Bluetooth trailer brakes

[travelrover]

I called Kennards hire today to book a car trailer to collect my next Land Rover project. The guy was telling me the trailers are all fitted Bluetooth brake system and these operate by “seeing” your brake lights when they come on and then operate the trailer brakes.

This is all new to me having not hired a trailer for a long number of years.

Anyone had experience with these? Anything to watch out for? I will be towing with my Td5 Ute. I used to tow double horse floats with this and never had an issue though you tend to go slower with horses.

It will be around a 16 hour round trip over some windy roads so he’s thrown in a spare.

Cheers - Simon

[Homestar]

Yep, all our large trailers with GTM greater than 2,000Kg have the same now (A rival Hire company) 😉

They work great, there’s a controller that plugs into the power socket in your car that allows you to operate the brakes on the trailer like you would with a normal hard wired brake controller.

Most are approved and legal and I would assume theirs are but some of the app based units that require your phone to operate the brakes aren’t, but I doubt they would be using them.

[jayray377]

Just out of curiosity, what brand are these controllers?

[travelrover]

Just out of curiosity, what brand are these controllers?

Don’t collect till Sunday afternoon so don’t know yet. :-)

[drivesafe]

Hi Simon, this might be an interesting read for you.

It is part of an E-mail reply I received just yesterday from the of the Compliance & Regulatory Services RMS. NSW

To be honest, the whole e-mail does not make much sense?


For trailers up 2 tonnes GTM, an efficient braking system is considered to have brakes operating on the wheels of at least one axle. Over-run brakes may only be used on trailers that do not exceed 2 tonnes GTM.
Every trailer over 2 tonnes GTM must have brakes operating on all wheels. The brake system must cause immediate application of the trailer brakes in the event of the trailer becoming detached from the towing vehicle. Under these circumstances, the brakes must remain applied for at least 15 minutes.
All flexible hydraulic brake hoses, air or vacuum brake tubing and air and vacuum flexible hoses must conform to SAA, SAE, BS, JIS, DIN, ISO or ECE Standards and be fitted to the vehicle in a way that will prevent chafing, kinking or other mechanical damage under normal motion of the parts to which they are attached.

(For further information, refer to ADR 38) https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00692 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00692)

As per Road Transport (Vehicle Regulation) Regulation 2017 Schedule 2 Light Vehicle Standards Rules:
Division 3 Trailer braking systems

126 What brakes a trailer must have


(1) A trailer with a GTM over 750 kilograms must have brakes that operate on at least 1 wheel at each end of 1 or more axles of the trailer.
(2) A semi-trailer or converter dolly with a GTM over 2 tonnes must have brakes that operate on all its wheels.
127 Operation of brakes on trailers
(cf ALVSR 2015 r 127; 2007 reg Sch 2 cl 141)

(1) The braking system of a trailer with a GTM over 2 tonnes must allow the driver of a motor vehicle towing the trailer to operate the brakes from a normal driving position.

(2) The brakes on a trailer with a GTM over 2 tonnes must:
(a) operate automatically and quickly if the trailer breaks away from the towing vehicle, and
(b) remain in operation for at least 15 minutes after a break-away, and
(c) be able to hold the trailer on a 12% gradient while in operation after a break-away.

128 Air or vacuum brakes on trailers
(cf ALVSR 2015 r 128; 2007 reg Sch 2 cl 142)
(1) If a trailer has air brakes, its braking system must include at least 1 air storage tank.
(2) If a trailer has vacuum brakes, its braking system must include at least 1 vacuum storage tank.
(3) An air or vacuum storage system must:
(a) be built to give a visible or audible warning to the driver of the towing vehicle, while in a normal driving position, of a lack of air or vacuum that would prevent the brakes from meeting the performance standards of rule 122, and
(b) be safeguarded by a check valve or other device against loss of air or vacuum if the supply fails or leaks.

