Brake Controller Wiring

[Dmreese1]

I was looking for info to hook up a brake controller on my National RV FL chassis. I found a post in this forumt from last year and the pin out information given by Pigman was spot on for my chassis harness.

I am looking to find out where the RED 12V large wire in the Brake Controller Harness for the FL XC 2005 chassis gets it's power from?

I looked at my 12v fuse panel cabinet and there is no fuse that shows as a Brake Controller or Trailer Wiring.

I ask because I have a Predator 2 controller to install and they recommend a 25A breaker in line with the power hookup and there is a caution to make sure the load is connected to the battery.

Thanks in advance,

Duane

["007"]

Why not just take it off your chassis battery with a 25 amp fuse to feed your controller.

[Dmreese1]

Thanks for the reply.

My coach / chassis batteries are 30 feet to the rear, a better point to take 12V power on the Tropical is the front 12V breaker compartment which is fed by an 00 AWG cable. It is right below the driver's seat area.

I just don't want to have to run a separate cable, I'm burned out from running cables for my new solar charging system and a Trimetric battery monitor. Spent a week setting up the solar system and charging monitor system. The weather here in PA is also getting a bit to cool to be crawling under and over to string wires. If it is fused and can't handle the load current, I am sure I'll find which fuse it is on but would rather know ahead of time if possible.

The 12V wire in the Brake Controller harness is 12 awg and should be fine as a source, I was just curious if it was a direct connection to the chassis battery or whether it was fed through a fuse or breaker. Nothing in my 12v compartment is labeled for the Brake Controller but the chassis was pre-wired for one, hence the cable harness in discussion.

I can call FL support and ask them on Monday but this forum is so great I thought I might throw out the question and get the answer sooner.

Duane

[Family Time]

I installed a prodigy brake controller a couple of years ago for my trailer using the Freightliner wiring connection supplied with no problems.

The only thing I remember needing to wire extra was a constant 12v for the lighting and accessories in the trailer, which I picked up on the electrical panel in the right rear compartment.

Hope that helps.

I'm interested in you solar installation, as my factory installed panel is dead and that is my next project. Some more detail would be appreciated.

Thanks John

[Dmreese1]

John,

Thanks for the input. Here is a link for a great overview of solar installations.

Hello world from HandyBobSolar! « HandyBob's Blog

I followed Bob's advice and am very pleased.

I used a 135W Kyocera panel, a Morining Star controller and I also installed a Trimetric battery system monitor. I get about 7.6 amps into the batteries in full sun, chargewd at 14.8 volts.

I am in PA righ now, and we have not had a lot of sun so the coach has been charged mostly with the genset. The few days of real sun was when I measured the panel input.

Read through Bob's info, he is dead on with what he says.

Duane

[Family Time]

Duane

Thanks for the link, Handy Bob has a lot of info over there, I'll sift through it.

Were did you mount the controller and monitor? And did you remove the factory panel or just mount the new one on top of it?

Thanks John

[WHALERACER]

Most brake controlers spec a breaker rather than fuse.
I was told that is to allow it to reset itself if it
has a momentary overload, restoreing brake function.

[Dmreese1]

John,

I mounted the controller in the electrical panel near the coach Inverter. I tapped into the #00 AWG coach batteries at the Boost Relay. The monitor was mounted on the same wall as the OEM panels but closer to the bedroom.

With winter sunlight and the Kyocera panel flat to the roof, I have been maintaining 95% amp hour reserve on the batteries while in storage. This includes working in the coach an hour or two a day.

I mounted a junction box on the roof for the #10 awg wires from the solar panel and ran #4 awg wires down the bathroom wamm of the coach through the floor and over to the electrical compartment. I have almost no voltage drop.

I bought the #4 AWG wire from Home depot in one color (black) and then marked the positive line with red tape and red paint. This way I was able to get a good price on the wire (They only carry the black wire).

Duane