Quote:
Originally Posted by Bill
I think a couple things in this discussion need to be re-thought.
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The big black 7-way cord on the TM is what I call the Bargman cable. I’ve never seen a Bargman cable that didn’t have #10 wire, good for 30 amps on the power and ground wires. Even the cheapest 7-conductor cable I could find had 2 #10 wires for power and ground, plus 1 #12 (brakes) and 4 #14 wires (lights). I suppose there might be some smaller cords for smaller campers, but the TM cable power line is #10. I can’t imagine #18 wire anywhere, even on the small 4-pin boat-trailer connector.
The wire sizes in your tow vehicle may be a concern. I had two Ford Explorers (2002 and 2006) with the factory tow package. In each one, I traced the physical wire from the engine compartment to the 7-pin connector at the rear bumper. Most of it was #12, but there were a few feet of #14. No good! I disconnected the original wires at both ends and ran new #10 wires for power and ground, and it was much better.
Bill
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I had that situation in my 4Runner as well (the OEM Trailer Battery Charge wire was about AWG-14, and I replaced with #10). The Bargman Ground was connected to the frame quite close to the bargman connector: the wire distance was only about 8". I replaced that as well, but the short distance probably create a ton of "voltage drop", and the solid frame connection provided an endpoint to conduct heat out fo the wire anyway.
My original "Bargman" cable (which was perhaps not OEM, although I bought the TM brand new) was defective in design and construction. That 'original cable' TBC wire, which I *DID* burn out, was far smaller than the grounding cable in the middle of the cord. YMMV, but the autopsy on my original cord was just as upsetting as discovery of the tiny "12v" TBC wire running along the driver side bottom door frames in my 4runner.
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