Trailer wiring tester DIY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ส.ค. 2024
- What started off as wanting a simple trailer wiring tester turned into a pretty neat project. Working on some trailer brakes and wiring and decided to make up a tester for trailers after watching a South Main Auto video where Eric had made his own. Was originally just going to be a 7 pin truck side plug and alligator clips to hook up to a spare battery. A box of some sort, most likely an old plastic tool box with some switches in it. After some thinking I didn't really want to drag around a battery and was looking into a small battery dedicated to this tester but wasn't excited about that either since batteries go bad quick when not being used and I won't use this tester but a few times a year. Then I thought about using m18 batteries since I have a bunch of them. Got a m18 adapter off amazon and also a step down converter to get 12 volts from the 18 volt battery.
After the battery part was figured out I was just going to use some switches, but then after some thinking I started looking into if a remote could be used. Found a 4 pack of relays that is controlled by remote. Decided to give it a try and it worked great. Now you can set the tester box at the front of the trailer and plug the trailer into it. Throw a M18 battery in and turn the switch on. Walk to the back of the trailer and use the remote to activate the left turn, right turn, running, and electric brakes. No walking back and forth to flip switches.
Ended up having around 100 dollars into this tester and was more then I wanted to spend but it will be super handy working on trailers and will pay for itself in time savings.
Here are the links to the parts I ordered from amazon.
The M18 battery adapter: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
Step down transformer: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Fuse distribution box: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Remote controlled relay box: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
7 Pin trailer plug: www.amazon.com/NEW-SUN-Traile...
12 volt socket I added later so I could hook my power probe into this also for further trouble shooting abilities:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07... - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
![How to Build a Milwaukee PACKOUT Trailer Tester [M12 Powered]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8w5omAQO_VM/mqdefault.jpg)
Nice Job, I was looking at building one of these that had the switches but this made so much more sense. Thanks for the idea, and steps, keep the awesome ideas coming.
Thank you and glad you like it. I was going to build one with the switches like you but decided to take it one step further and go with a remote setup. The remote and the cordless battery for power source make it so much more functional. Thanks and please post pictures of yours when you get it done!
I love the remote add! I am working on building one myself
You could totally clean that up. Also, we've been running 18v batteries and it doesnt hurt anything.
Awesome! I need to make the same one 👌🏻👍🏻
This thing has been a great help with testing trailers. I love it. Post up what you end up making, would love to see what others come up with. Don't forget a bout the 12V power socket I added later but not shown in the video. Lets you hook up a power probe which was a big help in testing.
Thank you, great idea 💡, I'm going to make one where I work we have over 100 trailers.
It will come in handy for sure!
Great project sir, thank you very much.
Thank You!
Might add a low voltage cutoff to prevent killing the M18 batteries?
Good job man!
Thank You!
This is a similar concept that i have for mine. but its a great use of the 18v battery and i do think the wireless makes it simple to use.
Genius on the the remote and relays! Do you have a flasher in your setup so that the turn signals flash? Also, I think you can wire in the flat plug wires with a receptacle poking through the box and be able to test both flat plug setups and 7pin setups.
I thought about adding a flasher but didn't see the value in that. If the lights come on when I activate and send power to them for the L and R turn signals I know the lights work. No real need to make them flash to test them. I also thought about adding a 4 pin plug to test those trailers but instead I just use an adapter I already had that goes from 7 to 4.
Howd you hook up your relay to your fuse block, your fuse block to your trailer harness?
how did you program the remote
Also thanks for sharing
How is the operating range for the remote. Looking to build this, l just want to make sure the range of the remote is adequate.
I've used it on a 32' gooseneck trailer before with the box up front and remote about 10' behind the trailer to see the lights. So I've successfully used it at about 45'. This is with my antenna sealed inside the case. I'm sure you could get better range if needed if you drilled a hole and stuck the antenna outside the case.
Is there any possibility to get a link to wherever I can go online to order these things to assemble one of these...
Added links in the description to the parts from amazon. Thanks
Exellent
Thank you.
Could have used 3 18650 batteries which cost much less and elimates the converter, adapter, and expensive cordless battery. There are other cases that would be less expensive.
There are lots of ways to put one of these together, this is just how I chose to do it. I happen to have a bunch of m18 batteries already so my battery was "free". And if it dies I have plenty of backups so don't have to wait for 18650s to charge in the middle of a job. No need to buy any 18650 or other batteries when most guys already have a cordless battery platform in their shop. You would also need to put together a charger for the 18650 batteries, I already have chargers for my m18 batteries. As for the case, this one was just easy and available so I went with it. It's also weatherproof so working outside in the rain or snow isn't an issue.
Why use an m18 and a stepdown instead of a m12
I looked into both. M12 would work good also. I went with the m18 because I didnt know how long the testing might take so wanted the bigger battery capacity. But either option will work
cool
Thank you and glad you liked it.
did you do a wiring schematic?
I do not have a schematic but explain where most of the wires hook up in the video.
Where is the link?
Quit talking! More do….
Sorry I was trying to be thorough in the details so pretty much anybody would be able to build one of these to benefit them testing trailers. Thanks for watching.