3 wire connection

[Sylvain]

Hello everyone,
I have a bad connection from the battery to the converter on my 13QBB.  Last week I tried to turn on the lights and nothing happened.  The ceiling fans were not working either.  I took a voltage reading at the converter and was getting only 3.4v (about 13v at the battery).  Of course, all this testing was done without the trailer being connected to shore power.  I went outside and shaked the positive wire close to the battery and then everything went back to normal.  There is a 3 wire connection (photo) about 10" from the battery.  I'm not sure but this could be the problem.  What would be the best option to replace that connector?

Thanks

[DavidM]

The single wire comes from the battery right? Then one of the wires it connects to probably goes to the converter and the other goes to the TV brake/lights/charging connector and picks up power from the TV when it is running. The connector is bad, so cut it away and do one of the following to replace it:

A good way is to get a crimp connector sized for 10 gauge (the size of the wire going to the battery) on one end and 8 gauge on the other end for two 10 gauge wires twisted togethe. See: https://www.amazon.com/Pico-2295PT-Electrical-Connectors-Package/dp/B004BTDROW/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=8+to+10+gauge+butt+connectors&qid=1563560471&s=gateway&sr=8-3. Crimp them together with a crimp tool. Or use a 10 gauge Y connector.

Almost as good is a yellow 10 gauge crimp connector with the same size on both ends. You will probably have to pull back and cut some of the strands on the two wire end to get them to fit into the connector, but that isn't going to hurt a thing.

The simplest is just to wire nut the three wires together with a big wire nut. Not as elegant as the crimp, but it works.

Finally the best solution by far is to get a 30A surface mount breaker, like any of these- https://www.amazon.com/s?k=30A+surface+mount+breaker&ref=nb_sb_noss

Mount it somewhere out of the way and close enough to get to the wires. Then wire the battery wire to one side and the two others to the other side. Use crimp on ring terminals. Then you can use the red or yellow button to disconnect the circuit and flip up the red/yellow lever to engage the circuit.

This gives you a disconnect switch and a 30A breaker to protect the wire.

David

[GrampaKilt]

Hi Sylvain
I don't use any connectors, rather soldering together those kind of joints and covering with shrink. You may already know this , but use electrical solder and paste.

This may be an occasion to replace the whole positive and neg line from the batt to the converter with a heavier guage. I think I used 6, maybe 4 AWG. This upgrade has many benefits that others have enumerated on this forum.

Regards, GK

[Merlin]

"Finally the best solution by far is to get a 30A surface mount breaker, like any of these- https://www.amazon.com/s?k=30A+surface+mount+breaker&ref=nb_sb_noss

Mount it somewhere out of the way and close enough to get to the wires. Then wire the battery wire to one side and the two others to the other side. Use crimp on ring terminals. Then you can use the red or yellow button to disconnect the circuit and flip up the red/yellow lever to engage the circuit.

This gives you a disconnect switch and a 30A breaker to protect the wire."

After 3 tries, DavidM got it right on the fourth       I think wiring in a breaker is the way to go.

[DavidM]

Merlin:

Yes but I had to throw in the wire nut solution just to keep it interesting. But yes, the breaker/disconnect is the best!!!!

David

[Sylvain]

Thanks everyone!  Lots of great solution!  Yes the single wire comes from the battery and one of the wires it connects to goes to the converter.  I didn't know where the second wire was going, thanks for letting me know David.  I already installed the 30A breaker that was suggested by David in another thread.  It works great.  The thing is that I installed it on the battery box and the double wires are not long enough to reach it so I will have to use one of your ideas to replace that connector.  I'll try to find a 8 awg to 10 awg connector locally or maybe I will simply weld the wires together.

Thanks again for your help!

[ADR]

Those ScotchLok style connectors can be problematic- when I've been forced to use them I usually line up at least 2 of them to help insure a good connection.
They are not suitable for any connection subject to getting wet-  you wouldn't believe how many trailers I've seen using them for electric brake connections near the drums

[Sylvain]

Ok thanks.  Anyway I couldn't find the right connector locally so I ended up welding the wires.  I hope this will solve my problem!