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Old 03-21-2014, 10:53 AM   #1
Trailer Trash 2
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power cord

I need some help on a slight problem with my power cord that connects to the truck to the trailer.

At the truck end I have 13.87 Volts even on the truck batteries. I plug in the trailer into the truck and I check the voltage at the trailer batteries I read only 12.47 volts it should be 13.87 I would think, I checked the continuity of the cable and it showed I was ok for the power wire but when I check the wire end at the junction box in the pin box I read 12.47 VDC, I believe that this is the reason my batteries never seem to charge properly does anybody have any suggestions for me as what to do next other than replace the trailer umbilical power cord. I will read all comments and suggestions.

Thanks.

Don
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Old 03-21-2014, 11:42 AM   #2
H. John Kohl
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When you read the 12.47 volts is your trailer battery disconnected (the negative terminal lifted). If the trailer battery is connected then you may be reading the power from the trailer battery and not getting any from the truck.
You should have a wire nut splice for pin four / black wire on the connection. Separate that splice and read the voltage on each wire.
If the truck side is still down by a volt or so I would open the plug at the end of the trailer side and make sure the lug screws are tight.

Note: you can have a voltage drop when the truck is trying to provide power to recharge the batteries.

I hope this helps
Safe travels.
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Old 03-21-2014, 12:35 PM   #3
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Ditto Kohl's line of thinking. An open in the line and you are reading the trailer battery voltage and not getting power from the truck at all. Another way to look at this is : if you have the trailer battery connected and you have the connection unplugged from the truck...a voltmeter applied to the plug from the pin box that would normally be plugged into the truck will probably not show any voltage at all. And this could be either the ground or the power run inside the cable or an open within the plug itself...or a bad connection with the junction box at the pin box. John
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Old 03-21-2014, 02:11 PM   #4
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John Kohl is exactly right!
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Old 03-21-2014, 02:27 PM   #5
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How old are your trailer batteries, and what is the voltage at the batteries with the shore power disconnected? You might have a bad battery and this would cause the voltage to be low when connected to truck as it would pull the voltage down trying to charge a bad cell.
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Old 03-21-2014, 04:57 PM   #6
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl

When you read the 12.47 volts is your trailer battery disconnected (the negative terminal lifted). If the trailer battery is connected then you may be reading the power from the trailer battery and not getting any from the truck.
You should have a wire nut splice for pin four / black wire on the connection. Separate that splice and read the voltage on each wire.
If the truck side is still down by a volt or so I would open the plug at the end of the trailer side and make sure the lug screws are tight.

Note: you can have a voltage drop when the truck is trying to provide power to recharge the batteries.

I hope this helps
Safe travels.
hi John all my plugs are disconnected on the truck when I check the voltage on the connectors on truck they read 13.87 volts . When I plug the trailer into the truck ( motor running ) 13.87 VDC at the plug but when I check voltage at the trailer batteries its 12.47 VDC. Even at the junction box connected to the pin box and the wire that feeds the trailer is 12.47 it should read 13.87 the same as what is coming out of the truck plugs. oh the trailer batteries are connected to the trailer I'll disconnect the black wire (Ground ) from the trailer tomorrow
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