I'm new to electric brakes heres the problem I have no brakes just bought the trailer and not working, there is power at the plug (ranges from 2-12 volts depending on the setup of controller) Im very confused there is 2 wires going into the magnet, I thought there should only be 1, if i do a continueity test there is contnuiety between the wires, I put direct 12volts the the 2 wires and the magnet has no magnatism, I probed the wires right beside the magnet and I know there is power there, I have only checked one magnet but none of the wheels had any stopping power. please help the pads dont look new but they are defanetly useable and should work, when I first opened up the trailer plug one of the wires was hooked to the brake spade and the other was hooked to the constant power (black wire on the truck plug)

 

How much resistance between the 2 wires? When you check them, they are disconnected from the trailer, right? If not, disconnect them before testing continuity.
Have you verified the ground back to the truck? How are the lights working? Do any of the signal light flash weird? This may be a sign of feedback due to a bad ground.

It has 2 wires because if the magnet itself was the ground you couldn't depend on the drum and magnet to keep good contact, and ground, at all times.


Chris

 

Depends on how it's wired. The magnets could be wired in series. If so, here's lesson one with trailers. Lights, brakes, dosen't matter. Start with checking the grounds first. This is usually 99% of all problems. Don't rely on the trailer ball for ground. Hook the white wire on each side of the connectors to a known good spot on each frame. Get a compas. Hold it near the wheels. If the magnets are working, the needle will point to the hub.

In your case, the one magnet may be wired to feed thru to the other and the other has a bad ground or is open. Magnets are self destructing. They will eventually need replacing.

 

I know the ground is good all the lights work perfectly and nice and bright, my question is where should those 2 wires be hooked to, is 1 the power from the brake controller and one a ground, that is the only thing that makes sense to me but I dont want to hook it up wrong and wreck my controller. thanks guys

 

Did you disconnect and reconnect any of the wiring connections?

Brake wire on trailers typically has two layers of plastic insulation, the inner layer being translucent, and if you don't know it's there it would be easy to miss-- and if you don't strip the 2nd layer...

I assume you checked the continuity at the magnet... Now check the continuity at the trailer plug. If no continuity (infinate ohms) then you know that a wire is broken or a connection is no good.

Other suggestions:

Go here and select "view service manual", which will come up as a PDF, then save it to your hard drive.

http://www.dexteraxle.com/products___literature

Then go over here, and download their service manual, too...

http://www.al-kousa.com/

 

I'll second Jeff. I just learned about the transparent second layer when I replaced the brakes on mine. It really is hard to see.
And yes, one wire from brake controller and one to ground. It doesn't matter which is which, but you'll want to use the same wiring order on all brakes to avoid confusion.

Chris

 

I checked continuity at the plug, I just need verification that one of the wires is hooked to the brake prong on the plug and the other one is hooked to the ground prong on the plug is this correct? it was hooked up wrong when i got the trailer.

 

Yes, One wire to ground and the other to your brake prong.

 

thanks that is all i needed