Do Trailer Brake Assemblies Have a Power and Ground Wire

Updated 08/27/2018 | Published 08/26/2018

Question:

How do you hook up a sign electric brakes to the trailer the axle came in where the green and brown wires connected and I have a single white wire how do I connect them to make them work and how do I know if they work In the beginning I had a double axle electric break now Im going to one break system

asked by: James F

Expert Reply:

Trailer brakes use a magnet for activation that is not polarity sensitive. That means that either wire can be used as the power or the ground as long as the other is the opposite. I'd check to see where all three of your wires run on your trailer to verify what's going on. It could be that the two wire that are spliced together are for the positive of one brake assembly and then the positive to run over to the other side of the trailer and the white is ground, but you'll have to check more as the wire colors don't always match what they should.

expert reply by: Jameson C