(4) Subrules (1), (2) and (3) do not apply to a trailer with a GTM of 2 tonnes or less.
Links:
NSW Legislation (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2014/758)

NSW Legislation (https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/#/view/regulation/2017/451)

Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 38/05 – Trailer Brake Systems) 2018 (https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018L00692)

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/vehicles/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/files/VSB1_JUN2009_V5.1.pdf

[101RRS]

Our Club trailer uses the Elecbrakes app. How Does An Electric Brake Controller Work? | Elecbrakes (https://www.elecbrakes.com/how-it-works/)

Braking is triggered by positive voltage being applied to the brake light circuit. Once braking is triggered Elecbrakes uses Microprocessors and Accelerometers to calculate and provide precise brake response.

So basically uses the deccelerometer in the phone to communicate via bluetooth the amount of braking required on the trailer.

Garry

[V8Ian]

Wow, what a huge potential for failure and other issues.

[travelrover]

It is part of an E-mail reply I received just yesterday from the of the Compliance & Regulatory Services RMS. NSW

To be honest, the whole e-mail does not make much sense?

Thanks Drivesafe. Yes confusing stuff as usual from the RMS. I’m not sure that clarifies anything ;-)

I should have mentioned that the old horse float I towed years ago had electric brakes.

Cheers - Simon

[travelrover]

Wow, what a huge potential for failure and other issues.

Yes I must agree..

[101RRS]

Wow, what a huge potential for failure and other issues.

Like what?

Remember these are all legal and cleared by the authorities so have been extensively tested and passed.

Companies like Kennards are not going to risk using them if they are dodgy and the one I have experience with works fine.

[V8Ian]

Loss of BT connection or false triggers from other light sources, just for starters.

[101RRS]

Loss of BT connection or false triggers from other light sources, just for starters.

I have a samsung smart watch that is connected to my phone via bluetooth and it has never lost connection in the 11 months I have had the watch - except where I have left the phone somewhere and the phone beeps more than 30m when you are away or when I have turned the phone off. So the reliability is there and I am sure the authorities would have tested this aspect.

I am not sure what this false triggers from other light sources is as the system activates when it detects activation of the brakes via the hardwiring of the brake light system. So yes if the brake switch on the brake pedal is not working the trailer brakes will not work.

I think you are looking for issues that are not there.

Garry

[Homestar]

The ones we use (probably the same as Kennards) aren’t actually Bluetooth, but a specific frequency designated to that controller and brake setup - they are a pair - the controller and receiver on the trailer - everyone at work calls them Bluetooth as well but they aren’t. Ours our fully approved and legal to use, can’t comment about others and we were told by VicRoads that some controllers aren’t legal - a lot of actual Bluetooth stuff - phone based apps mostly.

Vicroads are VERY conservative so if they’re happy with them, then I don’t see any issue. I should think they’ve been tested very carefully.

[FisherX]

I haven't heard of these before, but I've been researching them this morning and what a fantastic idea they have come up with.

I tow my 2.9t trailer with both our L322 and Freelander 2 and I installed a brake controller in both. The family like to use it as well but their cars don't have controllers so not really legal.

But as usual in Australia we get screwed on the price. It's looking like $700 for an Aust unit. But cheaper in the US.

I was looking at the Echo unit in the US for $350AUD and then buy some US tailer sockets and plugs from Amazon, a meter or so of trailer wire and make the adaptors to fit. I think I could get that done for under $400 and have the bonus of having it portable. I don't think you could just have it swinging in the breeze and would have to mount it with a couple of large cable ties to the trailer drawbar.

https://www.amazon.com/CURT-51180-Controller-Bluetooth-Enabled-Proportional/dp/B07JQ99SDD

[jayray377]

The ones we use (probably the same as Kennards) aren’t actually Bluetooth, but a specific frequency designated to that controller and brake setup - they are a pair - the controller and receiver on the trailer - everyone at work calls them Bluetooth as well but they aren’t. Ours our fully approved and legal to use, can’t comment about others and we were told by VicRoads that some controllers aren’t legal - a lot of actual Bluetooth stuff - phone based apps mostly.

