Dead Batteries from Accidental Tripping of Trailer Break Away

Question:

I have a travel trailer with a two wire breakaway switch. The trailer is parked in my side yard and I was doing yard work and inadvertently pulled the breakaway cable, which activated the brake switch. I havent dealt with the issue until today. My two coach batteries are dead. Is this by coincidence or did I drain the batteries by having pulled the break away cable and activating the switch and leaving it like this for a couple weeks??? Thanks.

asked by: Jack P

Helpful Expert Reply:

Yes, it is indeed likely that your trailer breakaway batteries were depleted from the accidental tripping of the breakaway switch (but good for you for doing the yard work!). If your main trailer batteries have a charge line to feed the breakaway battery then they could have been depleted as well. Breakaway batteries are required to be able to apply full braking power (in the event of a disconnect) for about 15 minutes; this may vary slightly depending on the particular system and the number of brakes on the trailer.

If your main trailer batteries are NOT connected to your breakaway battery then their becoming discharged would be coincidental.

If you do not have a charger now you might consider a versatile unit such as the CTEK 12-Volt Universal Battery Charger # CTEK56353 which is illustrated in the linked videos. This charger works with a range of battery types and operates with an 8-stage process to charge and recondition your batteries.

expert reply by: Adam R