Which Electric Brake Controller?

[grumpybastard]

Im in the market for an Electric Brake Controller the Tekonsha Prodigy (http://www.tekonsha.com/prodig.html) looks good and they are going on Ebay (http://search.ebay.com.au/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com.au%2Fw s%2F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=Tekonsha+Prodigy&category0=) for the $160-$170 mark.

Any opinions, suggestions?

[JES]

Hi Grumpybastard,

I tow a Kimberley behind my D2, and use the Prodigy. In my view it has to be the bees knees of brake controlers. Very easy to set, very easy to adjust if you're going off road and need a little more or less braking. I've had my unit for 12 months now and cannot fault it. Bought mine off ebay for around the same price, that's much cheaper than Repco.
John

[feral]

Prodigy........:D:D:D:D:D:D

[grumpybastard]

Prodigy looks like a go'er then

[dobbo]

I regularly tow my missus' off road vehicle (horse and float) around, mine cost $140 including fitting from the local auto electrician, they all do the same job so get the cheapest one possible

[grumpybastard]

I was reading this link (http://www.hardingscaravans.com.au/technicalinfo7.htm) it gives a comparison of brake controllers.

It looks like the main advantage of the Prodigy is its pendulum based but does not need leveling.

(i threatened my missus that we would need to start towing a horse and horse float around, so when LR broke down we would be able to get to our destination) :)

[JES]

There is a difference between brake controllers in my experience, and as you say the Prodigy can be mounted on many angles and have the pendulem controler remain effective, but it does fit on the D2 dash between the A pillar and the instrument panel.
Very easy to wire up, only 4 wires.
power, earth, brake pedal (switch wire) and the blue one to the trailer conection.
You will need a auto resetting 20 amp fuse. This is not included in the unit, but easy to get.

[feral]

My auto electrician has placed my Prodigy hanging off the coin tray. I wanted to insert it into the hole itself but it was just to difficult in the end. The wire core is quite thick so it would have been a struggle.

Another issue which he suggested was the Prodigy had to be in easy reach of the lever underneath the unit. This is the manual lever to apply the brakes..just for those days when everything is going wrong :(:(:(

So it is positioned just in front of my kneecap when comfortable.....

[sschmez]

G'Day Grumpybastard

I was asking the same question a week or two ago (Off forum) for my new camper trailer. Everyone I spoke to said the prodigy was the "Bees Knees" if you could afford it???

........... someone paid near $500 fitted:wasntme: .
............ best price I found from various internet suppliers was around $275.00.
................I bought one off ebay...... $179.50

Haven't fitted it yet, but it looks easy to do. I'm awaiting delivery of some anderson plugs and the auto reset circuit breaker. I'll run the brake wire and some power wires to the back at the same time, need to charge the onboard battery too.

Why did I get a prodigy ???

I'd rather spend a bit more when it comes to safety (but not too much:) )
very adjustable and easy to adjust (boost settings)
automatically varies braking power (pendulum not timer/time delay)
easy to mount with mounting slope not critical (0 to 70 degrees)

[dobbo]

Just make sure the trailor, float or whatever is compatible with the EBC (electronic brake controller). Don't laugh I know of a few that have had to rewire floats, boat trailors and caravans because there new you beaut EBC constantly blows brake, indicator and tail lamps and locks brakes at the most inoppotune moments.

This is another reason I went for a basic model, less stuff to worry about, after 3 yrs and two vehicles, no problems whatsoever

[grumpybastard]

Thanks for the input everyone,

I think i will go for the Prodigy, they are cheap enough off Ebay.


but it does fit on the D2 dash between the A pillar and the instrument panel.

Up on top of the dash? How does that look? Any Pics?


placed my Prodigy hanging off the coin tray.

I cant visualise this? Any Pics?

I would like to hide it away as much as possible any other suggestions for mounting? One thought i had was below the cup holder in the console?

