Is there a problem if my gooseneck trailer is grounding through the hitch ball but I have no ground when the hitch is disconnected. It also means my lights go haywire (and brakes don't work) until I rub the rust off my ball everytime I use the trailer. I see there is supposed to be a ground wire in a standard 7-pin connector. Is that always used? My trailer is a 1990-ish 40 ft Haulmark Elite racecar trailer.

thanks

 

When I farmed, when we hooked up he gooseneck we always had a wire that had 2 alligator clips and for safety, we clipped frrom the frame of the truck to the frame of the gooseneck. Always had an old wire bush on the gooseneck in a piece pipe as a holder and just brushed down the rust where we clipped. It was just something we did as a habit. The ball was greased pretty heavy so a good ground was alway a point of suspect. It just seemed safer to do it that way too.

 

It should always be used. I can think of no situation when grounding through the hitch ball is recommended in any application. Wiring the ground through the seven pin is very easy to do.

Steve

 

I'm guessing the ground through the 7-pin is there, it's just rusty or dirty and not making good contact. The breakaway battery always seems to be dead too, so I'm sure there's a problem somewhere.

 

I am sure you know, grounding through the ball also puts the electric brakes at risk.

Steve

 

copy that, thanks.

 

GEARITIS, if you hadn't pre-qualified your statement as you did, I was all geared up to say something like "Jeez, that sounds like something a farmer would do!" -- I would NEVER do something like you described (ground jumper) LOL. P.S. I'm a farmer.

 

Just FYI as reference.

 

Thanks for the drawings. That will save me a bunch of time!

 

The 7 way connector probably needs to be replaced.. Both sides maybe? If you do, make sure you have a good ground and trailer charge line. If your battery is constantly dead, it may be shot... Try charging it overnight, then let it sit off the charger for a few hours. Check the voltage with a digital volt meter...

Use the chart below, to see where it's at...

 

I went ahead and got a new battery kit with the multiple LEDs to better keep track of the status of the battery while on the go. I swapped out the battery right away and tested and verified that the breakaway switch DOES now lock up the brakes. There's an LED on the old battery box that still doesn't work but I will install the new battery box this weekend.

As for the bad ground, I traced the ground wire in the 7-pin cable to the electrical junction box at the front of the trailer frame where all the wires are spliced to the 7-pin connector. The ground wire passes through the box WITHOUT contacting the box and then went down under the trailer where it went below the trailer and out of sight (either inside for the interior lights or to the rear for the lights). I know that is a major no-no in residential so I grounded the ground wire to the box and fixed the ground issue. Lights are much brighter now.

Planning to replace the old tail lights with new LED lights next.

 

Yeah, the ground can go directly to the trailer frame once it crosses the 7-pin connection.

The hitch, while it seems sufficient, is a soft ground. There are a handful of reasons why the ground would be broken through the hitch, the most common are grease with a high resistance, and clearance between the ball and cup (oh, and by the way, there will be a voltage spike every time connectivity is broken that can do very bad things to your TV electrical system).

The ground wire that connects through the 7-Pin connection is a hard ground. It makes sure that there is always a connection, and eliminates the spikes. The jumper wire is not a bad idea, it is basically another hard ground, although an alligator clip would be more prone to falling off during travel than a connection in a detented 7-pin socket.