cable got cut off of
by: Cross James Jalbert08/06/2014
Product was delivered sooner then estimated and part was of good quality. I will order from this company in the future.
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See what our Experts say about this Hopkins Accessories and Parts
- Why Would Trailer Breakaway Battery Only Charge When Pin Is PulledSounds like you might have some of the wires of your breakaway kit reversed. If you check out the picture I attached you'll see how the kit is supposed to be wired. Most likely your issue is between the connections to the blue and red wires of the trailer in the diagram.
view full answer...
- Which Wire From Breakaway Switch Does Blue Wire from Hopkins Charger # 20011 Connect To The blue wire from the Breakaway Kit Battery Charger # 20011 will go to the power (likely black) coming from your breakaway switch, such as with the Hopkins Break-Away Switch # HM20010. The other wire from the breakaway switch should be spliced into the brake output wire coming from the back of the trailer's 7-Way connector. I have attached full breakaway kit wiring diagram that you might find helpful as well.
view full answer...
- Trouble Shooting Electric Trailer Brakes Not Engaging with New Brake Controller It sounds like your brake controller may be wired incorrectly or more specifically you have an issue with your brake control wire. This is the blue wire that runs from the brake controller to your vehicles connector. I recommend checking the wire to see if its been severed or frayed. Another wire you may want to check is the red wire to the cold side of the brake light switch. A fault or miswiring in either of this would cause your brakes not to engage. You may also want to check your breakaway...
view full answer... - Replacement Switch Recommendation for Trailer Breakaway KitSounds like the switch you have is bad and needs to be replaced. For a replacement switch you'd just want the Hopkins switch part # HM20010 and you'd be set. The great thing about the replacement switches is that since they all work the same you can use basically any switch with any brand system. So regardless of what brand kit you have now the switch I mentioned will work fine.
view full answer... - Does It Hurt a Trailer To Have the Breakaway Pin Pulled While SittingIf the breakaway pin was pulled and the brakes were active for multiple days on the trailer while sitting then there are a few things that could have been damaged, the magnets and or brake controller assuming the vehicle was attached during this time as well. I recommend you insert the pin back into the switch to make sure the brakes release and then do a few tests using the brake controller. If all works well then you are good to go. If the brakes don't release or do not re-engage then...
view full answer... - Replacement Parts For Older Model Hopkins Engager Breakaway Kit The Hopkins Engager's box design and mounting brackets have changed over the years. There is a Side load Hopkins Engager available and a top load style. The Hopkins Engager part # 20400 is considered top load because you can see the lid from the top of the unit but the brackets do not allow you to install the box upright on the trailer's tongue like in your photo. The old style entire unit is no longer available but the replacement box part # HM20121 is available and can be installed...
view full answer...
- Troubleshoot/Repair Damaged Trailer Break Away Braking SystemIt looks like the interior of the switch was damaged. It's not a big deal assuming it's an electric breakaway system. You can just replace the switch assembly very affordably. The switches use two wires to connect, so they're not system specific. I like the switches offered by Fastway that use a coiled cable that won't drag and feature a carabiner that makes it simple to attach to the tow vehicle. The switches are available with a 4 foot cable as part # FA80-00-2040 or a 6 foot cable as...
view full answer... - How Much Force does it Take to Pull the Pin on a Break-Away Kit SwitchIt is a simple switch, so brand compatibility should be a non-issue. When the pin is pulled, two pins are allowed to contact and complete the circuit to engage the brakes. Any switch should work fine. I pulled the Hopkins Switch, part # HM20010, to test it out. It does take a good tug to pull it out and close the switch. You should not need to use two hands, but it should not easily slide out. You do not want the pin coming out when you hit a hard bump. I would not repeatedly pull the...
view full answer... - Troubleshooting Smoking Brake Controller and Melting WiresA trailer brake controller should never smoke up like how you described. The first thing you will want to do is determine what caused this, so it doesn't happen again when towing a trailer. The most likely culprit is an internal short on the brake controller itself, which would just require a full replacement. You will also want to make sure that the wiring connections are all correct. The red wire from a brake controller should go to the cold side of the brake light switch in the vehicle....
view full answer... - Why Would Breakaway Plug of Trailer Cause Trailer Battery to DrainIf your breakaway system uses the same batteries as the rest of your trailer it wil drain the batteries when the pin is pulled since that will activate the trailer brakes at full voltage. To prevent the drain for the time being you'll want to cut the breakaway switch off of your trailer wiring and tape up the wiring on both sides. This will prevent your batteries from being able to drain from activating the brakes. I attached a diagram that shows how the switch and system normally wires...
view full answer...
