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RE: What size brake wire?
The pre-wired 7way plugs you can buy from Tekonsha has 10 Gauge for the black and white (auxillary and ground circuits) and 12 gauge for the brake circuit. As electric brakes typically pull about 2.5 amp per magnet (10 amps total) the 12 gauge is more than adequate as it is good for about 40 amps in open air.
Typical brake magnets draw 3A per magnet not 2.5.
Larry
From Dexter Axle website:
BRAKES - How do I measure brake current or amperage?
Dexter 7" brakes draw about 2.5 amps per brake and all other brake magnets draw about 3 amps per brake. The total system amperage is calculated by multiplying this number by the number of brakes/magnets connected to the brake system. To measure the brake current, the engine of the towing vehicle should be running. Disconnect the wire at the point that you wish to measure the current draw and put the ammeter in series with this line. Make sure your ammeter has sufficient capacity and note polarity to prevent damaging your ammeter. NOTE: If a resistor is used in the brake system, it must be set to zero or bypassed completely to obtain the maximum amperage reading. The amount of current draw will depend on what point you are measuring. If the ammeter is at the plug, you will get the total current draw from all magnets. If the ammeter is connected at one of the magnets, you will measure the current draw through that magnet only.
So I guess it depends on the brand as to the amperage.
No TT or RV uses 7" brakes (maybe a tiny POP-UP) they are either 11 or 12" so 3A is still the correct answer.
Larry
The original post did not specify what size the brakes were. I have seen all kinds of brake sizes on all kinds of trailers, including campers, open flat bed, enclosed trailers and others. So until it is known what the brakes are, 2.5 or 3 may be the correct answer. Not trying to start something here but it is clear on the dexter website that some brakes are 2.5. You may be correct but until more information is known, we really do not know for sure if 2.5 or 3 amps is the correct answer.
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Bill Hamilton
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04/06/12 08:10pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: What size brake wire?
The pre-wired 7way plugs you can buy from Tekonsha has 10 Gauge for the black and white (auxillary and ground circuits) and 12 gauge for the brake circuit. As electric brakes typically pull about 2.5 amp per magnet (10 amps total) the 12 gauge is more than adequate as it is good for about 40 amps in open air.
Typical brake magnets draw 3A per magnet not 2.5.
Larry
From Dexter Axle website:
BRAKES - How do I measure brake current or amperage?
Dexter 7" brakes draw about 2.5 amps per brake and all other brake magnets draw about 3 amps per brake. The total system amperage is calculated by multiplying this number by the number of brakes/magnets connected to the brake system. To measure the brake current, the engine of the towing vehicle should be running. Disconnect the wire at the point that you wish to measure the current draw and put the ammeter in series with this line. Make sure your ammeter has sufficient capacity and note polarity to prevent damaging your ammeter. NOTE: If a resistor is used in the brake system, it must be set to zero or bypassed completely to obtain the maximum amperage reading. The amount of current draw will depend on what point you are measuring. If the ammeter is at the plug, you will get the total current draw from all magnets. If the ammeter is connected at one of the magnets, you will measure the current draw through that magnet only.
So I guess it depends on the brand as to the amperage.
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Bill Hamilton
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04/04/12 06:49pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Zanesville, OH RV Park
I live 15 miles from Zanesville. Wolfies campground is just off the highway on exit 155. They are open all year. Its a nice place and family owned.
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Bill Hamilton
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02/18/12 11:51am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: What was your Occupation??????
25 years as an IBEW union construction electrician and counting. Also own two businesses, a self serve car wash and a Mini Storage facility.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/08/12 07:07pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: RV repairman - Did I get taken for a ride or fair service?
First, one should NEVER clean out a heat exchanger with water. The heat exchanger is raw steel and will rust if it gets wet. Introducing water into a sealed heat exchanger was one of the worse things this "tech" could have done.
Compressed air and a solvent that evaporates is the only thing that should be used to clean out a heat echanger.
Now, in this case with the information provided by the OP, the reason the tech needed to come out three times is simply because the job wasn't done correctly the first time. Period!
Absolutely correct!
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Bill Hamilton
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01/03/12 04:55am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: RV repairman - Did I get taken for a ride or fair service?
