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Old 01-06-2014, 02:58 PM   #1
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Brake light trigger for brake controller

On a relatively new to me 06 Camelot 38 PDQ.

I'm wiring in the brake controller for my towed and need a brake light trigger wire. Among all those wires under the dash there must be one that activates the brake lights. I looked in front of the dash (in the generator room) and can see the brake activation control. It has some wires in it - would one of those work?

If not, does anyone know how to find and identify the wire I'm looking for. If I don't get a response soon I'll just go out with my tester and see if I can find one that does what I want.

Thanks,
Tom
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:25 PM   #2
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On my 94 Dynasty I found a brake light junction terminal in the fuse compartment located below the driver side on the outside of the motorhome. I tapped in there for brake light trigger.
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:32 PM   #3
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How about tapping into a brake-lite wire at the rear of the coach?
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Old 01-06-2014, 03:33 PM   #4
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I would think that your 2006 Camelot came pre-wired for an electric brake controller.

Did you call Monaco Tech Support with your VIN or Coach # to ask them?

If it hasn't been pre-wired I can help you find the proper brake trigger wire in your Front Run Bay compartment.

Do NOT use the brake light wire at the rear of the coach.

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Old 01-06-2014, 06:17 PM   #5
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Brake controller trigger

OK. Thanks for the replies. I looked in the fuse compartment and there were two wires that were tapped off something. One was Hot, fused at 30 amps - good for the hot to the controller. The other got hot when I stepped on the brake so I used it for the trigger (will have to wait a few days to hook up the car and do a final test.)

There IS supposed to be prewiring for a brake controller but I was not successful in locating both ends so I ran a new wire from front to back.

Am planning a trip to Quartzsite to be there on or about Jan 19. Going to spend a few days in Palm Desert then continue on Sunday. Be fun putting faces to many of the posts I have been reading.

Thanks again and see ya down the road.

Tom
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Old 01-06-2014, 09:46 PM   #6
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Brake light

Hays makes a controller that changes air brake pressure to electric for the controller. I wired my Monaco the way you did out of the front compartment but when using the exhaust brake it activates the brake lights causing the elictric brakes on my trailer to overheat on long down grades. the Hays unit will cure that problem. You can get it on Amazon. See you in Quartsite
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Old 01-07-2014, 07:46 AM   #7
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If you plan to install the Hays unit, I want to give you a word of caution.

When tapping into the air brake line, make damn sure that there are absolutely NO air leaks anywhere otherwise you may be in for a rude awakening someday when you least expect it.

The Toad braking system made by SMI called Air Force One taps into the rear air line so it can be done with proper caution.

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Old 01-07-2014, 07:55 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tompn View Post
There IS supposed to be prewiring for a brake controller but I was not successful in locating both ends so I ran a new wire from front to back.
On mine, the trailer brake pre-wire is terminated in a connector under the left side control panel next to the driver seat. I have a cover on the vertical side of the panel facing the driver seat, and the connector was behind that. The connector included power, ground, trigger, and the line running back to the trailer connector.

On mine, at least, the trigger wire is only hot with the brake pedal, and is not hot when the exhaust brake turns on the brake lights. Exactly what is needed to alleviate mccrob's valid concerns. Hopefully the trigger wire you found by the fuses is the same. If not, maybe you also have the connector under the left side control panel?
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Old 01-07-2014, 10:14 AM   #9
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Yes, ShapeShifter. I have an old SMI 4 wire controller that uses the brake light signal plus an inertia switch to activate the towed brakes. There is also an indicator light that comes from the towed brake lights that lets me know when the brake is engaged. I have an 01 PT Cruiser that has about 40,000 miles being towed and I can only remember a few times when the car brakes were engaged. This 'new to me' Camelot has much better brakes that my old 99 Diplomat that I am sure it can handle the car. But, you know - the old liability thing. I'm installing the brake system.

Thanks for your reply,
Tom
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Old 01-07-2014, 11:32 AM   #10
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Quote:
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But, you know - the old liability thing. I'm installing the brake system.
Yep, it's OK if the aux brakes only come on occasionally. They're not necessarily there for when things are going well, you want them there for when the worst happens and things start going wrong!
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Old 01-07-2014, 11:55 AM   #11
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On my 07 Endeavor 36 PDQ the trailer brake wires were also under the left side driver console. Just remove the access panel by your left foot, held on by a few sheet metal screws (hopefully not your foot).

Use a test light to look for the wire that's hot when the brake pedal is depressed. In that harness there will also be a ground, main hot and trailer brake wire. I'm pretty sure the Monaco tech told me that 06 was the first year for this wire harness.
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Old 01-07-2014, 12:01 PM   #12
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Use a test light to look for the wire that's hot when the brake pedal is depressed.
My recollection is that all of the wires are white, and have their function printed on them every few feet. It should be pretty easy to identify which wire is which.
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Old 01-07-2014, 02:57 PM   #13
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I concur with ShapeShifter, my brake light signal wire was white and labeled Brake Light. It was located on the small Monaco BOX #2 in the front run bay. The connector was gray in color. See photos. One photo shows the blue wire tap I used on the brake signal wire.

One caution though is that this signal wire is a negative wire (Monaco's Engineering) so I had to use a relay to change back to a positive signal which the Prodigy requires.

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Old 01-07-2014, 06:18 PM   #14
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Dr4Film solved my same issue. My 2006 "connector" was as described (post #12) and his suggestions (using relay and tapping feed in front run bay) solved it. OBTW my connector was taped to one of the wires feeding the headlight knob so it was not visible from under the dash or from the access panel on top of the dash. Only after loosening the instrument cluster and contorting around did I find it. taped up out of the way.
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