Thread: Discovery 4 "smart" charging system.

Hi Folks,

Tombie
My brake controller is a Tekonsha Prodigy P2. Its been with me since 2001 being installed in my D1 then D2. Its not impossible it has degraded but I haven't noticed any deficiency in its performance so far. I have tried a friends later model with no change in the D4's behaviour. At this stage I am not suspecting it.

Good point regarding the relay supplied power. As I have an AUX battery immediately in front of the start battery it might be a better solution to power the brake controller from it.
Also a good point regarding the Redarc Tow Pro. I have friends running that unit with only good reports. It remains an option.

Thanks for the links too. Seems I am only one in a series of owners chasing this type of problem.

I have found previously that when parked up while away and having the van connected to the car that the van brakes faintly 'click' every couple of minutes. Pinned that down to the brake controller testing to see if van was connected. I now disconnect van if parking up for more than 1 day.
I have the option of connecting the van to the car via Anderson plugs either to the cars rear (feeding the AUX battery) or the cars front (feeding the start battery, and when its charged it feeds the AUX battery via the Aux battery controller). This utilizes the vans solar power to charge.

All

I did go on that 100km round trip. System voltage just prior to shutdown was 14.4v as measured on cig lighter style plugin display unit.
I then double locked the car.
The next 2 days measurement of the start battery, as measured with multimeter on the Anderson plug I have from the start battery in the bull bar, were:

Day 1 - 12.8v
Day 2 - 12.7v

I will continue to take readings each day and post up the results. This may be of use to others.

Thanks again everyone for your contributions.

Regards
GIL

Chuck the Tekonsha Prodigy away...that was my last one..it was impossible to get it to work consistently no matter what setting or location it was set to..😞

My Disco 3 had a Prodigy. I didn't like the location, but the operation was good. My new Disco 4 came with a Redarc series 2, non proportional. It was crap. I've now bought a Haymen Reese IQ. Proportional and has a great boost feature. Also, it's half the price of a Redarc series 3.
I try and stay away from Redarc as I believe although their stuff works fine, its way overpriced!

The challenge of manufacturing solely in Australia vs importing Chinese production.

Originally Posted by Tombie

The challenge of manufacturing solely in Australia vs importing Chinese production.

Sorry but I do not agree.

I lost a huge amount of potential sales because a certain company’s reps were telling caravan manufacturers that WIRELESS breakaway battery monitors were illegal.

They sold a hard wired breakaway battery monitor at the time.

Wireless versions were NOT illegal but the wholesaler I was supplying, had to go to the relevant state minister in NSW and get a document which was used to inform potential buyers that the device was legal.

Then that same company bought out a business that made a wireless VOLTAGE monitor, that did NOT comply with the regulations, but they still sold it without explaining that it did not meet the legal requirements.

This is definitely one situation where I would rather sell Chinese made.

Hi Folks,

I have had no problem with the Tekonsha Prodigy P2 in any of the 3 cars it has now been installed in, and towing 2 different caravans.
The D4 however is the only one where I have noticed this battery behaviour.
So I guess the towed vehicle will dictate the performance of any brake controller and influence the owners view of it.

I have measured the D4's start battery voltage for the last 2 days :

Day 3: 12.65v
Day 4: 12.60v

I am trying to take the reading around the same time of day (morning) so that each reading is approx. 24 hours apart. Hopefully this regime gives a way for others to compare results.

Regards
GIL

Sayings come to mind.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results

Shrug.

Originally Posted by drivesafe

Sorry but I do not agree.

I lost a huge amount of potential sales because a certain company’s reps were telling caravan manufacturers that WIRELESS breakaway battery monitors were illegal.

They sold a hard wired breakaway battery monitor at the time.

Wireless versions were NOT illegal but the wholesaler I was supplying, had to go to the relevant state minister in NSW and get a document which was used to inform potential buyers that the device was legal.

Then that same company bought out a business that made a wireless VOLTAGE monitor, that did NOT comply with the regulations, but they still sold it without explaining that it did not meet the legal requirements.

This is definitely one situation where I would rather sell Chinese made.

That aside, as an example Drivesafe.
You spend a lot of time constructing and developing your product and assembling using AU sourced components etc.

This sets a price point you cannot avoid.

If you (example only) were to head O/S for production, and had your units made OS, the looms made OS, packaged etc they could theoretically be significantly cheaper. And would leave you solely doing R&D and distribution.

Theoretically this means either larger margins if sold for same pricing, or ability to price lower.

All of this comes at other “costs” obviously.

And that in its simplest form is why AU manufacturing faces massive challenges.

This is a simplistic example only - only highlighting the business cases and challenges to OS vs Local