Troubleshooting Dexter DX EoH Brake Actuator Not Running When Pulling Breakaway Switch

Updated 05/09/2019 | Published 05/07/2019

Question:

I have this brake actuator installed on my trailer. It is working correctly. The issue that I am having is with my breakaway switch. It will not activate the actuater when the cable is pulled out. I do have power to it and there is power coming out of it when the cable is pulled. It is hooked up to the yellow wire on the actuator and the yellow wire does light with a test light when the cable is pulled. Thanks

asked by: Al K

Expert Reply:

I reached out to my contact at Dexter and she said there are a couple of tests you can run on the Dexter DX Electric Over Hydraulic Brake Actuator # K71-651 to see if the actuator itself might be bad.

The first is to take a standard 12V battery and connect the yellow wire from the actuator directly to the positive post while connecting the white wire to the negative side. The actuator should fully run in this scenario. I know you mentioned that you are actually getting power on that yellow wire when pulling the breakaway but this test lets us rule out a weak breakaway battery or possibly a bad ground connection.

Then for the second test connect the black wire directly to the positive post on the battery and the white to the negative. In this scenario the actuator should only click and NOT fully run.

If with the first test the actuator does not run or in the second it does run, this indicates a faulty unit that needs to be replaced. This would be covered under warranty assuming it's less than 2 years old. Please let me know what you find with those tests and we can go from there.

expert reply by: Chris R