Moderators not sure if this should be here or in Tech section, feel free to move if needed.
Okay I bought my P3 last year at the end of the season and used it once. I could hardly feel the trailer pulling when I hit the manual slide all the way over. I figured my brakes just needed to be adjusted. So before my trip last week I adjusted the brakes and tightened them up. I was sure this would cure the problem. While pulling out last Sunday I hit the manual and was shocked, no difference, I felt a slight drag, but certainly not even close to a lock up. I was at 6.0 power on boost level 2. Even turned up to lever 8.6 and boost three would noty lock the brakes up. My brakes are adjusted very tight and should lock up easily. I thought maube it was because my 1 ton dually is so heavy it can't lock them up. But during the week I talked to another guy in the cg and he had a similar truck and said his would lock them up and really yank the truck back. So where do I start looking? I went to the troubleshooting section and Battery voltage is 13.64 at idle, stoplight was 12.94 at idle, Output voltage with brake pedal depressed was only 1.6 volts and the output current was only 1 amp. This seems very low but my manual that came with the P3 controller doesn't say what these parameters should be. If you can tell me where to look now I would appreciate it. I have the Tekonsha Sentinel before this and it worked great. I wonder if I should have just stayed with it. Thanks for the help.
NCH
2000 Ford F350 4X4 PSD,CC, DRW
4:10's, BTM Muffler, Isspro Gauges,
Coolant Filter,CCV Mod
FTVB , Ford AIS
6.0 Cooler,SCT2 W/DP's 40 tow & 80 econo,Zoodad mod
2005 Keystone Hornet 30BHSS
Reese Dual Cam
Family of 4 saved by Grace!!! MY TRUCK OUR TRAILER
At a stop pressing on the pedal if I remember correctly gives me about 1.? volts and I don't remember how many amps. Somewhere around here I have notes I took after initial set up but can't find them right now. But I can sure enough jerk the truck back pretty good almost lock up the brakes the way it is set up and I can increase it to lock up. Check all your connections especially ground connections. We are going camping this weekend and if I can remember I will take note of the readings on my P3.
Papa Bob
1* DW "Granny"
1* 2008 Brookside Sunnybrook 32'
1* 2002 F250 Super Duty 7.3L PSD
Husky 16K hitch, Tekonsha P3,
Firestone Ride Rite Air Springs, Trailair Equa-Flex, Champion C46540
"A bad day camping is better than a good day at work!"
I can't help with the P3, but have just re-wired my Prodigy into another vehicle and wanted to check output - with the vehicle stationary it hardly put any power to the Trailer brakes, I assume this is because it isn't sensing any stopping force on the vehicle.
In the manual, it said my controller will put 25% power to the Trailer brakes if the brake pedal is held on for 5 seconds or more (to hold in traffic)so I tested power output, and the output went up from 1 to 3.2.
Well something is wrong because I can hardly feel the TT pulling with the level up to 8.6 and boost level three. I have contacted Tekonsha, I will let you know what they say.
My 3 year old Prodigy is the same way. I have mine at full power 13V, and set the boost to 2. my TT brakes don`t/ever lock up with the manual slider and it feels as if the brakes are barley working. if I remember correctly it was the same with my previous Cherokee and Dodge van. I may try my old pendulum style brake controller. it used to work great on the old Cherokee. the only problem was coming to a stop at a bumpy intersection, it would jerk real bad, but atleast it stopped!
Wife kim
Son brandon 7yrs
Daughter marissa 6yrs
Dog shadow
07 Cherokee 32B
02 Excursion 4X4 V-10 4.30 gear
Reese HP dualcam,Prodigy brake controller,
Air lift air bags.
Better to have a bad day of
camping than a good day at work!
dodge guy wrote: My 3 year old Prodigy is the same way. I have mine at full power 13V, and set the boost to 2. my TT brakes don`t/ever lock up with the manual slider and it feels as if the brakes are barley working. if I remember correctly it was the same with my previous Cherokee and Dodge van. I may try my old pendulum style brake controller. it used to work great on the old Cherokee. the only problem was coming to a stop at a bumpy intersection, it would jerk real bad, but atleast it stopped!
It is not your brake controller. If you are appling 13 volts and the brakes will not lock the problem is in the trailer. I do not know of a controller that can apply more voltage than the voltage of the truck battery. The big problem with this thread is most do not understand how a controller such as the Prodigy works. Read the manual carefully. It explains in great detail how these controllers work and how to set one up correctly.
dodge guy wrote: My 3 year old Prodigy is the same way. I have mine at full power 13V, and set the boost to 2. my TT brakes don`t/ever lock up with the manual slider and it feels as if the brakes are barley working. if I remember correctly it was the same with my previous Cherokee and Dodge van. I may try my old pendulum style brake controller. it used to work great on the old Cherokee. the only problem was coming to a stop at a bumpy intersection, it would jerk real bad, but atleast it stopped!
It is not your brake controller. If you are appling 13 volts and the brakes will not lock the problem is in the trailer. I do not know of a controller that can apply more voltage than the voltage of the truck battery. The big problem with this thread is most do not understand how a controller such as the Prodigy works. Read the manual carefully. It explains in great detail how these controllers work and how to set one up correctly.
