Surge break and backing up.

F

flapbreaker

New member
I have a king marine trailer with surge breaks. It has a reverse soleniod that senses the backup lights of the tow rig and is suppose prevent them from activating when backing up. I think it used to work when new but can't remember. Anyway, I have to get out and manually block the surge brakes from activating. Do solenoids go bad? Also, are they readily available for replacement?
 
You bet they go bad.....just a tiny bit of salt will do it.... but luckly easy to check ....they are a full on/full off type solenoid... just back it out and put the truck in reverse.... the pin should be in the out position....
Any trailer supply should stock them... wish my trailer had one... I have to get out and put a pin in the hole.... kinda a pain.

Good Luck

Joel
SEA3PO
 
Solenoids can fail and are readily available and inexpensive. The solenoid connection is usually a blue wire and should be connected to the backup light pin on your vehicle plug. It might be worthwhile to see if power is present between that wire and the trailer ground with the backup lights on. It is pretty simple to replace a solenoid. A diagram of the vehicle wiring (7 pin?) identifying pins and wire colors is easily found on the web.

I spent a year with a C-Clamp blocking the slider on the surge brakes whenever I backed up. Finally I rewired the vehicle plug and all is well.
 
Depending on the weight of the trailer, pavement inclination, etc, it's possible to have the brake master cylinder in the applied position when coming to rest. Just a little blip on the accelerator in drive releases the brakes, you'll feel the "clunk". Then selecting reverse locks the brakes in the released position. It takes a little fine tuning sometimes to make it work.
 
West Marine has 'em. My TC EZ loader solenoid went bad. With disk brakes, that sucker won't go back for nothing. Tried blocking it but with any miniscule movement, it locks up. Got a new one, need to install it and then bleed the system!

Charlie
 
Sounds like our experience with our new EZLoader while trying to back from the alley into "the barn" (with the trash truck coming!)
A phone conversation with EZLoader's field service rep led to my installing a dedicated solenoid ground wire to the trailer frame. EZLoader's factory scheme had the solenoid grounded via the solenoid base mounting screw, but it mounted to the sliding portion of the trailer tongue! The rest of the trailer electric was grounded to the trailer frame which is what is connected via the cable to the tow vehicle frame.
Seems like a DUH to me.
Anyway, the problem no longer occurs.

Paul Priest
J.C.Lately
Sequim
 
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