Peterson Manufacturing announced its new PetersonPATRIOT modular electrical harness system on Sept. 12 here at the Technology & Maintenance Council Fall Meeting in Cleveland.

This new modular design, according to Peterson, will protect the wiring harness and lights from corrosion, reduce maintenance costs, and trailer downtime.

The company said its PetersonPATRIOT system was designed to provide a very strong defense against moisture intrusion and corrosion with a modular layout, making it the best solution for fleets that fall into one or more of these categories:

• Fleets that want advanced corrosion protection and a flexible, modular solution

• Fleets that turn their trailers over every 5-7 years

• Fleets with standard configurations or limited add-on electrical accessories

The modular harness system has a distribution module that connects all the lighting components to a “small footprint” central hub to provide “excellent corrosion resistance, easy installation, and efficient troubleshooting and repair.”

Peterson said the distribution module is the key component of the new design. It uses a circuit board as the junction box, which keeps it flexible, compact, and fully protected from moisture intrusion. The compact size also provides manufacturers and fleets maximum flexibility when choosing a mounting location.

Each harness component has industry proven amp-style connectors to stop moisture with silicon seals and built-in locking clips. The connectors are color coded by function, with keyed, one-way connectors that guarantee fast, fool-proof assembly. If a repair is ever needed, the modular design allows quickly troubleshooting and replacing a damaged cable without disturbing the entire system.

Additional components of the system include the company’s Maxi-Seal technology with over-molded amp-style connectors to keep moisture out, Integrated Moisture Barrier to stop moisture from wicking throughout the entire system when a wire is damaged, its easy-to-assemble J560 connector. The design also uses Peteron’s improved bullet connectors with molded in O-rings and detents that provide secondary locking and improved sealing as well as ring terminals with adhesive-filled heat-shrink connectors.

The PetersonPATRIOT system carries a 5-year warranty against defects and corrosion.