brake lights came on, on their own !!!!

I think you will find there is a plug on the rear of it, so I'd simply unplug the unit. If you still get problems then the next thing would be to check the trailer socket itself for a short and lastly the wires to the trailer socket and the brake switch from the unit's plug.

I was going to install a Tekonsha, but it failed and I couldn't get any service satisfaction. So I installed a nice simple RedArc and this was later transferred from my Disco to my Defender.

Almost all caravanners swear by Tekonshas. Unlike the solid-state type (Hayman-Reese?) they have a pendulum that senses the amount of braking force of the tow vehicle and varies the force of the trailer brakes to match. My experience over five years with a Tekonsha has been all positive.

Stephen.

The unit failing was only part of the problem, the support - or rather lack of it - was the icing on the cake. I was very unimpressed with the build quality of the unit too.

Actually I'd disagree with your statement: Almost all caravanners swear by Tekonshas.. Since I found in my researching that a lot of people use them, the HR and others. I would also say that the Tekonsha (particularly the Voyager) was the most talked about with problems. That's nothing in itself as people often post problems on the web (e.g. this forum;)) so I wasn't concerned by that. What I concluded was it was like what tyre is best for my Defender? There is no answer its what suites your needs the best.

the wires coming out of the back of it go into a choc block (plastic block with screw holding in the wires) and continues from there, so might just get it retro wired to the origonal state.
the only info i have on it does not show a wiring diagram damn

had the same problem with mine.cured it by placing a diode in the wire that connects to the brake pedal switch to stop power feeding back into the brake circuit.The diode will only allow power to flow in one direction ie from the brake pedal to the brake controller and not back the other way.

My tekonsha voyager started doing the same, well out of warranty. I returned it to dealer who exchanged it for another brand. I was hoping they would upgrade it to the prodigy or let me pay the difference. Still well out of warranty to be replaced no questions was good.
Kenley