Introduction & Couple Questions

Hello all...

Mike Biondo here, writing from the Missouri Ozarks. My wife and I are soon to be the proud owners of our first TrailManor - a 2001 TM2619. We are pretty excited...

In anticipation of taking delivery next week I have been busy getting a brake controller (Tekonsha P3) and the Bargman connection installed on the TV. The P3 documentation instructs that the P3 ground connection be physically connected to the battery negative terminal rather than grounded to the TV body under the dash. Is it really necessary to run the ground all the way back to the battery if you can insure a good ground under the dash?

Does the TM have backup lights? (sorry for the silly question, but the last time I looked at the TM I forget to look) The reason I ask is that I've been reading here about folks running heavier 12V wiring from the TV, back to the Bargman connector and/or back to another connector at the rear of the TV. I got thinking that if there is no backup lights on the TM I could run another fused 12V line back to the center pin on the Bargman, and then into the TM. Would that help matters any, or just a waste of time?

I figured if I ever did hook up to a trailer that had backup lights (unlikely) I could just pull the fuse on the TV so the backup lights wouldn't be on all the time.

Lastly, I seen mention that in 2002 TrailManor started installing a 3 stage charger, reducing the problem of over charging the TM battery. Since ours is a 2001 without this feature, would keeping the TM plugged in while at home potentially cause an overcharging situation?

BTW, can someone point me to a wiring diagram. I thought sure I came across one here, but I can't find hide-nor-hair of now.

Thanks in advance and good to be here. I've been slowly going through past posts, and am learning a lot (which is good) and already dreaming about all the great mods I could do once we get the TM home (maybe not so good...if you ask my wife )

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by MikeBiondo

Hello all...


In anticipation of taking delivery next week I have been busy getting a brake controller (Tekonsha P3) and the Bargman connection installed on the TV. The P3 documentation instructs that the P3 ground connection be physically connected to the battery negative terminal rather than grounded to the TV body under the dash. Is it really necessary to run the ground all the way back to the battery if you can insure a good ground under the dash?

I seen mention that in 2002 TrailManor started installing a 3 stage charger, reducing the problem of over charging the TM battery. Since ours is a 2001 without this feature, would keeping the TM plugged in while at home potentially cause an overcharging situation?

BTW, can someone point me to a wiring diagram. I thought sure I came across one here, but I can't find hide-nor-hair of now.

Thanks in advance and good to be here. I've been slowly going through past posts, and am learning a lot (which is good) and already dreaming about all the great mods I could do once we get the TM home (maybe not so good...if you ask my wife )

First let me welcome you to the forums. It is a good source of information.
Maybe someone is else has your controller, I don't know anything about that brand. But on the Jeep, yes you will have to go back to the battery or at least the bolt that grounds the battery to the frame. I had to do this on both my DW's 2005 Grande Cherokee and my 2008 Ram p/u. Modern dashes don't seem to be grounded well.

As for the converter yes it will overcharge your battery. The converter in my 2002 Outback is rated at 45 amps and sits at 13.6V. I hooked up a new battery and within two hours the battery was over heating. The old battery had swollen up like a balloon. I put in a new converter for a friend last spring that was listed as being 3 stage. Over the summer with no one to check on things it boiled the battery dry. Several members seem to have no problems with doing with leaving the charger(converter) plugged in all the time. I plan on running a series of test on out TM when we get back from this fishing trip.

There is a manuals thread within the forms, try searching for wiring.

Ken

[scrubjaysnest]

Mike,
Try this link for a manual that might work

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=2472

[Bill]

You have made a nice choice on the brake controller. The P3 is a good proportional controller that should serve you well.

Not meaning to be disagreeable, but if you can find a good ground under the dash, I don't think there is any reason to go all the way back to the battery. The ground wire from the controller carries very little current - only the operating current for the controller itself, not the return current from the brakes. But be sure you find a good ground point. You might go through the firewall (there are always a few pre-placed grommets) and into the engine compartment, where good grounds are a dime a dozen.

Yes, the TM has backup lights, which are pre-wired into the Bargman cable on the trailer tongue. According to the manual, the wire to the backup lights is #16. No help.

The three stage charger didn't show up in the TM until (I think) 2006. The previous charger, a Magnetek Parallax 7300 was not a 3-stage unit. You probably have a Magnetek 6300 series charger which, as Ken says, will happily overcharge your battery if you leave it connected for several days without a load. You should plan to disconnect the battery whenever your TM goes into storage.

I don't believe that Mike and Kelly's manual (Ken's link) has a wiring diagram. However, this manual is so good that you really should get acquainted with it anyway. In the meantime, you'll find wiring diagrams on pages 33-35 of the 2002 TM manual (pdf) here.
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=2365
There is also a link to the 2008 manual, if you are interested.

I'm not sure that it matters, but TM seemed to experiment a bit with which 12-volt circuits were connected to which fuses. Other than that, everything should be consistent.

Bill

Thanks Ken and Bill for the welcome and your comments...much appreciated.

I just came in from outside scratching my head trying to figure out how to get ANY wires through the firewall much less three! Ken, you mentioned that you have a Grand Cherokee...do you recall how you got your wires through the firewall?

Bill, your thoughts about the ground make sense...even more so, now that you mentioned that the ground is just for the brake controller return. What got me wondering in the first place was that the ground for the controller was maybe a 14ga, if that, and the 12V in and brake wire out were 12ga.

Once again, thanks...

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by MikeBiondo

Thanks Ken and Bill for the welcome and your comments...much appreciated.

I just came in from outside scratching my head trying to figure out how to get ANY wires through the firewall much less three! Ken, you mentioned that you have a Grand Cherokee...do you recall how you got your wires through the firewall?



Once again, thanks...

Mike,
Bill is right is you can find a good ground under the dash. Sometimes the kick pad, plastic trim under dash to left of emergency brake pedal on older vehicles, can be easily pulled out and you can ground there. Use a number 8 self taping screw with a star washer with a ring lug crimped to the ground wire. Or to the left of the steering column there should be a wiring harness that goes through the fire wall. This harness goes through a large grommet, about three inches in dia., or does on our ' 05. Use an awl and carefully so as not to nick any wires push the awl through the grommet from inside the jeep. Leave the awl sticking into the engine compartment and tape a small dia. string to the awl. Then pull the awl and string back through. You may need a second person for this.

Also most people disconnect the battery for safety. Shorting a battery is a good way to start a car fire.

Once you have the string inside the Jeep it will be fairly easy to pull your 12 volt Hot and ground wires through. I can't remember the color wire on the Jeep going back to the seven pin connector for the brakes but I think I googled it. The Dodge had a connector under the dash and all I had to do was pick up a mating connector at the auto parts store.

[Bill]

As Ken says, some kind of pointed instrument will get you through the existing grommets, but it is important not to poke through the insulation of any of the wires already passing through the grommet.

awl = bamboo skewer?

Bill