Shaved down trailer connector

We did a border-to-border bicycle transect of the Sunflower State in June.* I did the pedaling and A.W. provided personal SAGing at its finest, pulling Toad Away for the overnights.

The very first day, one of us failed to connect the umbilical to the trailer -- foolishly thinking it would save possible drain to the car battery while we finished breakfast -- and the other forgot to check the connection before hitting the road (no finger-pointing here).

At a rest stop down the road, I noticed the umbilical hanging below the trailer, took a look at the connector, which had been kissing the pavement for 30 miles, and saw that it had been shaved down on one side -- maybe 3/8 inch -- and the center pin/prong had disappeared. What remained was full of dirt and road goo.

I was certain we would have to lose a full day, maybe more, getting the umbilical replaced. But after cleaning the connector up and spritzing it down with WD-40, plugged it back in and -- everything worked! Saved! Luckily, that center prong is only for back-up lights, which we don't have anyway.

After another week on the road, we got home and I figured out that connector is easily replaceable, without having to replace the entire umbilical. Ordered one from Amazon (it's a Pollak 12-706) and replaced the damaged one with no problem.

Lessons learned:
--Use checklist for hooking up and don't leave anything out, thinking you'll remember before you leave.
--The black wire in the umbilical is 12v HOT (even if you turn off the master switch in the storage bin), which is not a problem until it touches one of the other wires. Cover it with some tape when you are slipping the wires through the connector body.

Heading out in a couple of weeks to Wisconsin's Kettle Moraine Forest, home to the family progenitors. Can't wait!

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*Biking Across Kansas (BAK): www.bak.org. We first saw a CampInn the first time we did BAK in 2010 and were quickly convinced that was the ultimate way to do bike touring.

 

Did the same on the trip home from the Factory - you are not alone - easily replaced.
TOWBERT
560 Ultra SUV 720

 

Oooops. We've done worse.

And I refuse to elaborate...nobody got hurt.

Camp on,

Sue and Jim (he's the guilty one)

 

You aren't the only one. lol