Water in 7-pin connector

[SarahC]

Recently, after a heavy rain, my brake controller box started acting funny. I wasn't towing at the time, but it flashed red at me, as if the trailer was disconnected. Then it did solid red. Green for a while. Couldn't make up its mind. I went back and checked it, and there was a little pool of water inside the plastic tube for the 7-pin plug. It dried out over the course of the day, and was behaving normally several hours later, and worked fine the next time we plugged in the trailer (we checked it was dry before we did that).

My question is: Is this normal? Or is there something wrong with the cap on my connector? And how should I dry it out if this happens when we are about to tow, like if it's rained the night before we break camp?

Thanks for any advice!

[Byron Kinnaman]

The 7 pin connector on the tow vehicle should have a "weather door" that also acts as a latch when connected. Also the connector could be pointed up towards the rear of tow vehicle slightly. I would have it replaced with a new one. Any RV or trailer shop can do and it's not very expensive.

[stevebaz]

I would flush out the connector with WD-40. This spray was designed for this purpose. flood the connector with the spray an the water get displaced from the surface and flows out with the excessive fluid. Wipe it dry and your good to go.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by stevebaz

I would flush out the connector with WD-40. This spray was designed for this purpose. flood the connector with the spray an the water get displaced from the surface and flows out with the excessive fluid. Wipe it dry and your good to go.

Is WD-40 conductive? If it is that would not be a good idea. I've never tested so I really don't know, but before I did put WD-40 in a connector I would want to know.

[stevebaz]

No its not conductive. it was designed for this purpose. Wd-40 Water Displacing revision 40.

Old days we would drown the ignition on our cars in the rain or road splash. you take wd-40 spray the ignition cap and wires remove the cap and spray out the condensation in the cap and wipe off the excess and reinstall and drive off on your merry way.

[Darwin Maring]

Stevebaz isn't absolutely correct. Not conductive and displaces water. I use it inside the distributor cap of our 1974 VW Thing.

[Captleemo]

It has dielectric properties which means it won't conduct electricity but it won't hinder conductivity. It was developed in the early days of the space program to stop condensation from forming on electronic components of the space ships. Without it the condensation would cause short circuits with catastrophic results. Of course WD-40 has many many great uses.

[tractors1]

Fun read on WD40, especially the links at the bottom of this page:

WD-40 History - History and Timeline of WD-40 Company