Brake Controller

[Tom Cobb]

I have a Chevy 3500 dually and tow a Big Country 3250TS.

On a recent trip the brakes were grabbing and it appeared the rear axle brakes were not working. I took it to the dealer and they are checking them. So far it appears one brake is not activating.

I have a Prodigy controller, the model for 8 brakes. The controller was flashing alternately tow dashes then to C (connected). This was with the trailer connected.

Yesterday with no trailer connected it was flashing two dashes. I took it out of the bracket and when I tilted it to one side (either direction) it would stop flashing. I wiggled everything that could be wiggled and had no indication of a loose connection or shorted wire. When I engaged the manual control it would stop flashing and show NC (not connected). At one point only one dot would lite up showing it had power. There are suppose to be two dots.

Any ideas on whether there is a short in the truck or if the controller is bad. The truck was not moving when this was going on so the only thing moving at all was when I moved the controller and the harness.

 

[osims]

Tom
When i installed my Prodigy i faintly remember there was something in the paperwork about the angle of mounting. I think it was 37 degrees but i could be wrong, maybe someone else will remember or still have there instructions.

 

[Terry H]

Tom,

Try unpluging the controller from the harness, leave it out for 15 - 30 Seconds and then plug it back in. See if that helps, it is like rebooting your computer. If not, call the manufacturer, they have great tech support on the phone.

 

[Tom Cobb]

After posting this I went to Prodigy's website and read the troubleshooting charts. I don't think they are in the instructions. I never saw it anyway.

The answer is this...the two flashing lines at the bottom indicate the unit is mount at to low of an angle and the flashing lines at the top indicate it is mounted to high.

The mount angle is 0 deg to 70 deg. What I found was that a screw that holds the mount was apparently not screwed all the way in when I installed it and it allow the hole to wallow out a little and the bracket was loose enough to drop down a little and was so close to 0 deg that when I hit a bump or the vehicle was at an angle it caused the lites to flash. I tightened the screw all the way up and no more flashing lite.

I had no idea that is what the lite meant. The TOWING CARD they have with the unit doesn't mention the flashing dashes except with the trailer connected.

If the unit is mounted to close to 0 or 70 the vehicle angle can change enough to cause this problem. It is weird that I have towed trailers almost 250K miles with this truck and this is first time that has happened. Just enough wear in the hole to let it move and it is to close to 0 deg. I will probably remount the unit a little so that the heavier trailer won't move the truck enough to cause this again.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Terry H]

Tom,

Glad you found and solved the problem. I mounted mine on the lower dash in the clam shell and mounted it with 3M clear double stick tape. It never moved.