I HATE MY ELECTRIC TRAILER BRAKES

BamaSixGun

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i cannot stand my electric trailer brakes.
i don't know what the problem is now.
i also hate drivin in the rain with no trailer brakes and loaded to boot.
sometimes they come on and sometimes they don't
when you need 'em, you don't have any
when you don't need 'em, they work fine.
my connections at the backplate are all good, both male & female connections are tight at the hookup in my truck bed.
the only thing i can think of, is that the cheap piece of crap break controller is no good.
you can hear it clicking sometimes when i'm not even pulling the trailer, the slide tester thingamajig doesn't really do anything, i can load my brakes upto the highest gain and hit the brakes and nothing, except a faint touch of pink/green on the light indicator, and then 5 seconds later, hit the brakes again, and walla, they work, and then 5 seconds later, nothing again.


I AM LOST, DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, MUST KILL ELECTRIC BRAKES.-mad -mad -mad -mad -mad -mad -mad -mad

any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 

Roland_Jenkins

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you can test your controller with a multimeter.

FWIW I don't like the way mine work either. When I have the trailer brakes set where they come on where and when I want, the truck brakes feel like they don't work, then all of a sudden, I got to much brakes.

If the zippers would stop cutting in front of me at the red light I wouldn't be so na na na nervous.
 

BamaSixGun

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Roland_Jenkins said:
you can test your controller with a multimeter.

FWIW I don't like the way mine work either. When I have the trailer brakes set where they come on where and when I want, the truck brakes feel like they don't work, then all of a sudden, I got to much brakes.

If the zippers would stop cutting in front of me at the red light I wouldn't be so na na na nervous.

shew, i no whatcha mean roland, the rain makes it even worse.

about this multimeter thing, i am multimeter illiterate (not sure i even spelled that right:confused: )

can you post some instructions on what to do and look for?
 

dpantazis

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bama-

what kind of multimeter do you have? digital or analog (sweepy type gauge). make/model?
either will do, and each have their advantages. i have and use both depending on what i am doing.
honestly, most often, i grab my $8 GB Home despot special. plain jane simple.

maybe best to coach you on specifics off list if folks can tell us what kinds of tests we should do first.

dennis
 
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BamaSixGun

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dpantazis said:
bama-

what kind of multimeter do you have? digital or analog (sweepy type gauge)
make/model?

dennis

to tell ya the truth, i don't have one.

my brain-o-meter tells me to trash it and get another controller,
but that may be the wrong thing to do.:roflmao :roflmao
 

Crumm

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bama-six-gun said:
DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO, MUST KILL ELECTRIC BRAKES.-
any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I have a wells-cargo trailer with electric brakes and a Karavan custom welded boat trailer with hydraulic disk brakes. The hydraulic disks work great and last time I checked the electric brakes on the cargo trailer don't work at all. I have owned three different trailers with electric brakes and have towed many many more. None of the electric brakes I have ever been around have worked well for any amount of time without constant maintenance. If you want dependable long lasting trailer brakes change them out to hydraulic disks.
 

BamaSixGun

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Crumm said:
I have a wells-cargo trailer with electric brakes and a Karavan custom welded boat trailer with hydraulic disk brakes. The hydraulic disks work great and last time I checked the electric brakes on the cargo trailer don't work at all. I have owned three different trailers with electric brakes and have towed many many more. None of the electric brakes I have ever been around have worked well for any amount of time without constant maintenance. If you want dependable long lasting trailer brakes change them out to hydraulic disks.

how costly and how hard is that to do crumm ?
 

JLDickmon

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too much for what it's worth..

you have a bad ground somewhere... might be on the trailer, could be on the truck... you NEED a voltmeter... Fluke 78 is what I have... a little outdated, might be able to find one at a swapmeet or used on a tool truck...
 

BamaSixGun

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JLDickmon said:
too much for what it's worth..

you have a bad ground somewhere... might be on the trailer, could be on the truck... you NEED a voltmeter... Fluke 78 is what I have... a little outdated, might be able to find one at a swapmeet or used on a tool truck...

if i had one, i wouldn't know what to do with it.

:dunno :dunno :dunno :dunno
 

whatabudro

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My $45 controller from TSC works just fine, always has

Try the pawn shops for meters. I only recomend FLUKE, but I trust my life with a meter on a daily basis:rolleyes:
 

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