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Old 11-23-2020, 10:26 PM   #1
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Umbilical wiring issues

I need some help from our community of RV electrical gurus.
I have a 2021 Sunset trail 212RB. I noticed the umbilical was slightly crushed with a kink in it, and i noticed some exposed wire leads. A few hours earlier I noticed my back up camera stopped working. I decided to replace the umbilical cord and have run into some additional problems. Upon replacing with the new cord, I have functional turn signals, brake lights and 4-way flashers but no tail lights or marker lights. And I'm not sure if the trailer brakes are working because I don't know how to check that (we're set up for camping right now)

The diagram that came with the new cord says the blue wire goes to electric trailer brakes. I need some help from our community of RV electrical gurus.
I have a 2021 Sunset trail 212RB. I noticed the umbilical was slightly crushed with a kink in it, and i noticed some exposed wire leads. A few hours earlier I noticed my back up camera stopped working. I decided to replace the umbilical cord and have run into some additional problems. Upon replacing with the new cord, I have functional turn signals, brake lights and 4-way flashers but no tail lights or marker lights. And I'm not sure if the trailer brakes are working because I don't know how to check that (we're set up for camping right now)

The diagram that came with the new cord says the blue wire goes to electric trailer brakes. But I noticed an extra black wire and I think it also goes on that terminal with the blue wire.

The attached picture showing how the cord is wired. The wires on top are the leads to the trailer (that I had to remove then replace). The wires on the bottom are to the umbilical I replaced. I did a wire-for-wire swap of the old cord and I'm pretty confident that most wires were replaced properly but that extra black wire is confusing me. Currently it is connected with the blue wire on the electric brake terminal. (If you look close at the photo, there's a black wire between the upper blue & upper brown). I think it's for the trailer brake because it goes to the break away switch.


Questions:
1. Is it possible that the terminal for the blue wire (electric brake) also has a black wire that goes to the trailer break away switch?

2. Is there a voltage/ohm meter reading I can check to make sure the trailer brake connection is working?

3. Any thoughts as to why turn signals & brake lights are working but no tail/marker lights?

When I plug the umbilical into the truck and take a voltage reading, I get 13.4 volts from the white ground (white) to the black aux power. But nothing from ground to any other terminal.

We're camping at the moment and I don't want to pack up to head home until I can resolve this. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
The attached picture showing how the cord is wired. The wires on top are the leads to the trailer (that I had to remove then replace). The wires on the bottom are to the umbilical I replaced. I did a wire-for-wire swap of the old cord and I'm pretty confident that most wires were replaced properly but that extra black wire I'm unsure of. Currently it is connected with the blue wire. (If you look close at the photo, there's a black wire between the upper blue & upper brown). I think it's for the trailer brake because it goes to the break away switch.


Questions:
1. Is it possible that the terminal for the blue wire (electric brake) also has a black wire that goes to the trailer break away switch?

2. Is there a voltage/ohm meter reading I can check to make sure the trailer brake connection is working?

3. Any thoughts as to why turn signals & brake lights are working but no tail/marker lights?

When I plug the umbilical into the truck and take a voltage reading, I get 13.4 volts from the white ground (white) to the black aux power. But nothing from ground to any other terminal.

We're camping at the moment and I don't want to pack up to head home until I can resolve this. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Attached Images
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File Type: jpeg image02.jpeg (61.6 KB, 7 views)
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Old 11-23-2020, 10:28 PM   #2
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NOTE: the wires I described as "upper" are actually on the lower side of the photo and vice versa. Sorry - the photo was rotated.
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Old 11-24-2020, 07:41 AM   #3
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To check the brakes hold a compass at each wheel and apply the trailer brake, if they are working the needle will rotate.
Check the truck fuses that protect the rv wiring.
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Old 11-24-2020, 10:10 AM   #4
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Thanks for the compass tip.
Typically how will the truck fuse for RV wiring be labeled?
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Old 11-24-2020, 11:50 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyg2724 View Post
Thanks for the compass tip.
Typically how will the truck fuse for RV wiring be labeled?
If the owners manual doesn't show the info do a google search for "fuse box diagram" for your make and model. You can check for power at the truck connector with a test light or vm.
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Old 11-24-2020, 12:35 PM   #6
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You said you had some exposed wires and the rear view camera quit so i suspect that you may have a blown fuse. Check your truck owners manual for something like - trailer tail lights or trailer running lights. You could also confirm a blown fuse with a test light between the large white - ground and the green/white. If the truck is sending current to the trailer it should light the light. if it does and the lights still do not work you can run a jumper between the large red/black and the small white/green with the truck cord disconnected and it should light the running lights if the fuse on the camper did not blow.
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Old 11-24-2020, 01:34 PM   #7
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Gentlemen
Thank you for your expertise and the great info. Fuses in the truck cab were all fine. But there was a power distribution box under the hood over the radiator. There was a 20a fuse labeled “TT Parking lights”. I pulled it and put the ohm meter across it and got an Open. I pulled a spare 20a and put it in place of that and everything worked!!!!

Held a compass near the TT wheel while DW stepped on the brake. I didn’t see the compass needle move but I definitely heard the magnetic brakes engage. Then I tested my brake controller. I’m getting a gain output reading both with the pedal and thumb control so I’m pretty sure the trailer brakes must be working.

I disconnected the battery cable before making this swap so not sure what caused that fuse to blow.
But all is good in the tri-cities campground now🙂

You guys saved me a few hundred in an RV service tech that was going to come tomorrow. So thank you and happy thanksgiving 😎😎
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Old 11-24-2020, 02:17 PM   #8
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Glad you got it fixed.

Thanks for posting the fix. Probably what ever put the kink and exposed some wire shorted the trailer running light circuit and blew the fuse. The next question is do you know how the cord got pinched?
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Old 11-24-2020, 03:28 PM   #9
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I can neither confirm nor deny it was too tight a back-up parking job pinching the cord between trailer & truck. I’m gonna blame it on rodents. Yup, now that I think about it, that’s precisely how it happened. I’m sure of it 🤣
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Old 11-24-2020, 05:49 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tonyg2724 View Post
Gentlemen
Thank you for your expertise and the great info. Fuses in the truck cab were all fine. But there was a power distribution box under the hood over the radiator. There was a 20a fuse labeled “TT Parking lights”. I pulled it and put the ohm meter across it and got an Open. I pulled a spare 20a and put it in place of that and everything worked!!!!

Held a compass near the TT wheel while DW stepped on the brake. I didn’t see the compass needle move but I definitely heard the magnetic brakes engage. Then I tested my brake controller. I’m getting a gain output reading both with the pedal and thumb control so I’m pretty sure the trailer brakes must be working.

I disconnected the battery cable before making this swap so not sure what caused that fuse to blow.
But all is good in the tri-cities campground now🙂

You guys saved me a few hundred in an RV service tech that was going to come tomorrow. So thank you and happy thanksgiving 😎😎
The compass needs to be held fairly close to the brake drum. It should move quite a bit.
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Old 11-29-2020, 09:14 PM   #11
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I f you pinched/ grounded a hot wire to trailer lights while powered, it blew a FUSE on truck, thus loss of (some) lights and camera. Replace fuse after repairing wires.
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