How Much Voltage Should be Present at Each Braking Assembly with Manual Override

Question:

I recently installed new brake assemblies on all 4 hubs. When the manual override is depressed, I have 12 volts at my brake controller, 12 volts at the wiring junction box at the young of my trailer but only 8.5 volts at the brake wire right before it goes into the brake mechanism. I have adjusted the brake shoes properly and I do feel some minimal braking action but I would say it is about 20. How much voltage should I be getting at the magnets when my brake controller is maxed out?

asked by: Matthew

Expert Reply:

If you are only receiving 8.5 volts at the braking assemblies just before it reaches the magnet, then I would first make sure that the brake controller you are using is turned up to the max settings in regard to gain and boost. If you can confirm the above, then the first thing I would look at are the grounds for each assembly. The ground wire from each assembly will need to be attached to a bare metal surface as close to the assembly as possible. Once this is checked I would then move onto the wiring making sure you have the proper size which is 10 gauge like part # 10-1-1. You will want to trace the wire back to the trailer connector or run a new wire entirely. You can use a multimeter like part # PTW2993 to pinpoint where the drop in voltage occurs.

Please let me know what you come up with after the above has been completed.

expert reply by: Conner L