Blue Ox Tow Brake System

[Millski11]

Hi,
We r new to 4 wheel down flat towing. We have a Coachmen Motorhome and have a Chevy Cobalt that we r dinghy towing. We purchased the Blue Ox Patriot II Brake system. I am not quite sure how the braking system works. We hooked up the brake system to the Cobalt and set up the rf controller in the motorhome. We put the key in the ignition in the toad and turn it to acc and pull the fuse for the ignition per the owners manual for the Cobalt. My questions lie around when we stop maybe for gas or to grab a bite to eat. What do we have to do with the system once we stop? Do we have to set it all up again? Do we pull the electrical plug when we stop? Do we turn the car off from the acc position? If anyone has any experience in this area, we would appreciate it. We r afraid to drain the battery if we don’t get this right. Thanks R&R

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Have fun and keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Ret Syntst]

Depending how long you tow you may drain the battery. You might look at connecting a charge line between the motor home and the car battery. This will ensure that the battery remains charged while towing. When you stop for a short time, (gas etc..) there's nothing to do except maybe check the tow bar connections, I do this every time I stop for safety reasons. When stopping for the night I shut off the Patriot because it will drain the battery if connected for a long time (8 - 10 hours). This includes towing time. If you don't have a charge line then you will likely have to drive the car to charge the battery before towing the next day.

[chinobob]

Opinions are going to vary here, but you shouldn't have to do anything when you stop for fuel, rest stop, or stopping for a bite to eat, other than double check all connections before you pull out. We tow a CR-V which is notorious for battery drain due to it's small battery. Not had any issues. We have also installed an RVT charge line to the toad for reassurance. Very inexpensive insurance. Overnight you should disconnect the toad electrical connection and yes, you will have to set up all the next morning. Enjoy it!

[Dark Sky]

If you choose to run a charge line, please include a fuse (I'll suggest 15a) very close to the RV battery connection and another one close to the toad battery. An unfused live wire in either vehicle could cause a fire if it gets pinched or chafed. I recall seeing my 5th wheel cargo bay filled with smoke about a year after a vendor ran a hot wire to a repeater for my tpms system. I had them replace the melted wire and include a fuse.

[Robf]

I tow a Kia soul, no charge line. When I stop during the day for fuel lunch etc I just check the hook up connections like mentioned above, at night I turn the patriot off and then have to reset it in the a.m......no big deal tho. Never had a battery problem. If traveling for several days in a row i.e. from Las Vegas to Dallas as we did last summer, I would turn the car on for a few minutes when we stopped for the night.

[hardint]

We just towed 900 miles over two days no charge line had zero issues,I do turn the patriot off if overnight and leave in place if I don't drive the Flex anywhere the next morning I let it run while I do my visual checks then power it up and do the setup and good to go, My car requires the key left in the ignition in order to unlock steering wheel and get transmission in neutral so if I'm going to be gone for an extended time I do put in park and take the keys would hate to turn in a stolen car claim with keys in it.

[powercat_ras]

The braking system works by sensing de-acceleration and applies braking as needed, there is a remote status display that goes in your RV by your driving position that shows its active and shows when it brakes. It also can be used to manually apply the brake. It has a breakway switch input so it can stop your toad if it breaks away from your RV, if you have a breakaway switch installed as part of your toad baseplate / towbar setup.

Personally, if I stop and leave my RV/toad for more than a few minutes I turn off the toad ignition key and the Patriot Brake Buddy, and lock the toad. Then reverse those steps when I take off again.

[Millski11]

Thank you all for your responses. It really helps hearing from others and their situations. Do you have to charge the Patriot Brake system if you have not used it on occasion if you don’t use it for a long period of time? I haven’t used it in about 9 months and when I went to hook it all up, I am having trouble with the power not coming on. I went to plug it in my cigarette lighter of the car and you have to have the car running to charge it. Do you know of any other options for chargiing if I should b charging it? I read some reviews on this elsewhere and they indicated initially this should be charged for 8 hours.
Thanks again fellow travelers,
Happy Holiday’s to all and safe travels

[2 cats]

For my 2018 Jeep Wrangler I ran a dedicated outlet from battery thru firewall into footwell. Breakaway cable for Patriot goes through same factory grommet. Duh. Found constant 12v outlet inside console. Have charge line from coach to battery. The small battery in patriot will not discharge your car battery for that initial charge because it's not being depleated and recharged. I shut patriot off when we stop but probably wouldn't need to because Jeep battery is being charged from mh batteries when sitting overnight. Patriot really won't drain its own battery if it has supply from 12v source.

[dennis45]

Originally Posted by Millski11

Thank you all for your responses. It really helps hearing from others and their situations. Do you have to charge the Patriot Brake system if you have not used it on occasion if you don’t use it for a long period of time? I haven’t used it in about 9 months and when I went to hook it all up, I am having trouble with the power not coming on. I went to plug it in my cigarette lighter of the car and you have to have the car running to charge it. Do you know of any other options for chargiing if I should b charging it? I read some reviews on this elsewhere and they indicated initially this should be charged for 8 hours.
Thanks again fellow travelers,
Happy Holiday’s to all and safe travels

I had one of the earlier versions of the Patriot and came to find out the unit had to be plugged into the cigar lighter for 6-8 hours from time to time to charge the battery. I only found this out after talking to BO Customer Service. There was no mention in the owners manual.
To make a long story short, the battery was kaput and BO claimed it had to be returned to the factory for replacement. Since we were on the first leg of a trip to Alaska that was not an option so they agreeded to send me a new unit to our next location and I could send the old one back on reciept of the new one for a partial credit on the price of the new one.
The new unit was a much more updated version and worked way better than our original. Five years later, I've not charged the battery and the Patriot works like a charm.
If you have a newer version, I believe the internal battery recharges every time you use it. But, I strongly suggest giving BO customer service a call to confirm. Just cause you read it from us experts on the internet does not make it fact. Ask the guy that built it. They are very good.
As for stoping for short periods, No Problem. But you should have a charge line installed as others have said and disconnect if your staying overnight.
Thing is, you should always start and run the toad for a few minutes in the morning anyway after an overnight stop just to circulate oil in the transmission and fully charge the battery. So resetting the Patriot is no big deal.

Hope this helps.

P/S, I run my Gain at Three rather than the default Five. I find it's less reactive and not as hard on the toad brakes. If you have an emergency stop, you will still have all the Braking required. My experience.

[hardint]

Like Denis45 I left mine stored with out charging and also had a fault that made it have to be updated by BO ,the manual with mine does state charging before use which I do now and I leave it plugged in the toad even at night when I turn the switch off.