Electric Brake Controller

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Originally Posted by DS Camping

Have you had the controller installed as yet? Was it as simple as just connecting to the plug you found in the drivers footwell? Thanks

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I decided to have a go myself, so ordered a Redarc Tow-Pro Elite and a wiring loom with the correct connector off Ebay. The controller has arrived already as it came express post from over East, but the wiring loom is still on its way from the US as it turns out LR have used a Ford connector and I couldn't find anything that matched it locally. Will report back on success or otherwise when I've installed it.

Meanwhile got my multimeter out and checked the pins in the connector, and they all work as expected from the wiring diagram, so fingers crossed :thumbsup:

Still trying to decide where to mount the control knob. Willem's looks a neat solution, but that cubby is where I always put my man-purse :lol2: containing wallet, phone, glasses etc. and it's a tight fit already. One of the auto-sparkeys I talked to last week suggested mounting it on the side of the steering column, and showed me a Disco 4 he'd just fitted one in that position. It's certainly out of the way, but a bit too much as you can't see it if you want to adjust the sensitivity. So, any suggestions of a good place to mount it welcome....

Are there any updates on this?
I'm looking to purchase a Disco Sport soon and this is a definite must for me.

I have just had a red arc towpro elite fitted to my 2017 Discovery sport.
I had it installed by a mobile auto electrician and the car was pre wired for the trailer brakes.

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Originally Posted by markb

I have just had a red arc towpro elite fitted to my 2017 Discovery sport.
I had it installed by a mobile auto electrician and the car was pre wired for the trailer brakes.

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Any chance of some photo of where you mounted the controls please? I'm looking for ideas...

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Originally Posted by BJM

Are there any updates on this?
I'm looking to purchase a Disco Sport soon and this is a definite must for me.

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Yes, it really is plug and play. You just need to locate the grey socket in the driver's footwell and connect your brake controller to it. Most people (including the auto sparkeys I talked to) would just cut off that socket and splice the wires from the brake controller straight in, but I made up my own little wiring loom as pictured below. The lower plug goes into the Recarc controller and the upper one into the DS socket.

Attachment 124148

Still haven't decided where to put the control knob, so at the moment I only plug it in when I need it and it just hangs loose on the centre console, so I too would be interested in pics of where others have fitted theirs...

Thanks for the info. I now have my DS delivered and the controller was fitted by an autosparky who cut off the plug. He said he was going to look into ordering some plugs to make up a loom like yours for future customers.

They mounted the dial down in front of the gear selector as there is VERY little other place to mount it without massive amounts of work.

Attachment 124178

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Originally Posted by BJM

Thanks for the info. I now have my DS delivered and the controller was fitted by an autosparky who cut off the plug. He said he was going to look into ordering some plugs to make up a loom like yours for future customers.

They mounted the dial down in front of the gear selector as there is VERY little other place to mount it without massive amounts of work.

Attachment 124178

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Ok, so looks like yours was fitted in the same place as Willem earlier in the thread. And I agree there is little other choice, there really isn't any spare space anywhere around the driving position to add anything! I'm considering putting mine up high where the start button is, but on the other side of the instrument cluster. Haven't checked how easy it is to get access behind there yet though!

The socket LR are using is a Ford one, and I couldn't find a plug to match it locally (although an auto sparkey may have a better chance of sourcing one as they are in the trade) so I ended up ordering one off Ebay from the US and the postage was more than the plug itself cost!


Attachment 124222

A question for those who got an auto sparkey to connect their controllers to that socket...

Did your sparkey stay with the 30amp fuse that feeds that socket or did he replace it with a circuit breaker?

The fuse is adequate, but if it blows because of a transient over-current situation (say your brakes overheat on a long descent) you are left with no trailer brakes. The advantage of a circuit breaker in that situation is that it will re-set automatically so you get your brakes working again after a cool-down period. I'm probably going to stay with the LR fuse as fitted but carry a spare, but interested to hear what others have gone for?

We looked at putting the button up there too but there was a problem. I think it was either the material the dash is made of up there or the dash is double walled. Either way there was a problem that they weren't willing to tackle.

As far as the plug goes, they are probably the biggest auto electrical place in town and they didn't have a plug that would suit and the dealer hadn't given them the access or time to arrange a plug ahead of time.

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Originally Posted by BJM

We looked at putting the button up there too but there was a problem. I think it was either the material the dash is made of up there or the dash is double walled. Either way there was a problem that they weren't willing to tackle.

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Thanks, that's good info. I'll have to do a bit more investigation into that spot to see if it's viable.