Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
Sunline RV Forum
Sunline User Photos

Go Back   Sunline Coach Owner's Club > Model Specific Forums > Sunline Travel Trailers
Click Here to Login

Join Sunline Club Forums Today


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 09-05-2013, 04:22 AM   #1
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
electric brakes Solaris 1950

Does the Solaris 1950 have electric breaks? we just pick our 2003 up last night and noticed the brake control does not indicate brakes. Does this model have electric brakes. if so anyone know why they are not operating? is there a fuse in the unit or something? our horse trailer just has a box on the tongue with the fuses
__________________

__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-05-2013, 05:45 AM   #2
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Hi Uwharrie,

Welcome to Sunline Owners Club! and congrats on your new camper

If you have a 2003 T1950, it for sure has electric brakes and really needs them.

Can you tell us what brake controller your have? I'm assuming it has a LED or some indication that the trailer is connected. And yes, the controller should light up when you plug the trailer in if it does on your horse trailer.

There are no fuses in the camper on the brake circuit itself. The blue wire in the 7 wire plug goes direct to the trailer brake coils. The camper brakes are standard electric trailer brakes and odds are very high wired identical to your horse trailer if it has a 7 wire plug on the end.

Now why will the controller not light up? Let’s take the more common ones 1st.

It may be there is corrosion on the 7 wire plug of the camper and the contacts are not making to the socket on the back of the truck. Look for that and try cleaning them up. Once clean apply some dielectric grease to help stop future corrosion. You can buy this dielectric grease at most any auto parts store.

We are “assuming” that all the tail lights and clearance lights are working? Yes/no? The helps tell us at least that part of the 7 wire cord is OK and there is a form of ground wire established from the truck.

Now some deeper digging. While the brake controller light does not come on, can you feel the brakes working? Try a drag test. Hold the manual lever in on the truck brake controller and slowly move forward. Can you feel the camper dragging? It should.

If the drag test fails then it means power is not getting to the brake coils on the camper for some reason. You have to start by tracing down the blue wire from the 7 wire plug back to the brake coils.

A quick check is to first look under the camper behind each wheel. Most likely at the front axle there is a larger blue wire coming from the front of the camper and it jumps to one of 2 wires coming out of the trailer brake at the wheel. See if those wires are connected. Some times the camper is pulled through brush etc and the wires get yanked off.

When you look, the 2nd wire is the ground wire coming from the brakes. It has to be connected to the trailer frame or the brakes will not work even if the hot blue wire is.

This is going to be a search and destroy mission on if you have actual brake power to the coil on the brakes or you have lost ground on the brakes. If you have a volt meter or 12 volt test light it can help trouble shoot the wiring.

There is one last quick test to help see if there is power going to the brakes.

1. Unplug the 7 wire cable from the truck. Most important doing this “before” testing so you do not short out the truck brake controller.
2. Make sure the camper has a battery and it is charged and hooked up.
3. On the A frame is a emergency break away switch. It has a small cable that hooks up to the truck. Pull that cable/pin out of the switch.
4. This should apply full battery power direct to the brakes. You may hear a humm or not as some times they do not always hum or it is very faint. Try and slowly move the truck forward, the brakes should be on.
5. If this does not work, then again power is not getting to the brakes or the ground is lost as a most likely cause. It can be a loose wire on either the hot blue or the ground wire.
6. Put the emergency break away pin back in to shut off the power to the brakes when done.

Hope this helps and good luck

John
__________________

__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2013, 05:59 PM   #3
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
Thanks so much for the info. We think the issue is in the cable as it looks like it has been dragged or even broken. David plans to unwrap it and inspect closer tomorrow
__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-07-2013, 06:42 PM   #4
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
I did not have this picture handy when I posted earlier. Your brakes will look similar.

The blue wire is the power that comes from the truck and then ties to the brake coils and then ties to the wires that goes through the axles tube to come out on the other side for the other wheel on that axles.

Not shown is a blue wire that jumps from the front axle to the rear axle however it then ties to the brakes and then to the wire that goes through the axle tube.

There is a 2nd wire coming out of the brakes that is the ground wire.

This picture is from a left rear brake




Good luck hunting....

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 09-08-2013, 04:04 PM   #5
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
We found the issue! Someone replaced the pigtail but did a so so job with the connections.
__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 04:09 PM   #6
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
Having issues again. The brake starts to work with the numbers going up but once fully depressed I get an E2 on the controller. If I press the red button the brake engages ( I can feel the trailer brake)
__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 04:55 PM   #7
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Hi, We need some more info to help figure this out.

Do you know what brand and model brake controller you have? It is easier to try and help if we know which controller you have.

On this statement:
"The brake starts to work with the numbers going up but once fully depressed I get an E2 on the controller. "

I'm assuming this means when you step on the truck brake pedal, the controller starts to work, the percentage of controller output starts going up and then by the time you stop camper and truck and the brake pedal full down, you get the error code? Is this correct and if not clarify full down?

And this statement:
"If I press the red button the brake engages ( I can feel the trailer brake)"

Tell us a little more about how you did this (did you do a complete stop or just try the manual button and only slow down a bit?) and did any error codes come from it?

Once you where past the 1st time when you bought the camper, did the brakes work OK for a while and now acting up again or did you never get to go camping yet? Trying to find out if you ever got them to work right for a while or you still have no good brakes from the time you owned the camper.

Hope this helps

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 05:16 PM   #8
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
Yes the controller starts to work but I get an error code before I fully stop.Reliance is the brand. Just barely rolling when I pressed the red button. Can't recall if there was an error code or not. Only noticed the trailer itself did brake. We have only taken it out once before. It worked or seemed to on a short trip. But then got the code so husband retraced the pigtail he replaced before. The brakes appeared to work when sitting still in the yard but once on the road getting a code
__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 05:43 PM   #9
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
OK, we now have more to go on.

