Troubleshooting Curt Brake Controller that Rests When Brakes are Released

Published 10/07/2019

Products Featured in This Question

Curt TriFlex NEXT Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional

(946)

$135.95

Tekonsha BRAKE-EVN Trailer Brake Controller - 1 to 4 Axles - Proportional

(168)

$80.69

Question:

Got it. Plugged it into the trailer and found that it is simply the gain adjustment on top of the controller. I guess it was set at 0.6 out of the box, and after it recalibrated on the trailer, it is now showing the correct readout; two decimals after it calibrated. As the manual control is pressed it displays the same 0.6, which tells me that the gain is set at 0.6, on L1.

asked by: Ryan L

Expert Reply:

So the controller resets every time you apply and release the brakes? You might check to make sure you made all the connections correctly when you wired it to the correct functions. Most likely it sounds like there's an issue with the red and black wires of the controller. The black wire of the controller needs to run to a power source that is hot all the time and the red wire needs to run to the stoplight circuit. Now all of that said the TriFlex is known to be prone to internal problems so I would not be shocked if it was in need of being replaced due to an internal problem.

The 0.6 message you are getting is not a standard error code either.

Testing the brake controller is fairly easy. Sever the blue brake output wire near the brake controller leaving enough room to reconnect it and then apply the manual slide. Using a circuit tester like the Tester, part # PTW2993, you should get output to the controller side of the wire you severed. If the manual slide activates the trailer brake output wire properly, try the brake pedal. If the brake pedal activates the brake output properly also then the problem is farther back either in the vehicle wiring or on the trailer.

If either the brake pedal or the manual slide are not functioning properly you will need to test the wires going into the brake controller. Make sure you have power entering the brake controller on the black wire. On the red wire you will only want power when the brake pedal is pressed.

If there is power on the red wire before the brake pedal is pressed you have connected the red wire from the brake controller to the wrong circuit. You would then need to find the brake switch wire that has power ONLY when the brake pedal is activated.

If these connections check out and the brake controller is properly grounded then there is possibly a problem inside the brake controller.

A much more reliable controller that you could swap to that would work great is the part # TK63VR which is also proportional.