There are more than a few subjects, when it comes to caravan maintenance and servicing, which have divided
opinions. One of those subjects revolves around a small black battery that many have little idea about. But it supplies power to a Safety Feature, designed and legislated to protect all road users.
A Caravans Breakaway System.
A Breakaway system is a safety device required by law to be fitted to Caravan and Trailers weighing more than 2000kg and equipped with electric brakes. A unit is normally mounted in the front boot of your Caravan and connected to the tow vehicle with a metal cord. It must be capable of keeping the brakes engaged for at least 15 minutes.
In the event of uncoupling in transit, the breakaway system applies the electric brakes to the Caravan, whilst engaging the Caravans Brake lights. It locks your precious “Home away from Home” up, in a cloud of Black tyre smoke and burning rubber. Why? To stop it veering into other road users.
How it works.
A Breakaway switch is mounted on the tongue of the trailer. It is held open by a thing that looks like a plastic clothes-pin. If the clothes-pin is pulled out of the switch body (use brute force), the contacts close, immediately locking the trailer brakes. To rearm the switch, you just have to push the clothes-pin back into the body of the switch.
The clothes-pin is attached to a small-diameter steel cable.
The other end of the steel cable is clipped to the rear of the towing vehicle, independent of the normal trailer coupling, the safety chains, or the electrical connection between the trailer and the towing vehicle. If the trailer were to become uncoupled from the towing vehicle at speed, and the safety chains are not able to keep the trailer hooked to the towing vehicle, then the electrical connection would be severed. The clothes-pin is then pulled out of the breakaway switch body by the cable presumably still attached to the towing vehicle.
At that moment, the source of the 12 Volts required to apply the brakes must come from the Caravan mounted 12V Battery. This is when the “cloud of Black tyre smoke and burning rubber” comes into play.
Types of Breakaways
All New Caravans are fitted with a Breakaway, it’s the law. From my perspective, I don’t care what color or flavor it is, I service them. They all do the same thing.
The two I see fitted regularly, in no particular order are……
Coast to Coast Tow-Secure Breakaway
Inspired by the new requirement of remote battery
monitors in tow vehicles, in some States. This kit contains a wireless battery monitor which not only removes the need for auto-electricial installation, but also means it can be easily swapped between cars removing the need for multiple monitors and installations.
Camec Breakaway
Camec has also bought out its own breakaway kit. It is the most economical and fills the gap in the market. The monitor is purchased separately, but is inexpensive to purchase.
Other brands include HOPKINS, Ark, Tekonsha and Breaksafe.
Again, they all do the same thing.
The Divided Opinions
The power source for the safety feature is a small black battery, which in order to engage any Breakaway, must be charged!
“It worries me, that when I go to use the van after it's been parked for awhile the break safe battery could be run down and require charging or replacing before I move it??”
Very few owners know what the little black box is let alone how to check that it works, it is fully charged, or otherwise.
All modern Caravans Breakaway systems will charge when you connect 240 V to your Caravan. Most of us do this at least 24 hours prior to using our Caravan, after it has been stored for a while, to run the fridge and charge the Caravan “house” Batteries. You can check your Breakaway battery, by looking at the control box Battery Monitor.
Most Breakaway units can also receive charge from the tow vehicle, but your vehicle has to have been wired up specifically for it to work.
This is where there are divided opinions, as to how to keep this vital piece of on road Safety equipment charged.
When your Caravan is not plugged into 240 Volts or when you’re not coupled to you tow vehicle that little black battery is slowly going flat.
The battery also has a use by date, charging systems can fail without you being aware of it or you may not plug your Caravan into 240 Volts after a long layup period.
The result is the same, a Flat or Dead battery.
Before I give you the Do’s and Don’ts, there are two important things to know. The battery fitted to your Caravan has a two year expiry date and they are cheap to replace.
Do’s and Don’ts
The first don’t will have some of you grinding your teeth.
Don’t be tempted to try and connect your Caravan “house” batteries directly to the Breakaway battery as a means to keep it charged up. Why? The Caravans battery banks are higher Amp Hour batteries and as such require charging at a much higher rate than the Breakaway battery is designed for.
Fact - you will shorten the Breakaway batteries life significantly by over charging it. Over charging presents a risk of explosion.
It is possible to use the Caravan “house” batteries, but it has
to be done right, which is expensive. Do install an inline DC to DC charger to keep the Caravan Breakaway battery charged. Check out the DCC Pro In-Vehicle DC-DC Battery Charger on line.
The DCC Pro In-Vehicle DC-DC Battery Charger was developed for the purpose of charging and maintaining any auxiliary battery in an installation where the “house” battery is used as the supply source. It has been designed for use in 4WDs, RVs, buses, coaches, caravans, campers or any vehicle with a 12VDC electrical system.
The purchase price of the DCC Pro In-Vehicle DC-DC Battery Charger could buy almost 10 replacement Breakaway batteries, which at a life span of 2 years for each battery………you do the math. Price aside it’s a quality DC-DC Battery Charger.
The more affordable solution is a Solar 1.5 Watt Maintenance Charger. It can either be mounted on the roof and hard wired, if your Caravan isn’t under a cover or in a shed, or soft wired with a long supply cable and plugged into the Battery when your Caravan doesn’t have 240 Volts connected and you’re not towing it. You could get two of the Solar 1.5 Watt Maintenance Chargers and have the best of both worlds if you are a bush camper that has a big shed.
A Solar 1.5 Watt Maintenance Charger is a simple self regulating trickle charger.
Whatever your chosen solution, remember to check the Breakaway battery control box Battery Monitor each time
before you hit the road.
Westcoast Trailer and Caravan Services load test the Breakaway battery during their Annual Service, Pre Holiday or Pre Purchase Inspections. They also supply replacement batteries should yours fail. They come to you.
The Last Word
“My towbar broke off the chassis - lucky at very low speed. However, like most, I attached the Breakaway wire to the towbar, so it did not pull the pin and operate”
You are NOT supposed to do this and we all do! The Breakaway wire should be attached to a strong point on the body or chassis of the Tow vehicle. Losing your towbar is NOT uncommon and you would be surprised how often this occurs. Consider this next time you hook up.
NSW REQUIREMENT
Caravans are required to be fitted with breakaway systems with an acceptable warning circuit that must incorporate either a visual or an audible warning device directly to the Tow vehicle, so as to alert the driver of Breakaway battery failure.