I equate it to a medical diagnosis. If you go in to your doctor for a headache, he prescribes a pain reliever and the pain subsides only to return daily and then he suggests further tests. So you undergo many specialized and expensive tests and then they discover an extremely rare type of brain tumor, you wouldn't think the doctor doesn't deserve to be paid for his services. It is also unreasonable to expect all those tests to be scheduled in the beginning or expect them to be free or the surgery to also be free because they didn't get the right diagnosis in the beginning. On a practical note, what should the tech have done, stay with the customer throughout his vacation just in case the repair he made, that got the furnance working, failed? Should he be required to repair the unit regardless of cost, because the simple repair turned out to be inadequate? If that is the case, why would any repair person suggest any repair other than total replacement, because if their cheaper repair was a failure, they would be on the hook for the full replacement costs. I think the OP got more than fair treatment, especially since it was over a holiday weekend.
I guess I should be happy that my doctor is not a "repairman". That caparison is apples to oranges in my opinion. in any repair job, there is a set of given checks that should be made. Maybe not on the first visit, but DEFINITELY on the second visit.
What I see is he cleaned the unit on the first visit and thought that was the problem. If he did the cleaning job correctly, a further cleaning wouldn't be necessary on the second visit if it was done correctly and completely the first time. Why should it take two visits to do the same job? That in and of itself tells me that he was is not competent. Under no circumstances should it take two visits to clean a furnace. He should have been looking for another problem the second trip and didn't.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/02/12 06:01pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: RV repairman - Did I get taken for a ride or fair service?
I guess i am going to disagree with most who have posted. You paid a fair wage for a repair to an item that was not working. Being in the electrical construction and maintenance business myself, the first rule of thumb is to make sure that the repair is complete. Just because the man came out and got it working for now does not mean that the job was finished. it is obvious given the fact that he had to come back. Then the same issue happened again? In my opinion that is not quality service and I know that in my business, I would not be in business very long if I just continued to go back and back and back to fix what should have been repaired on the first or second attempt. When it was obvious that the shaking and cleaning was not sufficient on the first go around, in my opinion the furnace merited a much closer look on the second trip. Then to top it off by saying the furnace just needed to be replaced? I call bull crap. So in my opinion, if all the guy did was some cleaning, he did not do an adequate job as a repairman. I think that is a big part of the world today, no one is willing to take responsibility for their ineptness.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/02/12 03:23pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Anybody using the "Tankless Water Heater"
My brother has one in his living quarters of a fifth wheel race car trailer. He loves it. I have used it for showers and the water is plenty hot, and lasts as long as needed. His will easily run on a 2000 Honda. Nice thing for him is that it takes up less space and basically has unlimited hot water and heats only when it is needed.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/01/12 04:06pm |
Class C Motorhomes
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RE: Overnight at Tamarac on I-77 W. Va.
Upper parking lot, lower or second tier, on south side is for RVs. The turns are tight!!!, but if no one is parked at turns you should be okay.You can see the parking lot at Google Maps, click Satellite on upper right. If you have a 45' with toad or trailer, you might have to park with trucks.
I have always stayed there with a 31 foot class C and a 24 foot trailer with a trailer toad. Kind of long. I normally park in the North lot and haven't had any issues. Probably been lucky though.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/01/12 01:04pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Overnight at Tamarac on I-77 W. Va.
I park there at least twice a year overnight. Going to and from Bristol, Tennessee. The first couple of times we parked with the trucks but one year there was no room and I saw a few campers parked in the visitors parking. I went inside and asked and was told as long as I was out of the way, it was no problem. Been doing that for about 6 years now.
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Bill Hamilton
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01/01/12 10:44am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Our "new" motor home
Nice looking rig!
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Bill Hamilton
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12/31/11 03:36pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: How do you replace the fuel filter on Onan 4KW Microquiet
The odds of ANY APU (diesel or gas) fuel filter needing replaced is remote due to the 1/4 tank pick up tube inside the Fuel tank. It is almost impossible for the APU to pick up any debris due to this. In 32 years as an RV Tech, I have NEVER seen a fuel filter clog up on a APU. But, the BEST way to keep your fuel clean is to install a clear in line fuel filter BEFORE the input to the APU and THOSE filters are a lot cheaper and easier to replace than the APU mounted filters. Doug
You beat me to it. That is exactly what I did. Not only can you see the filter, they are cheaper and easier to change. I change the added filter once by itself and then both filters on the next change. Has worked well for me. You can buy a generic see through filter at any NAPA or other auto parts store. The only word of caution that I can give is in regards to the placement of the second filter. Being plastic, I made sure that I placed it in an area that is protected from road debris.
