Electric Brake Controller Woes

[dbrannon79]

Hey Guys, not sure if this would be the right place to post, but I need some help with getting my brake controller to work properly.

I have a Tekonsha Voyager controller that was in the my truck when I bought it, it's as old as the truck is (date sticker has 1994) when I bought the truck the controller was just tucked up under the dash and through the process of repairing all the wiring the PO had done, I ended up just cutting it out completely. Now that I need it working, I have been wiring it back in properly. I have all the wires connected but at the moment don't have a trailer in my possession to test it fully. I have been using a test light and small cab fan to use just to apply some resistance on the wires activating the controller.

using the test light probing the brake pin both at the trailer connector and directly at the controller, the green light comes on but for what ever reason it's very finicky to get it to turn orange or red. after some fighting with it, I finally have it somewhat working with the brake pedal and am able to adjust the level and power dials, but the manual slide does absolutely nothing at all. it's currently mounted at about a 60 deg angle up just under the shift lever on the dash.

what gets me is if I change the angle to allow it to almost lay flat, it won't work at all. moving it up to as close to a 80-90 deg up-down level and not messing with the level adjustment it will work with the pedal with full power. according to the instructions, it should be the exact opposite and work fine sitting flat, on top of the manual lever should be doing something!

does anyone have some experience with these units? what I'm thinking is this unit is toast and I might need a new controller.

 

[ak diesel driver]

IIRC those use a pendulum to tell when the brakes are applied. Maybe it's stuck in the wrong position? Maybe try and tap it to free it up.

 

[JayTheCPA]

FWIW, if any of the potential trailers have EoH, chances are good that the vintage controller is not going to work with them. There is a mitigation of adding a magnet to the trailer's wiring which will fool the brake controller into working with the hydraulic system.

 

[MrMarty51]

Be very sure that the wire to the ground pin is securely grounded.
See if You can find a grounding bolt close to the back end of the truck, remove that bolt and any ground wires, sand or grind around that bolt hole to shiny bare steel. Make that connector ground wire reach that bolt and fasten it down. A little corrosion preventive wont hurt too.
Then check the operation of the brake controller.

 

[dbrannon79]

I will try messing with it again tomorrow with a trailer and see what happens.

if I'm not mistaken, this controller is an inertia type controller meaning when it detects a slow down with the brake pedal pressed it will activate. I was looking on the marketplace for another used one just in case I need to replace it and found one that is a time delay type where it doesn't need to have a level setting.

what type is best or which is better than the other?

 

[jrsavoie]

I had one for years that was mounted on the shifter on the 1989.
I didn't even know that some were supposed to be mounted level. Just got lucky.

I never knew about some needing to be level until much later.

I just kept buying the same controller whenever I needed one. So it was never an issue.

I can't remember what it was now. A Technonomics or something rings a bell

 

[dbrannon79]

Well I went out and connected to a trailer with brakes, I confirmed that it only works when it's angled up 45+ and the level adjustment maxed out. if I pull it off the dash bracket and hold it flat and try adjusting it, it won't activate the brakes.

Pulled it apart to see if there was anything in there out of whack. it all looked normal. also looked at the slider for the manual activation. it's just a sliding resistor but I think that part is toast. as long as it will work with the pedal and allow me the use trailer brakes when I head out next Saturday to tow the truck I bought home, I will be happy!

 

[JayTheCPA]

My vote is to stop dorking around with the old controller and get new. Especially if the board has any capacitors as they self destruct over time.

Tekenosa is my go-to for brake controllers. The P2 will probably work just fine, but it currently uses blue LED which I find distracting at night. I now pay the extra for a P3 as it allows changing the display color and it is easier to switch from electric to EoH brakes.