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Trailer brakes randomly disconnect

Jonz

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So im in a bit of a pickle. Long story short I have a 2019 ram 1500 with rams oem brake controller and a 2015 zinger rv. My truck keeps giving me intermiten warnings that the trailer brakes are disconnected and to check wiring after a few min of driving. The warning will go away then come back etc.... I have not had this issue connecting to other trailers, even this trailer wasnt giving this issue when i first got it. And the rv shop just called saying there equipment is saying my trailer is fine. The only 2 things he said is the trailer is working but it's signal (whatever that means) isn't to the trucks liking so it's thinking something is wrong. He also said to try an aftermarket controller. But I like the factory look. Anyone know what might be going on?
 

Richard320

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If other trailers don't trigger a problem, then I'd lean really heavily on the trailer being at fault, not the truck.

The most common cause of bizarre intermittent circuit problems is a bad ground.

So I'd start looking at the trailer plug ground connection. Could be the wire is loose or corroded inside the plug. Then find where it grounds on the trailer chassis and wire brush it all good and retighten it. Then go look to see where the trailer brakes ground and do the same. That's all you can do, really. And it's more time-consuming than difficult so you're better off doing it yourself than paying a shop to do it.
 

Rick3478

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First, what he said about grounding. And don't rely on the ball to be your ground connection, make sure you have a wired connection.

Having said that, I've been told the controller periodically checks the trailer brake connection by sending a very short pulse and measuring the current drawn. If your brake actuators don't draw the expected amount of current, the controller may think there's nothing connected. If that's the case, you may be able to improve the situation by adding a load resistor in parallel with the brake circuit.

And this is wild speculation - given that yours is a '19, there may be a firmware update
that could help.
 

Bt10

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Also, check how deep your trailer plug goes into the truck receptacle. Mine only "touches" the contacts together, not "slides into" like other receptacle brands. It has caused trailer lights to flicker, but I haven't got your warning. It could be that normal trailer turning movement is "untouching" yours as well.
 

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