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Bill Hamilton
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12/25/11 10:52am |
Tech Issues
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RE: Tip for making oxidized fiberglass gel coat really POP!
Just throwing out there that I have two local Lowe's stores and have visited them both. Both store manager's told me that as far as they know, there is no plans to stop handling the Red Max Pro. In fact both had many (too numerous to count) on the shelf as well as two five gallon containers. Also, both of the managers told me that they are expanding the Red Max Pro line to include garbage bags and other cleaning supplies.
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Bill Hamilton
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12/09/11 01:42pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 5/8' Trim Screw Cover
Will these work?
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Bill Hamilton
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12/01/11 08:32pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Cleaning the roof
Simple green works really well on a fiberglass roof. They also now have a new version out that is orange in color and has a nice citrus smell. I just cleaned my fiberglass roof with it and it did a great job. I purchased a one gallon container with a free one quart spray bottle also full with a diluted amount of the product. I used about a half gallon and my roof was very dirty. I used a scub brush around the tight areas and a long handled brush on the more open areas. I had minimal residue on the sides to clean once finished.
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Bill Hamilton
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11/17/11 11:30pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Red Max Pro
Has anyone else tried applying a good automotive wax over the RMP in an effort to give a UV protection?
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Bill Hamilton
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11/16/11 11:58am |
Class A Motorhomes
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2006 Safari Simba trailer brake controller wiring
I recently purchased a 2006 Safari Simba on a Ford Chassis. I am installing a Brake controller on the motorhome to be able to tow a trailer with electric brakes. I found the factory Ford brake connector, and I already have the short wire on the brake box (taken off of another Ford) to connect to the factory harness. The motorhome has a combination plug on the rear with the 7 wire and the 4 wire plugs already installed near the hitch so that part is done. I plugged the controller into the Ford harness but the brakes are not working on the trailer. Also, the light on the controller is not coming on. I know the controller is okay, as I have been using this on another vehicle. Does anyone know if Safari did something different or if there is something else that I need to do?
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Bill Hamilton
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11/02/11 06:46pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Red Max Pro
I ask this question as a proponant of the use of Red max. I used it on my old motorhomehome and it was looking great up to the time that I sold it. But with the talk of Red Max not having UV protection, I am wondering what the long term effects of the surface will be with out the uv protection. So the question is, would we be better off to apply a coat of wax over the Red Max to give it and the surface of the coach protection from the sun or maybe even forego the use of Red Max and go with something like Poliglow that, I believe has the uv inhibitors? I used the poliglow on a motorhome several years ago and it seemed to hold up well, although it is much more expensive. Any thoughts?
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Bill Hamilton
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11/02/11 10:07am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 2006 Safari Simba lighting and genset issues
I thought I would post an update on what I found with the lights and generator.
First, I must say that the Safari seems to be a very well built motorhome. The wiring is very neat, identified, and professional.
The fog lights ended up being a Bosch style relay that was bad.
The dash lights were a faulty headlight switch. (This particular motorhome has the factory Ford switch/instrument dimmer wheel in it. I figured this out ironically enough by taking the switch out of my truck and trying it.
The generator took the longest to figure out. There is a four wire connector that attaches the switch from the dash to the generator about four feet from the generator. The wires were badly corroded and one was corroded so bad that the terminal in the connector was corroded off.
So all in all, everything is repaired, save for the headlight switch as it was an item that was not stocked at the local parts stores. It will be in Tuesday and all will be finished. I am buying this motorhome as now everything is repaired. Thanks for your help and I will be in the A forum a lot more now than the class C's.
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Bill Hamilton
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10/30/11 06:28pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: 2006 Safari Simba lighting and genset issues
Thanks. we are already at a very low price and I am ready to walk unless we can figure the issues out first. he is not willing to pay for the repairs but has been very good to work with. I am very interested in the coach but just want to figure these items out before the final purchase is made. Bottom line is that if I buy it, I will be the one responsible for the repairs
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Bill Hamilton
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10/29/11 06:08pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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