Can a Trailer Brake Controller be Turned Off

Updated 05/29/2018 | Published 05/25/2018

Question:

is there a way to turn off your brake controller when the vehicle is off

asked by: Jason C

Expert Reply:

Modern brake controllers such as the P2 # 90885 will go into a power saving mode after about 15 minutes of inactivity. In this mode the controller will only draw a few milliamps of power. At that rate it would take months of the vehicle just sitting for a brake controller to drain the vehicle battery. If it does not go into power saving mode that means that something is drawing power on the brake circuit. The most likely culprit is corrosion in or on the vehicle side trailer connector. If a trailer is connected then it could be the vehicle or trailer side connector or the wiring to the brake magnets if not the magnets themselves.

You could unplug the brake controller (if it is the type that has a plug and not just wires) but then you would have to go through the set up process once you plugged it back in.

expert reply by: Michael H