[JES]

Here's a photo of it on my dash. First image post, so I hope it works !:D

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2006/11/165.jpg

Cheers,
John

[JES]

Yes it worked !!
The bracket supporting the unit is only held on by double sided tape. It's sat there with no problem, through trips like CSR, Simpson, Vic Highlands etc.
The wiring slips down between the A pillar and the dash. Neat all out of the way and it allows easy access to the unit (for those emergeny braking times :D )

Cheers,
John

[grumpybastard]

Awesome!

Thanks for going to the trouble of posting the Picture

[feral]

As requested....:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2006/11/163.jpg

[grumpybastard]

Do you ever have problems banging your knee on it?

Also does anyone have any ideas where to purchase a auto-resetting 20/30amp fuse from?

[feral]

No &......yes:confused:

Only when getting into the seat will I give it a slight tap, but once settled it would be a fair distance away.

With the controller I had mine installed by Boronia Automotive Electrics Service?? up near Mountain Hwy. They are the prefered Auto Elecs for Jayco Caravans, Canterbury Rd, Baywater. When we purchased our Hawk part of the deal was to have the controller installed. I do not have a price for the installation but they did everything right with fuse, circuit breakers...the whole lot. Perfect job and saved me alot of headaches :(:(

Cheers,
Lyndon.

[grumpybastard]

With the controller I had mine installed by Boronia Automotive Electrics Service?? up near Mountain Hwy.

Lol ... small world

This is exactly who i was intending to install it, they are 10 mins walk from my place and i have only ever once needed an auto elect and thats who i had do that work.

Think its a father son operation? I had a prob with the Stato' blowing a whole bunch of fuses all at once, turned out to be the wiring loom in the rear door, took them a couple of hours to find it, they bought a replacement loom from the wreckers (even going to pick it up) and all up it cost me bugger all when i was expecting $$$$

[MarknDeb]

We have the Voyager in our Disco and pull a Kedron van, we are looking at changing over to the Prodigy as the Voyager has the habbit of turning on the brake lights when the car is parked in the garage and no one is in it. Ours is located similar to Ferals and if we knock it it throughs the balance out and we have to adjust the setting to counteract the knock. I have seen another located like Jes's and i will be relocating our when we upgrade to the Prodigy.

[grumpybastard]

Well the brake controller arrived on Friday night ....so i wandered out to the LR with it in hand to find somewhere to mount it.

Hmmmm...

There really is no where to put it apart from those 2 locations is there? The only other spot i found is above the low range selector?

Im wondering how often you really need to adjust it? because im thinking of mounting it low down under the dash?

Thoughts?

[MarknDeb]

Grumpybastard when you mout it, by law it has to be visable at all times from the drivers position, i strongly recomend the location that Jes has used as i will be also relocating mine there.

Mark & Deb
;)

[mr_sav]

Gidday Grumps.

I am using the RedArc. It is not a Pendulum system, rather solid state. You can adjust the pressure of brake control manually, but feeds of the main braking pressure. You can also apply the trailer brake manually without applying vehicle brakes.

Love it.

Good price, as I am just down the road from RedArc, and have other key equipment from them, ie: 10amp cont floating charger, Dual Battery Charging etc, and support & Quality all good. Brake Controller Bottom Right with Red Button and Black Dial Control

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/c:\redarc.jpg

[gromit]

MarknDeb,

There was a problem with some Voyager brake units, I had the same problem with the brake lights coming on with nobody in the car !
Brake lights also came on whilst on the move, kept cancelling the cruise control.

If you still have the receipt you may be able to get it replaced. My was done by the dealer. I was in the Jayco shop in Dandenong a few weeks ago and a guy was trying to get his replaced with the same fault.

Have just fitted the Hayes Lemmerz Energise III to the Defender but haven't towed with it yet. Reason for this choice was trade price of $65 plus GST.

Gromit

[MarknDeb]

Thanks Gromit but ours is 3 years old now and it very rearly turns the brake lights on, iam thinking of looking at this Redarc brake controller as a couple of people seem to think they are the better option