7-Way Cuts Power To RV

[steilkurve]

Hey all.

Odd behavior of the 7-Way connector on my gen 2 R1T. I tow an Airstream with it. For all of my first camping season with the Rivian last year, the 7-way connector worked flawlessly.

This year, all of a sudden, it’ll stop powering my Airstream marker lights and backup camera. I notice it most after fast charging and sometimes after first hooking up the trailer.

A hard reset of the vehicle fixes it which points to software glitch I guess. Note unseating and reseating the 7-way plug doesn’t do anything. I’ve checked both male and female ends of the connection and there’s no dirt or debris.

Anyone else has noticed this? And found a permanent fix perhaps?

Thanks for any tips.

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[steilkurve]

And I should also note that this never happens mid drive. It’s always when the R1T and Airstream establish (or fail to) connection.

 

[VSG]

Sounds to me like maybe the 12V breaker is flipping. The hard reset also resets the breaker.

 

[steilkurve]

Sounds to me like maybe the 12V breaker is flipping. The hard reset also resets the breaker.

That’s a good hypothesis but if it were, would it not also be cutting off power to the trailer breaks and turn signals, which this bug isn’t. It’s only affecting the trailer’s marker lights and BU camera. It‘s like only a couple of wires in the 7-way are cut off from 12V power.

 

[MikeWilliams_R1T]

Are you sure there isn’t a short somewhere in your trailer wiring? I pretty regularly tow and haven’t had a problem like this.

 

[VSG]

There are at least two fuses that I know of for the trailer wiring. See https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/interior-passenger-side-fuse-box.8397/page-4

There have been posts in the past from people who had problems with accessory power but not brakes/signals. IIRC it was the trailer trying to draw too much power

 

[steilkurve]

Are you sure there isn’t a short somewhere in your trailer wiring? I pretty regularly tow and haven’t had a problem like this.

Nothing that I can see without opening up hidden junction boxes, but it’s a good point. I’ll take a look at the one where the 7-way cable comes into the trailer.

That said, if it was a short, would it not happen randomly even while driving? For me it never does. It’s always when the R1T and Airstream first try to establish the connection. If it fails to connect, then the hard reboot solves it for the duration of the drive.

 

[MikeWilliams_R1T]

Intermittent wiring problems are tough to find. It could be just the right amount of vibration on the road trips the tail lights against the ground giving you a dead short one second and back to normal the next… until you hit the next bump.

To test the theory, go borrow another trailer (any trailer) and tow it around a few miles to see if you can replicate the problem.

 

[steilkurve]

Intermittent wiring problems are tough to find. It could be just the right amount of vibration on the road trips the tail lights against the ground giving you a dead short one second and back to normal the next… until you hit the next bump.

To test the theory, go borrow another trailer (any trailer) and tow it around a few miles to see if you can replicate the problem.

On a road trip right now so it’ll have to wait but trying out another trailer is a good idea.

That said, I highly doubt it’s a loose wire as it never happens while driving. Everything works fine when I disconnect but when I reconnect, it fails. The trailer was idle in between so nothing moved.

 

[Marchin_MTB]

And I should also note that this never happens mid drive. It’s always when the R1T and Airstream establish (or fail to) connection.

I have only recently (last few weeks) noticed that, at times, my trailer brakes don’t seem to be activating. A reset fixes it. I wonder if our problems are related.

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