Troubleshooting 8 Volts at Electric Trailer Brakes

Question:

Have noticed brakes were weak, did normal inspection and adjustment, everything looked great, I did replace one magnet with a bad wire. Have 12 volts at trailer connection but only 8 at magnets, disconnected and checked voltage to each one individually and remained right at 12 volts, yet when all 6 are hooked up am only getting 8 volts to each one. Is a voltage loss normal with 6 brakes hooked up, still have very little stopping power.

asked by: David L

Helpful Expert Reply:

Since you are getting 12 volts at the trailer connector and at each magnet individually it sounds like there is possibly a short between some of the brake magnets or, since you have 6 brake assemblies, maybe you are not using a wire that is thick enough. For a triple axle trailer, you should be using 10 gauge wire. I recommend replacing the wiring with # 10-2-1 and rewire the brakes. Often times, axle manufacturers will only use 12 and sometimes 14 gauge wire on their axles.

expert reply by: Chris O