Question about not using the breakaway battery

I am installing electric brakes. I had planned to get the breakaway kit minus the battery+box and substitute in a quick connect into the wiring in my boat's bow that is a constant hot 12 gauge wire directly to the starting battery. I do not know if there are any dot requirements that say I cannot do that. I legally don't have to have brakes on my tandem because it happens to be registered 1 pound under the required limit, if that makes a difference.

The only thing I would end up with is majorly exceeding the required 15 minute hold time on the electric brakes.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

Any good 12 vilt battery will do, I use an old jump start pack on mine. Do you want to have to remember to attach and disconect the battery every time? You could always put a battery box on the trailer or use an extra in case your boat battery goes dead. You have lots of options.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

my .02 is just get a proper batt on the trailer... well worth it.... it will charge from the tow vehicle and you won't have to connect to the boat...... if you still are intent on doing it your way, I very much doubt that the dot would care BUT just know that even though you aren't required to have brakes, a non standard system would still be potential fuel for a lawyer if there ever was an accident.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

smokeonthewater said:

even though you aren't required to have brakes, a non standard system would still be potential fuel for a lawyer if there ever was an accident.

Click to expand...

highly, highly doubtful... All legal requirements were met, anything above and beyond has no play in this case.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

smokingcrater said:

highly, highly doubtful... All legal requirements were met, anything above and beyond has no play in this case.

Click to expand...

Not if the trailer is being towed empty...

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

Mischief Managed said:

Not if the trailer is being towed empty...

Click to expand...

So your saying that towing a 900 pound trailer that is rated for up to 4,000 pounds could break off and cause a wreck and I get sued for having non standard equipment that is already not required? 900 pounds is how much my pwc and trailer combined weight and they don't have brakes! Besides the farthest this trailer will be going without a boat is back to the parking lot. I was planning to install one of the breakaway battery chargers just in case my battery somehow ended up dead, so it should have some charge in it.

I have a spotless driving record and I plan to keep it that way.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

nobody is saying that you'll be a criminal for doing it weird..... I was just throwing out something that you may not have considered.... I have been towing as much as 200,000 lbs for many years and have seen a LOT of ridiculous stuff. Like a retarded dot cop citing me for having a chain on a load that was too small even though it was just an extra used to keep the dozer from sliding sideways while loading.... the load was perfectly legal with or without that small chain.... judge dismissed it but he gave a long lecture first because he said I shouldn't have challenged what the dot cop told me even if it WAS wrong:facepalm:


I think that the $50 for a break away batt is well worth it to have your start batt insulated from any trailer issues and to not have to always plug it in but your way will likely be ok too even if it is a bit unconventional.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

maproy99 said:

So your saying that towing a 900 pound trailer that is rated for up to 4,000 pounds could break off and cause a wreck and I get sued for having non standard equipment that is already not required? 900 pounds is how much my pwc and trailer combined weight and they don't have brakes! Besides the farthest this trailer will be going without a boat is back to the parking lot. I was planning to install one of the breakaway battery chargers just in case my battery somehow ended up dead, so it should have some charge in it.

I have a spotless driving record and I plan to keep it that way.

Click to expand...

If the trailer is required by state law to have brakes, odds are good it's also required to have a functioning breakaway system. With the boat off the trailer, the breakaway system can't work. I had the same idea about using my boat battery, until I realized it won't work and spent the 70 bucks on the breakaway kit. My trailer is routinely towed many miles empty though and I have occasionally used it to move timbers.

Re: Question about not using the breakaway battery

Mischief Managed said:

If the trailer is required by state law to have brakes, odds are good it's also required to have a functioning breakaway system. With the boat off the trailer, the breakaway system can't work. I had the same idea about using my boat battery, until I realized it won't work and spent the 70 bucks on the breakaway kit. My trailer is routinely towed many miles empty though and I have occasionally used it to move timbers.

Click to expand...

Not required to unless I add a few hundred more pounds to my trailer with the boat on it.

I got a free used starting battery from my neighbors last night. It was used for 6 years, sat for a year. It lost some of the surge power it could provide due to damaged plates. So it barley had enough power to start their van. They decided to get a new one and no core charge so they decided to keep the other one. Then came the spring cleaning yesterday...... Amazing how some things work out.