Installing the Ground for Electric Brake Magnets of Electric Trailer Brake Assemblies

Question:

The writeup on a forum talks about Trailer Brake Magnets needing to ground from the center tang on the hub where they are mounted. Is this a true Statement?

asked by: Shane R

Expert Reply:

Electric trailer brakes have magnets that have two wires like those you can see in the # AKEBRK-7-SA electric brake kit. These two wires are not color coded or labeled because either can be use for power and the other for ground. You can ground your magnets to the flange of the axle like they state, but that is not the only location.

You can ground your trailer brakes to the frame near each assembly, or you can use a common ground in one location on your trailer. There are reasons for preferences either way, but we normally recommend using a 10 gauge wire like # 10-1-1 for power and grounding the magnet near the assembly directly to the frame. The reason for this is that if a common ground location becomes bad, you don't lose all your trailer brakes. So whether you have 2, 4, or even 6 brake assemblies, one bad ground would still allow the others to function correctly.

A common ground is all or nothing, which is good in many ways, but not ideal for electric braking.

expert reply by: Jason S