Is this your controller?
Reliance? Digital Brake Control

These instructions says E2 is a trailer brake short or brake coil
http://www.hopkinstowingsolutions.com/doc/47285.pdf

Also, please verify, your controller works fine when hooked to the horse trailer and have used it since that last time you took the camper out? Trying to rule out the truck has the problem or not.

Now assuming the problem is in the camper.

And your description now says this happens when you are rolling. And it "might" not happen standing still? Is this correct?

Assuming the answer is yes, this points to a wiring short that touches and untouches on the blue brake wire going to the brakes, or in the wiring stuffed inside the axle tube( a common problem) or you have a wire or coil in the wheel itself shorting out when the brakes come on.

You can start by crawling under the camper and looking at the wiring at each wheel location (all 4) See if you can see any jumbled up wires that look skinned. You are only looking at the back side of the wheel brake plate where the wires go into the brake and into the axle tube at this point.

Also need to make sure the wiring issue up front you found before is still good and not shorting the blue wire to the trailer ground or frame.

Those where the easier things to check. Next is going to take an ohm meter and trying to figure out where the short is. Does hubby have one?

He is going on a search and destroy mission looking for a skinned wire, a cracked insulation that can touch or a problem inside the brake drum. This will be a process of elimination of what it is not first and then may end up pulling a brake drum as the last resort to find the problem.

Hopefully this is just a loose wire outside at the wheels or other open area.

Hope this helps

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 07:29 PM   #10
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
Thanks! Yes the controller worked fine with the horse trailer. Hubby has a meter guess its time to start crawling around
__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-10-2013, 08:31 PM   #11
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Here is an article that may help hubby. I found this searching for the ohms of the brake coils on your camper

Trouble Shooting Electric Brakes

Your camper has 10 x 2 1/4" brakes. Each brake coil draws 3.0 amps and has a resistance of a whopping 3.2 ohms. If he is looking for a dead short, there is a difference between a dead short and going through the brake coils to ground (the 3.2 ohms worth) which is not much. Depending on how tough this is to find he may have to unhook the ground wire from the brake coils and then look for a short on the hot blue wire. Now you should see a big change in resistance. Good (not short) would be OL or an open circuit and a short would be some resistance higher.

Wiggling the wires that go through the axle tube may turn up a short. They lay loose inside and rub. The insulation also gets brittle. In time they short bouncing down the road. If he finds that is the problem, just abandon the ones inside the axle tube and tie wrap on a new 2 in one cable set on the outside of the tube, just pick the back side of the tube as weeds and brush can hit the front side.

If he finds it is inside the brake drum, this may help as your camper is exactly like this inside. This was from my 2004 T2499
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: Annual Brake Inspection and Axle Re - Lube (Pic's)

Good luck and let us know how you make out and if you need any more help

John
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 10:56 AM   #12
Moderator
 
JohnB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 12,643
SUN #89
JohnB is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uwharrie View Post
( I guess I need to post this issues as a new thread)?
Yes, I created a new one for you so these do not get too mixed up and future members can benifit from the posts/search. You have 2 problems, trailer brakes and battery charging.


See here: http://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f6...0-a-15305.html
__________________
Current Sunlines: 2004 T310SR, 2004 T1950, 2004 T2475, 2007 T2499, 2004 T317SR
Prior Sunlines: 2004 T2499 - Fern Blue
2005 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.8L V10 W/ 4.10 rear axle, CC, Short Bed, SRW. Reese HP trunnion bar hitch W/ HP DC

Google Custom Search For Sunline Owners Club
JohnB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 11-11-2013, 02:12 PM   #13
Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 38
SUN #616
BobNKaren
Had a neighbor that had an older Dutchman trailer with intermittent brake problem, after much checking I found that one axle had worn insulation on the lines running through the axle. I was able to use the old lines as a fish line to pull new wires through. While I was at it I replaced the wires in both axles.
Just as a note don't over look the ground path. On my boat trailer I started to have problems with dim lights, the trailer is a 1959 Holesclaw (sp) tilt bed (Yes I am still using it to trail a 1964 Starcraft boat). It got to the point that at the first of the season the light either worked dimly or not at all, after a number of uses they would work just fine. The fix was to rewire the trailer and add a ground line to each fixture back to the connecting plug. Since then on all the various trailers that I have had, when I had problems with the lights I would add a ground return line. Just because the chassis is made of metal, rust and corrosion can get in the way of the current path of the lights. On the 4 camping trailer only one had the dim light problem on the clearance lights on the back. That fix was fun to find. The top sheet of siding had a poor connection to the rest of the trailer, the fix was a sheet metal screw through the top sheet to the next sheet down.
.
__________________
Bob N Karen
2001 F150
2003 Sunline T2363
BobNKaren is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-05-2014, 07:14 PM   #14
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 38
SUN #5667
Uwharrie is an unknown quantity at this point
A little update. I changed tow vehicles ( now a 2003 Navigator) put a different controller on it than what was on my truck. Seems to work perfectly now!
__________________

__________________
Uwharrie is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
82 sunline trailer electric brakes JohnKPa Repairs and Maintenance 7 10-22-2010 08:42 AM
can electric brakes be used while parked? harbortj Repairs and Maintenance 8 04-10-2010 08:50 AM
Trailer Brakes not activating on 1995 Sunline T-1950 cgandee Repairs and Maintenance 9 08-14-2009 09:26 PM
Electric brakes WandaLust Repairs and Maintenance 7 12-27-2008 11:14 PM
T-1950 Brakes wobbly Sunline Community 7 02-06-2007 10:47 PM


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sunline RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 08:51 AM.


×