Vicroads are VERY conservative so if they’re happy with them, then I don’t see any issue. I should think they’ve been tested very carefully.

Are you able to say the make/model you use?

[Homestar]

Are you able to say the make/model you use?

If I could remember yeah, no dramas... [bigwhistle]

Will check next week, I won't see one until then sorry.

[travelrover]

Just out of curiosity, what brand are these controllers?

Hi jayray337

Hopefully this answers your question.


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191020/585499d785d8652f8fcc31d370a4c816.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191020/6b775458295fb5efc08c41d3255cd4c0.jpg

The internal unit plugs into the cigarette lighter plug. Seemed to work ok on the 20km trip home. Let’s see on the 1200km trip tomorrow.

Cheers - Simon

[jayray377]

Hi jayray337

Hopefully this answers your question.


https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191020/585499d785d8652f8fcc31d370a4c816.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20191020/6b775458295fb5efc08c41d3255cd4c0.jpg

The internal unit plugs into the cigarette lighter plug. Seemed to work ok on the 20km trip home. Let’s see on the 1200km trip tomorrow.

Cheers - Simon

Excellent, thanks.

[travelrover]

Excellent, thanks.

Just a couple of observations having spent 18 hours with the thing yesterday. For some reason it requires your headlights to be on to work, no issue for me as I always drive with them on.

So after an hour or so on the road it starts beeping an alert saying turn on headlights... this is 5am and still dark so lights obviously on. I pull over on the Putty Rd and check all the electrical fittings. All ok so we proceed but the alerting continues for another 30 mins or so and then just stops. It recommences an hour further on but again self clears. Once we had stopped and refueled it never returned. I guess with vehicle power off it may have reset something (it does have internal batteries).

The other point to note is the screen is very bright and has no means of adjusting and this becomes distracting after a few hours.

Other than that, and the fact we were not provided any instructions on how to use the thing it appears to work without incident as we made it home alive.

Cheers - Simon

[V8Ian]

I'd imagine the headlights on is to avoid the false triggers that concerned me. Imagine hitting a patch of fog and turning on the rear fog lights of a D2, the show would promptly grind to a halt.
How does the breakaway work?

[travelrover]

I'd imagine the headlights on is to avoid the false triggers that concerned me. Imagine hitting a patch of fog and turning on the rear fog lights of a D2, the show would promptly grind to a halt.
How does the breakaway work?

Hi V8lan

As I mentioned we were provided no instructions, the device does display on its power up cycle that the instructions are on the back of the unit (which I had installed in my phone holder). There was nothing useful there when I looked.

However there is a high tensile cable that you connect to the vehicle around the safety chain anchor point or the shackle and the other end plugs into the trailer mounted unit. If this becomes disconnected the brakes come on. There is also a large “emergency brake” soft button on the in vehicle controller.

[FisherX]

I'd be thinking the "turn Headlights on" message would be that the unit uses the light's power to power the unit and charge it's internal battery.

That makes sense as not all cars have the the aux power connected to their trailer wiring and the lights would be only continuous power available for the unit on the trailer.

And as far as "seeing" the brake lights? This would be done by sensing the voltage at the trailer socket of the brake lights and not an optical sensor that detects the light emitted by the brake lights themselves.

[travelrover]

I'd be thinking the "turn Headlights on" message would be that the unit uses the light's power to power the unit and charge it's internal battery.

That makes sense as not all cars have the the aux power connected to their trailer wiring and the lights would be only continuous power available for the unit on the trailer.

And as far as "seeing" the brake lights? This would be done by sensing the voltage at the trailer socket of the brake lights and not an optical sensor that detects the light emitted by the brake lights themselves.

Thanks FisherX

Yes I think the first person I spoke with @ Kennards was a little confused about exactly how the thing worked and was trying to put the ‘technology’ in as simple terms as he could.

Anyway as I said above we got home alive and so did our load!