Can anyone Identify this brake controller?

[Wil2k]

Any info on this brake controller would be appreciated. No brand or model no. Just says BRAKE CONTROL in large friendly letters. Unmarked dial on one side, GAIN on the other. LED on top. Slide switch of some sort on one end.

http://184.72.239.143/mu/7a6cb8f2-f87b-956b.jpghttp://184.72.239.143/mu/7a6cb8f2-f895-7c57.jpg

I know nothing about these at all. How do they work. I'm assuming it needs a compatible receiver on the trailer. I've disconnected it for now, as it was in the way.

Cheers

Wil

[wardy1]

Could be an older Sekonsha, looks similar to the one I had in my last D2. I now have a remote head Redarc which is brilliant and you can fit it into a dash pod (which I did) with the main unit screwed up under the dash on the drivers side.
They connect up (most elec controllers anyway) through the trailer plug. Of course, your trailer needs to be equipped with electric brakes :eek:

[Wil2k]

They connect up (most elec controllers anyway) through the trailer plug. Of course, your trailer needs to be equipped with electric brakes :eek:

Ahhh cool! See? Told ya I knew nothing about them! I thought it was wireless! :D

What;s the squeezable switch thing for? Applying the brakes (very) manually?

Wil

[lardy]

I had one of these on I think a disco, piece of junk great way of draining a battery over night if that is your aim!
They were recalled early on as they had this issue, I would chuck it and buy one that is no drama's

[sniegy]

Tekonsha Prodigy.

Cheers;)

[Wil2k]

Aha! Thanks guys.
You've put me on the right path. looks like it's a Voyager rather than a Prodigy according to this site:

brake_controllers (http://www.campertrailers.org/brake_controllers.htm)

Think I'll just leave it in a box for now. Can't imagine pulling big trailers in the near future! I'll see if I can google up the manual etc. ;)

Wil

[d2dave]

Wil,
I have a voyager in the hand brakes car. I also have the instruction manual for it so if you are unsuccessful with your google search I could copy it and post to you.

The slide thingy is for adjusting the gain.

Dave.

[wrinklearthur]

Be careful hooking it up, as all things electronic run on smoke !

When you let the smoke out they stop working. :(

Cheers Arthur

[Bearman]

I had one of these on I think a disco, piece of junk great way of draining a battery over night if that is your aim!
They were recalled early on as they had this issue, I would chuck it and buy one that is no drama's

That's interesting, I have a Tekonsho Voyager in my County and sometimes it doesn't get started for a week or two and the battery is low. I have been blaming the ERPS system which was fitted about the same time. Maybe I should disconnect them one at a time and discover which one is the culprit. I didn't even think that the brake control could be the blame.

[Grumndriva]

It certainly looks like an electric brake controller.

The slide is or should be used for manually activating the trailer brakes. It is for emergency use (and for initially setting up).

A Tekonsha brake controller should not affect the battery as it should not be live until the ignition is on.

Whatever it is, if you need a good brake controller in the future, get a Prodigy or its later developments.

[Ace]

What;s the squeezable switch thing for? Applying the brakes (very) manually?

Wil

Yeah the sliding switch is for applying the brakes manually. There was a good demo on 4wd action or something similat where they demonstrated using the trailer brakes on a camper van as opposed to the vehicles brakes to help keep it straight down a steep hill. I had a cheap one I bought from the US fitted to mine for when I borrow my grandparents van and the manual application switch does come in handy.

[d2dave]

Here is an extract from the Voyager manual.

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7834/img4921l.jpg (http://img14.imageshack.us/i/img4921l.jpg/)


Dave.

[Grumndriva]

The instructions are specifically talking about normal operations.

Sway should not happen under normal operations unless:

1. either the van and the tug are not compatible or one of them is not properly roadworthy,

2. the van is very poorly loaded with too little weight on the tow ball, or

3. you have exceeded the rig's critical speed.

Using trailer brakes to sort such problems in normal operations is not appropriate, which is the point the Voyager instructions seem to be making.

On the other hand, a serious sway with a heavy van such as is caused by a sudden swerve or emergency braking while turning is NOT a normal operation and all bets are off. When that happens, immediate use of the manual lever is probably the only thing physically able to save you and the van from jack knifing and rolling, as we see all too often.

I know from personal experience that it only takes about 2-3 oscillations before the forces generated by the van exceed the tugs tyres' ability to maintain sufficient adhesion to allow any corrective steering, and after that you are going wherever the van takes a fancy to.

The manual slide has saved many of us from disaster.