Need advice please

[Mwe3302]

Hi everyone, so i didnt really know where to ask this. It has to do with my camper breakaway controller, we bought a brand new Winnebego 2351DKS, in cherry last August. I didnt know i was suppose to not remove this little plunger that goes into the breakaway controller but anyways everytime its home i pull this out as away to keep it from moving and also as atheft deterarant, keep in mind i am new to camping and just didnt know i was suppose to leave this in all the time.
So today i was openening it for spring and decided i would plug the camper into my garages 110 outlet so about 10 minutes later i am smelling an electrical smell but couldnt figure out what it was till i went with a hose to the fresh water tank and wNted to flush that out that i noticed smoke coming out of the controller and saw that the whole break aay switch was totally melted, i imediatly ran and unplugged the camper from the garage and pulled the 2 wires out of the switch that run to the brakes.
        I called the dealer where i got it and explaned everything and he told me i might have burned the magnets out, but maybe not. He said to just get a new switch and replace it and it should be okay. Could i have done more than this? Any suggestions or further insigt would be great. I just didnt know that little plunger should never be removed, i guess i know why my battery was always dieing on me now, really stinks to learn the hard way but i just didnt know?

 

[RedandSilver]

Welcome to the forum.

We all didn't know - what we do now - at some point in our lives.

I take my "plug" out once a year for a minute or so just to make sure it will come out and that there are no bugs etc in the housing.
Otherwise it stays in all the time.

It's possible that you didn't have the plug in just right and that caused a short - unlikely but possible.

First thing to do is check the batteries in the trailer.  If they are wet cell - check the water level and add distilled water if needed.
Then recharge them.

I would check all the fuses in the trailer and then put in another breakaway box.  Clean the connections if they look at all burnt.
I might then hook up the tow vehicle and plug it in to that.
Then put your hand on the box to make sure it doesn't get warm or hot. 
If it doesn't then hook to the house power and check it again.
If it doesn't heat up you should be good. If it does heat up then there is a wiring problem somewhere.

If your able you might take off a wheel or two and check to see if they spin freely etc.
Also check for any lose or broken wires anywhere along the underside of the trailer.  You never know if a mouse or other creature
chewed through a wire and caused this problem.

Good Luck - Please report back when you figure out what happened or caused the problem.

 

[Mwe3302]

Ty for the fast reply redandsilver, i will check everything you have said and let you know, thanks so much, the new switch will not be here for a week so untill then

 

[Mwe3302]

Welcome to the forum.

We all didn't know - what we do now - at some point in our lives.

I take my "plug" out once a year for a minute or so just to make sure it will come out and that there are no bugs etc in the housing.
Otherwise it stays in all the time.

It's possible that you didn't have the plug in just right and that caused a short - unlikely but possible.

First thing to do is check the batteries in the trailer.  If they are wet cell - check the water level and add distilled water if needed.
Then recharge them.

I would check all the fuses in the trailer and then put in another breakaway box.  Clean the connections if they look at all burnt.
I might then hook up the tow vehicle and plug it in to that.
Then put your hand on the box to make sure it doesn't get warm or hot. 
If it doesn't then hook to the house power and check it again.
If it doesn't heat up you should be good. If it does heat up then there is a wiring problem somewhere.

If your able you might take off a wheel or two and check to see if they spin freely etc.
Also check for any lose or broken wires anywhere along the underside of the trailer.  You never know if a mouse or other creature
chewed through a wire and caused this problem.

Good Luck - Please report back when you figure out what happened or caused the problem.

Hello Again everyone, just an Update to my breakaway switch I had to replace, so I put on a brand new one I had got from amazon, I crawled under the Camper and looked at all the wiring connections where they connect to the brakes on the camper and there is no melted wiring it looks like I Lucked out just frying the breakaway switch. I plugged it into my truck and felt to see if the switch got warm , it didn't so I plugged it into my garage again, again it stayed cool to the touch. no blown fuses in the camper and the battery is fine as well.

thank-you for your advice RedandSilver, much appreciated )

 

[RedandSilver]

No Problem.

Glad it all worked out for you.