I have to hook up a hydraulic brake actuator to the 12 volt positive input from my tow vehicle to my travel trailer. But this lead also connects to the trailers 2 12 volt batteries so when the truck is hooked up power from the batteries will flow back towards the truck when it is off and power the actuator all the time. The brake actuator is on board the trailer to activate the disk brakes but it must be connected to switched power from the truck. When the actuator loses 12 volt power it automatically applies the trailer brakes. For this automatic "breakaway" protection to work properly I must isolate where the actuator connects from where the 12 volt line comes into the trailer to also charge the batteries.
So I will connect the brake actuator to the incoming 12 volt positive line coming from the truck, then I need to add diodes after the brake actuator connection so that the batteries will still get their charging power but will not back power the actuator. This positive lead on the truck is 12 volts and protected by a 40 amp fuse. What type and specification diodes do I need? If I have to I can use several wired in Parallel to handle the load.
Thanks for the help.
So I will connect the brake actuator to the incoming 12 volt positive line coming from the truck, then I need to add diodes after the brake actuator connection so that the batteries will still get their charging power but will not back power the actuator. This positive lead on the truck is 12 volts and protected by a 40 amp fuse. What type and specification diodes do I need? If I have to I can use several wired in Parallel to handle the load.
Thanks for the help.
Last edited: