Review on 🚦 Enhance Trailer Safety with Hopkins 20100 Engager Break Away Kit and LED Battery Monitor by Tim Larsen

I'm replacing an old Hopkins tear-off set that hasn't worked. The previous box was metal and the LED and test button covers were gone allowing moisture to get in and pretty much wrecked the board. I bought this trailer used, apparently it was stored in salt (water) air. No calls for Hopkins. The replacement box is made of reinforced plastic, which is good and negates the rusting problem. The breakaway bracket is made of zinc plated metal that will rust after about 3 years here in the Pacific Northwest. I like that the membrane that protects the electronics covers the entire box, not just the test button and the LED like the old metal box. In fact, it could have stayed. My skills I restore old jaguars as a hobby; so I guess I'm a bit more mechanical than the average guy. I've never owned a trailer, I didn't even know about those breakaway braking systems until I was pulled over by a state patrol. I am an avid DIY enthusiast and have a 98% success rate on projects I take on. It is as they say. Here comes the ringing - HOPKINS, I HOPE YOU'RE LISTENING! 1. The instructions are crap. Either the instructions were written for more than one ingager, or the instructions in my box didn't match the ingager. I had trouble with the wiring as the instructions in my system said the ECU had 1 less wire dangling from the engager. Once I found out it was nothing more than a battery powered relay to the braking system, everything quickly fell into place.2. Multilingual instructions, all mixed up. I'm a guy and contrary to the cliché, yes I read guides. I find it very distracting and quite annoying to read the multilingual manual where each step lists all the supported languages individually. It's just lazy and cheap on Hopkins' part. Write the manual so that each language is in a separate section.3. Quality. The product doesn't look cheap. but if you look under the skirt, you will quickly notice the absence of panties. The electronics are not protected by anything; Except in a sealed plastic box. Note that this box and components are located on the outside of the trailer tongue; who gets the most crap from the tractor. Moisture resistant, SHE FIND A PASS! You might think a moisture barrier would be in order. YES, a plastic box is a good start, but what's missing is protection of the box's contents. There is no conformal coating on the electronics to protect against moisture in the air. Battery terminals stored in cheap big boxes are crimp connectors that aren't even soldered or crimped. The connections are bare copper connections (wire), nothing to protect the connections, even on the positive side. Copper is very sensitive to moisture and corrosion. With corrosion comes an additional resistance equal to heat. Electronics don't like heat very much. Here it is, not forever.