Perhaps you didn`t know that the typical auto elecrical system operates at 13.5 volts with the engine running. and no it`s not in this trailer or my previous trailer. when you pull the breakaway switch (with the 7-way disconnected) the brakes are locked up and will not move! I noticed this when I went from the pendulum controller to the Prodigy the very first time I used it! and I`m not the first one to notice it, there are many more here that have complained of the same thing.
dodge guy wrote: My 3 year old Prodigy is the same way. I have mine at full power 13V, and set the boost to 2. my TT brakes don`t/ever lock up with the manual slider and it feels as if the brakes are barley working. if I remember correctly it was the same with my previous Cherokee and Dodge van. I may try my old pendulum style brake controller. it used to work great on the old Cherokee. the only problem was coming to a stop at a bumpy intersection, it would jerk real bad, but atleast it stopped!
It is not your brake controller. If you are appling 13 volts and the brakes will not lock the problem is in the trailer. I do not know of a controller that can apply more voltage than the voltage of the truck battery. The big problem with this thread is most do not understand how a controller such as the Prodigy works. Read the manual carefully. It explains in great detail how these controllers work and how to set one up correctly.
Perhaps you didn`t know that the typical auto elecrical system operates at 13.5 volts with the engine running. and no it`s not in this trailer or my previous trailer. when you pull the breakaway switch (with the 7-way disconnected) the brakes are locked up and will not move! I noticed this when I went from the pendulum controller to the Prodigy the very first time I used it! and I`m not the first one to notice it, there are many more here that have complained of the same thing.
I Only repeated the voltage you said you had your controller set at. My Dmax runs at 14.1 volts with the engine running. My Prodigy will apply the voltage I have it set at when I move the manual control to full travel. If your break away will set the brakes then the Prodigy set at 13 volts should also set the brakes. The house battery on the trailer wil probably not provide more than 12 volts when the brakes are set from the break away switch. Check your voltage at the trailer brakes when the Prodigy manual control is full travel. If the voltage is 1 or more volts less than the Prodigy indicates you have a wiring problem in the truck, trailer or the 7-way. Grounds are the most common problem.
The only time a Prodigy would ever output the voltage that was set would be in a very hard braking event where you are standing on the brakes and the truck antilock braking system is in action. When a Prodigy is set up correct you should not feel any braking from the trailer. When I stop my trailer it does not take any more effort on part of the truck than when the truck does not have a trailer connected.
NCHornet1 wrote: Moderators not sure if this should be here or in Tech section, feel free to move if needed.
Okay I bought my P3 last year at the end of the season and used it once. I could hardly feel the trailer pulling when I hit the manual slide all the way over. I figured my brakes just needed to be adjusted. So before my trip last week I adjusted the brakes and tightened them up. I was sure this would cure the problem. While pulling out last Sunday I hit the manual and was shocked, no difference, I felt a slight drag, but certainly not even close to a lock up. I was at 6.0 power on boost level 2. Even turned up to lever 8.6 and boost three would noty lock the brakes up. My brakes are adjusted very tight and should lock up easily. I thought maube it was because my 1 ton dually is so heavy it can't lock them up. But during the week I talked to another guy in the cg and he had a similar truck and said his would lock them up and really yank the truck back. So where do I start looking? I went to the troubleshooting section and Battery voltage is 13.64 at idle, stoplight was 12.94 at idle, Output voltage with brake pedal depressed was only 1.6 volts and the output current was only 1 amp. This seems very low but my manual that came with the P3 controller doesn't say what these parameters should be. If you can tell me where to look now I would appreciate it. I have the Tekonsha Sentinel before this and it worked great. I wonder if I should have just stayed with it. Thanks for the help.
NCH
dodge guy wrote: My 3 year old Prodigy is the same way. I have mine at full power 13V, and set the boost to 2. my TT brakes don`t/ever lock up with the manual slider and it feels as if the brakes are barley working. if I remember correctly it was the same with my previous Cherokee and Dodge van. I may try my old pendulum style brake controller. it used to work great on the old Cherokee. the only problem was coming to a stop at a bumpy intersection, it would jerk real bad, but atleast it stopped!
Seems to me the only logical course of action for both of you is to check and see if the power the Prodigy/P3 thinks is being sent to the brakes is actually making it to the brakes.
dodge guy, this isnt really any of my business but.......isnt it a little irresponsible to be pulling with a rig that "feels as if the brakes are barley working" for 3 YEARS? Seems like a pretty big risk to me.
I have the P3 mounted in a Dodge Cummins pulling a 9800# Jayco TT.
The following readings are with the engine off, the cord attached to the trailer and the maximum gain set to 12.
Both battery and stop light voltages are in the 12 volt range similar to your readings. With the lever manually pulled the output voltage reads about 11.6 to 11.8 and the amp current reads in the 10.7 to 10.9 range.
BTW, I can only lock the trailer wheels if I apply the lever at say 3 to 5 MPH on dirt, never on pavement. This is the same way my previous Prodigy worked with this truck/trailer.
Next time you get around someone with a P3 you might want to swap controllers with each other and see what the effect is on both rigs.
If you find out there is a problem with the P3 then let us know.
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