So me being the nice guy that I am, I let a buddy of mine use my 6x12 enclosed cargo trailer. Single axle with electric brakes. He last used it 2 weekends ago and it was easier for him to keep it at his place till I actually needed it this past friday. When I went to go hook up I noticed the emergency breakaway switch was pulled... Need less to say the battery is toast, wont take a charge, and the brakes dont work even when I use the emergency actuator on my brake controller. I pulled the wheel and drum off and it looks like a drum brake setup with some extra goodies. So my question is where do I start the diagnosis process and what, if anything needs to be replaced besides the battery? Can I spray everything in there with brake cleaner or not? Thanks for the help.

 

Most likely by the break away switch pulled kept 12 volts on the magnets until the battery died and burned up the magnets which rub the drum ,as the brake control sends variable voltage to them they pull the arm which forces the pads out,You can check the magnets with an OHM meter,it should be around 3 ohms between the leads, here is a link showing part breakdown,/www.redneck-trailer.com/2009/C/C2.pdf
The overall best deal if the trailer has any age on it is to replace the brake assembly,it gives you new pads,magnets,and all parts.Here is a link to the best price around,/www.southwestwheel.com/store/c-30-elec-brake-assemblies.aspx .Thats for both sides one price beats everybody's price ,I just yesterday ordered two sets to do the maintenance on 2 trailers and you can keep the others for spare parts in a pinch.
Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help. The trailer is only a little over a year old. 2 trips from NC to NY and back and 1 trip to SC. So is it ok to spray everything in there with brake cleaner?

 

Yes you can spray brake cleaner on all the parts in there. I had a grease seal let go and cover everything with grease. I broke down all the components and washed them in a parts washer then put a light sanding on the shoes. Put it all back together, adjusted up all the brakes and down the road like new. Try charging the battery on a bench with a trickle charger, sometimes they go so flat that it takes a while just to surface charge it.

 

Battery is toast!! Tried trickle charging it and no joy. The guy who killed it ordered a new one. 8 bucks!! We will see what the brake bill comes out to....

 

Both Dexter and Al-Ko have very nice downloadable pdf manuals for free.

Under "Service Information" select complete service manual.

http://www.dexteraxle.com/products___literature

And here, just click on "Owner's Manual".


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

It is worth it to save both to your hard drive.