John Frum
Tell me your problems
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2019
- Messages
- 15,233
Travel trailer's are required to have a breakaway system.
A while back I searched for documentation didn't find anything that seemed authoritative.
The ones I'm aware of are battery operated electrically applied brakes that are activated by a "breakaway" cable between the tow vehicle and the trailer. The idea being to stop a runaway trailer from causing mayhem on the road.
From this forum its come up a few times that this function is so important that it is not to be fused.
For more info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleshort
tl;dr For certain critical systems its less important to avoid localized damage to protect the ship.
I'm told the breakaway system draws ~16 amps and I believe they have to be manually deactivated by defeating the trigger mechanism.
If deployed that will drain a completely full 12.8v@280ah battery in ~17.5 hours.
If you've been in an accident deativating the breakaway system may be far from the top of your list of stuff to do.
Is it worth it to keep your house battery bank separate from the breakaway system?
If your RV and contents are insured then probably yes.
But... does this integration interfere with the permitting process and or insurance liability?
Since I help a lot of beginners here, I coach them to isolate and otherwise ignore the tow cable, driving lights, trailer breaks and breakaway system.
Thoughts?
A while back I searched for documentation didn't find anything that seemed authoritative.
The ones I'm aware of are battery operated electrically applied brakes that are activated by a "breakaway" cable between the tow vehicle and the trailer. The idea being to stop a runaway trailer from causing mayhem on the road.
From this forum its come up a few times that this function is so important that it is not to be fused.
For more info https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleshort
tl;dr For certain critical systems its less important to avoid localized damage to protect the ship.
I'm told the breakaway system draws ~16 amps and I believe they have to be manually deactivated by defeating the trigger mechanism.
If deployed that will drain a completely full 12.8v@280ah battery in ~17.5 hours.
If you've been in an accident deativating the breakaway system may be far from the top of your list of stuff to do.
Is it worth it to keep your house battery bank separate from the breakaway system?
If your RV and contents are insured then probably yes.
But... does this integration interfere with the permitting process and or insurance liability?
Since I help a lot of beginners here, I coach them to isolate and otherwise ignore the tow cable, driving lights, trailer breaks and breakaway system.
Thoughts?