Troubleshooting Trailer Brakes Only Activating with Manual Override on Controller

Updated 06/18/2019 | Published 06/15/2019

Products Featured in This Question

etrailer Electric Trailer Brakes - 10" - Left/Right Hand Assemblies - 3,500 lbs

(699)

$118.88

Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional

(6644)

$156.98

Question:

I am trying to get my trailer brakes to work. I can hear a humming sound on the trailer brakes when i press the pedal and when i use the manual slide button to engage the brakes, but the brakes only apply with then manual slide and not the brake pedal . I dont know what to do cause Ive never worked on electric trailer brakes

asked by: Craig

Expert Reply:

If your electric trailer brakes, like part # AKEBRK-35, are activating when you use the manual override then there are 2 things to check right off the bat.

The first is the gain of your brake controller. If your brake controller is set to a very low setting then it will shoot less power to the brakes. The manual override applies full braking power to the brakes which is why it will activate this way.

The second thing to check is what kind of electric brake controller you have. If you have a time-delayed controller then we may need to do some more troubleshooting but if you have a proportional controller like the Prodigy P3 # 90195 then if you are sitting still the brakes won't receive much power (if any) because this type of brake controller has an internal inertia sensor that helps it to determine how much braking power to send back. If your towing rig isn't moving then it senses that and won't send power to the brakes.

Let me know if you are still having issues and I can help you troubleshoot further.

expert reply by: Jon G