- How to Replace Pin for Trailer Breakaway System Without Knowing Model of SwitchUnfortunately, we don't have a way to tell which breakaway system you have. However, the only part that the pin is specific to is the switch. So instead of getting a new pin you can get the replacement switch # HM20010 which isn't much more in cost.
view full answer... - Replacing Missing Trailer Emergency Breakaway Cable and Pin For a Travel TrailerWhile we do have a couple Replacement Cables and Pins # 3802350 & # SM99905 they are not always compatible with every Breakaway Switch # HM20010. I recommend replacing the switch with the Fastway Zip Trailer Breakaway Switch with Coiled Cable # FA80-00-2040. This uses a red coiled cable that is easy to see and notice if it is missing. Also since it is coiled it is less likely to drag on the ground like the straight cables and become damaged. To be able to move the trailer you will need...
view full answer... - Will Camper Breakaway Battery Drain Main Trailer Battery if ConnectedThe only time there will be a draw on your breakaway battery is when the pin of the switch is pulled so with it just being connected to your main trailer battery there wouldn't be any drain on it.
view full answer... - How to Release Trailer Brakes After Trailer Break Away Pin Pulls OutIf your break away switch looks like # HM20010 then you should just have to push the pin back in. This will break the circuit and release the trailer brakes. If this does not work then there is some other wiring issue going on. You will need to remove power from the system to get the brakes to release. You can do this by disconnecting the break away system battery (just remove the power wire from the positive battery terminal). After the brakes release you will want to determine the cause...
view full answer... - Would Pulling Pin of Trailer Breakaway System Burn Up or Melt Wires If Trailer Was ParkedHaving the pin pulled on a breakaway system with the trailer sitting still would not burn up or melt anything. The only thing that would happen that would be worth noting is that the battery would eventually die.
view full answer... - Troubleshooting Dexter Electric Over Hydraulic Actuator K71-651 Always RunningThere are a few things that can cause your Dexter Electric Over Hydraulic Actuator # K71-651 to run none stop. The most likely reason is an issue with your break away switch. If the break away switch is faulty that would cause the actuator to think the breakaway pin has been pulled and will run the actuator directly from the battery of the trailer. The other cause is if you just installed the actuator and had a mix up in the wiring coming from the trailers battery. If this power wire...
view full answer...
- How To Wire Hopkins LED Breakaway Switch Part HM20059In regards to the Hopkins LED Breakaway Switch part # HM20059; the white wire is ground, the black wire is for 12 volt power, and the blue wire is for electric brake output. If you have a two wire switch, the above will work but the Hopkins Replacement Break-Away Switch part # HM20010 would be better since there are less connections but you can use either. The Replacement Break-Away Switch grounds though the mounting hardware which is why an additional ground is not needed.
view full answer... - Replacement Breakaway Pin & Cable for Hopkins Break-Away Switch HM20010If you are referring to the pin for a breakaway kit like # HM20010 that you referenced we do sell a pin and cable on its own as part # HM20051. This replacement pin/cable works with many Hopkins breakaway kits, all of which are listed on the page for part # HM20051.
view full answer... - Should Dead Trailer Breakaway Battery Cause Trailer Brakes to Not WorkYou do want to charge the battery of the breakaway kit so that in the event you need it the brakes would activate like they need to. That being said that shouldn't affect trailer brakes performance as long as it was install properly. Your best option would be to go over the wiring of the breakaway kit to see if it somehow is interrupting the brake controller output circuit for the trailer. I attached a chart that shows a diagram of how the kits are supposed to install as well.
view full answer...
- Replacement Breakaway Switch or Pin For TrailerThe plunger can be put back in place without any other functions needed to reassemble. In fact, that is exactly how you test the system for function. If the pin is not able to be put back in place so that the brakes don't lock up, then you can simply disconnect the breakaway battery. As long as there is no power going through the system the brakes will only be active when there is power from the trailer brake controller. If the way the system was wired, makes the system lock the brakes,...
view full answer... - Can a 3-Wire Breakaway Switch Be Substituted for a 2-Wire Breakaway SwitchYes, you can use a 3-wire breakaway switch like part # HM20059 in place of a 2-wire breakaway switch like part # HM20010. The connections will be the same and the only differences is that the 2-wire switch grounds through the mounting hardware whereas the 3-wire switch grounds with a single wire. The blue wire on the switch will connect to the electric brake wire coming from the trailer side connector. The black wire goes to the breakaway battery. If it turns out it is not the switch...
view full answer... - Could an AC Power Surge Cause Trailer Breakaway Switch to MeltThe DC wiring system and the AC wiring system in a trailer does have protective features between the two; mostly handled by the transfer switch and fuse/breaker panels. But I suppose that it is possible that a power surge could have worked its way through somehow. But I think a more likely scenario is that some how the pin got pulled out some causing the contacts inside to touch which completes the circuit from the breakaway battery to the trailer brakes. The battery will keep apply its...
view full answer... - 2014 Ford Edge Titanium Flat Towing PartsAccording to my contact at Hopkins Manufacturing, the # HM20010 break away switch you referenced would be a good choice to replace your damaged breakaway switch. For a Roadmaster base plate kit you would need the part # 4408-1 which has been confirmed as a fit for your 2014 Ford Edge. I attached an install video for you to check out as well. For an adapter you would want the part # BX88178 to adapt the base plate to your Blue Ox tow bar. For a diode kit you would want the part # RM-152....
view full answer... - Could Switched 12 Volt Power Run to Brake Assemblies of TrailerYour brake controller has that feature built into it with the manual override lever but there isn't a reason why you could run a separate override switch that would put 12 volts on the brake assemblies. You should note that they would lock up immediately which would most likely be dangerous so I wouldn't recommend this as a good idea.
view full answer...
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Info for this part was:
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Expert Research:
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Jameson C
Expert Research:
Adam R
Video Edited:
Dustin K
Video Edited:
Chris R
Installed by:
Cole B
Installed by:
David F
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Mike R.
9/16/2015
Seems to be fine - havent tested it but no obvious corrosion.