Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum

I am currently having a trailer built to haul my 1 ton van. I bought all the wiring and new plugs. Fortunately, my coach is wired correctly. Whew!

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Montana

getting ready to come back to Texas

Last night, I plugged a borrowed trailer into my bus. The tail and
turn lights worked fine, but whenever I would step on the brake, the
circuit breaker for the brake lights circuit would trip after a second
or so. I also had a reading of +50 amps on the ammeter, which went
away the moment I unplugged the trailer.

The trailer has LED lights and did not cause any trouble behind my
truck. It does not have trailer brakes.

I suspect I have a problem in my trailer socket. Anyone have a
suggestion of where to start looking?

Scott Forman
86 PT38
Memphis

Scott,
I would take a good close look at which wires are going into the
connector plugs (male and female) to see that you are making the
correct feeds on everything. You may be running a hot power supply
from the bus to the ground (frame) of the trailer, causing the high
drain.
Gary
SOB
--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Scott Forman"
<scottforman75@...> wrote:
>
> Last night, I plugged a borrowed trailer into my bus. The tail and
> turn lights worked fine, but whenever I would step on the brake,
the
> circuit breaker for the brake lights circuit would trip after a
second
> or so. I also had a reading of +50 amps on the ammeter, which went
> away the moment I unplugged the trailer.
>
> The trailer has LED lights and did not cause any trouble behind my
> truck. It does not have trailer brakes.
>
> I suspect I have a problem in my trailer socket. Anyone have a
> suggestion of where to start looking?
>
> Scott Forman
> 86 PT38
> Memphis
>

Scott,

This is one of BB notorious screw ups. For several years the
blueprints showed an incorrect sequence in wirering the trailer plug.
Basically it is wired backwards. Called my BB Guru and he told me
that happened on and off for several years. The first time I plugged
in my car trailer the brakes lock with the headlights on the running
lights activated with the brakes and the tail lights were hooked up
as the running lights. I had to remove the plug and rewire all the
connections the were the mirror image to their correct position. Just
follow the standard wirering pattern and you should be OK.

Kurt Horvath
95 PT-42
10AC

# Circuit Function
1 White Common ground
2 Blue Electric brake
3 Green Tail / Running lights
41 Black Battery charge (+) or 'hot'
5 Red Left turn / Stop
6 Brown Right turn / Stop
72 Yellow Auxiliary / Backup


Detailed info

http://www.bargman.com/Wire/PDF/Ceq-Wiri...-2006f.pdf (
Page 32 )


http://www.sunriserv.ca/pages/downloads/...argman.pdf



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Scott Forman"
<scottforman75@...> wrote:
>
> Last night, I plugged a borrowed trailer into my bus. The tail and
> turn lights worked fine, but whenever I would step on the brake,
the
> circuit breaker for the brake lights circuit would trip after a
second
> or so. I also had a reading of +50 amps on the ammeter, which went
> away the moment I unplugged the trailer.
>
> The trailer has LED lights and did not cause any trouble behind my
> truck. It does not have trailer brakes.
>
> I suspect I have a problem in my trailer socket. Anyone have a
> suggestion of where to start looking?
>
> Scott Forman
> 86 PT38
> Memphis
>

Like Kurt said. but if the wires match,

sounds like the bus brake is either seperate wire like the european
setup or an E brake. when you hit the bus brakes it is picking up a
electric brake addon actuator signal and sending it to the trailer. at
the trailer the e brakes are shorted out or the wire it connected to at
the trialer plug is the trailer ground. if the trailer ground is the
wire crossed, the ground you now have is that which is made via the ball
and chains. I would unhook the ball and chain and see if the proven
functions still work.

you dont need a brake wire on federal apps unless you have e brakes on
the trailer.

stop and brake are different lables. stop is the light and brake is the
e brake shoes. but some times if the diagram has not both, stop or brake
is the light!!!!!

You can test the trailer for a short by using a multimeter prior to
plugging it into the bus. use ohms or continuity function. ground one
lead to the trailer frame and poke at the plug to find the one pin that
sounds the buzzer or shows no resistance. that is ground. if you find
another pin without resistance, one of the two pins is not intended to
be continious to ground and is mostlikely the fault.

Kurt hit it on the nose. I had to rewire both my 83 and 91 to
standard wiring configs. If you haven't rewired your plug yet, the
drawings are in RV Trailer Plug Wiring Diagrams in the Files since
this is such a common problem on the early BB's.

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Kurt Horvath"
wrote:
>
>
> Scott,
>
> This is one of BB notorious screw ups. For several years the
> blueprints showed an incorrect sequence in wirering the trailer plug.
> Basically it is wired backwards. Called my BB Guru and he told me
> that happened on and off for several years. The first time I plugged
> in my car trailer the brakes lock with the headlights on the running
> lights activated with the brakes and the tail lights were hooked up
> as the running lights. I had to remove the plug and rewire all the
> connections the were the mirror image to their correct position. Just
> follow the standard wirering pattern and you should be OK.
>
> Kurt Horvath
> 95 PT-42
> 10AC
>
> # Circuit Function
> 1 White Common ground
> 2 Blue Electric brake
> 3 Green Tail / Running lights
> 41 Black Battery charge (+) or 'hot'
> 5 Red Left turn / Stop
> 6 Brown Right turn / Stop
> 72 Yellow Auxiliary / Backup
>
>
> Detailed info
>
> http://www.bargman.com/Wire/PDF/Ceq-Wiri...-2006f.pdf (
> Page 32 )
>
>
> http://www.sunriserv.ca/pages/downloads/...argman.pdf
>
>
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Scott Forman"
> <scottforman75@> wrote:
> >
> > Last night, I plugged a borrowed trailer into my bus. The tail and
> > turn lights worked fine, but whenever I would step on the brake,
> the
> > circuit breaker for the brake lights circuit would trip after a
> second
> > or so. I also had a reading of +50 amps on the ammeter, which went
> > away the moment I unplugged the trailer.
> >
> > The trailer has LED lights and did not cause any trouble behind my
> > truck. It does not have trailer brakes.
> >
> > I suspect I have a problem in my trailer socket. Anyone have a
> > suggestion of where to start looking?
> >
> > Scott Forman
> > 86 PT38
> > Memphis
> >
>

We're discussing driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway with our coach.
It appears that the North Carolina section is "out" due to low
tunnels (some with clearance of only 11'1"). However, the road was
built in 1935, so I wonder just how wide and comfortable we'd be in
our PT-42 ... or would we be better off parking the bus and driving
our toad along the parkway?

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road near Scranton, PA

Pete,

Drive the toad. Smokey Mtn. Nat. Park is also very tight. Should be
nice this time of year. Do you want a CD? I have one with your name on
it. I have one left from the first batch of 25 so if someone wants one
send your address ASAP!!!!! They are going out today by 3:45 Central
time.

Kurt Horvath
95 PT-42 WLWB
10AC


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, Pete Masterson
wrote:
>
> We're discussing driving down the Blue Ridge Parkway with our coach.
> It appears that the North Carolina section is "out" due to low
> tunnels (some with clearance of only 11'1"). However, the road was
> built in 1935, so I wonder just how wide and comfortable we'd be in
> our PT-42 ... or would we be better off parking the bus and driving
> our toad along the parkway?
>
> Pete Masterson
> '95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
> aeonix1@...
> On the road near Scranton, PA
>