Emergency breakaway switch question

The whole idea of the switch is to apply maximum brakes when there is a disconnect. So you need a full 12volts on the magnets and enough reserve to hold the brakes on for 15mins. If you read the specks VOB01 it will help, will depend on your towed weight

My Roadstar has a small sealed lead acid battery under the fridge to power the breakaway.

The handbook says to charge it if the van has not been used for a while.

The electric brakes use power from the car not the van except when the breakaway is activated obviously.

I had my scone inside the front boot of a new van today - there was a small battery and some other thingamies nailed to the sidewall, specifically to service the break-away function.

Hi Oi,
While my van doesn't require a breakaway (not heavy enough) I fitted one anyway. Since my van already has 2 x N70 batteries fitted, these are what powers the brakes on accidental disconnect. They would certainly hold the brakes on for a lot longer than a small separate battery as mentioned in an earlier post. The only thing you need to make sure of is that the trailer plug disconnects before the breakaway otherwise you may damage your brake controller through feeding 12 volts directly back to the controller. This is especially the case with the Tekonsha Prodigy and probably others as well.
Cheers
Gerry

My van has a breakaway unit which contains a small 12V gel cell...some electronics, etc....when my van is plugged into the cruiser then the battery charges as needed....if we disconnect( and I hope we never do) then this unit will automatically apply 12V to the brakes....it will hold for about 45 minutes and NO it will not burn the brakes out....the brake coils have the appropiate resistance to function with 12V system continuously WITHOUT burning out. Please consider the heat generated when braking then you will realize just how robust they are.

Hi Oi

Our breakaway system is wired in to the caravan batteries, and i understand this is common in vans with internal batteries on solar. Otherwise they have a separate small battery just for the breakaway - something that would need period checking and maintenance to ensure it was always in working order. Suits me having it sharing the main batteries.

We know our is working, and now know that if the input is not keeping pace with the output - and nothing is turned on, the breakaway pin has been pulled!

So long as your battery will always have adequate charge in it when you are driving, i see no problem.

Motherhen

Gerry P, I didn't think about the 12V feedback to controller - will keep the breakaway switch cable longer than the 7 pin plug cable so it pulls the pin after it. And with 215Ah on board van (at worse case 50% used) will be no prob having brakes activated for more than 15mins.

Redbakk, i got to say i am a little sceptical about buring out the magnets. And if i did the damn van should have come to a screaming holt by then anyway so they would of served a purpose.

I think that having the switch wired into the house batteries would be a better alternative apart from saving me $300 odd, they would more likely be well maintained (charged) then the other little battery anyway. Good to hear thats way you have done it Motherhen. Will be wiring up this way unless someone tells me its illegal. cheers,Oi.