Video Transcript for What to Know About the Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator-DM8101022

Hello, everybody, this is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today we're gonna take a look at this Demo eight-inch adjustable center channel hydraulic drum brake actuator. It has a 12,500-pound gross towing weight capacity and has the primed finish to it. Now, this hydraulic actuator will activate your trailer brakes when your tow vehicle slows or stops. Basically, what happens is, when you apply the brakes in your tow vehicle, deceleration will occur, and the momentum will push your trailer toward the rear of your vehicle, and with a surge brake system, that actuator is triggered as your trailer moves forward once the tow vehicle starts to slow down, and when this happens, this inner slide portion of the actuator will contract and applies force to the master cylinder in the back here, and this in turn supplies the necessary hydraulic pressure to engage your trailer's brakes and stop the trailer. Now, this actuator here uses an acetyl copolymer lining, and that's between the inner slide tube and the outer case, so it provides a nice, smooth operation as the actuator telescopes in and out.

On this one you can see it has an adjustable center channel; it has three different mounting positions for your coupler. Now, the coupler is not included. The couplers we do sell separately on our website. The channel height on this one is gonna be right at eight inches. The width, which will be measured inside to inside, is three inches.

And this is a heavy duty steel construction, has a nice primed finish to it. Also, in the very back, we mentioned the master cylinder, they use a composite master cylinder, which is very durable and efficient; it's a glass-reinforced nylon construction, so it'll resist rust and corrosion, and it provides a large reservoir to provide increased capacity for the brake fluid. The very top here where you put your brake fluid in, you can see it uses an automotive style diaphragm cap; creates a completely enclosed system to help prevent contamination of the brake fluid. Now, the breakaway cable right up here you can see is included, and the hook, and this is required by law, and the reason is is, this will prevent a trailer runaway situation, and the way it does that is, you take your hook, has a keeper on it, this will attach to your tow vehicle, and with it attached to the tow vehicle, in the instance of if this comes disconnected from your tow vehicle, it will pull this cable, which would activate this lever, and that lever will supply the necessary hydraulic pressure back here in the master cylinder to engage your trailer's brakes and then stop the trailer in a runaway situation. So, again, it is included, and it is required by law.

Now, this is a bolt-on or weld-on installation, it does mount to a straight three-inch wide trailer tongue, and this part is made in the USA. A few specs on this. This is for trailers with hydraulic drum brakes. Gross towing weight capacity is 12,500 pounds, maximum tongue weight of 1,250 pounds. This does go by the model number of DA10.

And one last note I do wanna mention is, because this actuator does not include a reverse lockout, it is recommended that you equip your trailer with either a reverse lockout solenoid that would install right here, or to use free backing brakes on your trailer so that you can drive in reverse without the actuator triggering your trailer's brakes. But that should do it for the review on this Demco eight-inch adjustable center channel hydraulic drum brake actuator with the 12,500-pound gross towing weight capacity.