My Curt Echo Brake Controller Is Braking Too Hard And Not Releasing

Updated 11/22/2021 | Published 11/20/2021

Question:

I have a 2,100 dry weight tear trailer I pull with my 2019 Mercedes Benz GLC 300, I purchased and installed a Curt Echo wireless brake controller in September. After adjusting the controller max output to 40 and sensitivity to 5 it was working great with very smooth braking. The last trip I took the brakes were very grabby and occasionally the app display will show the brakes being engaged even when the brakes are not being depressed. I have to tap the brake for them to go off. I adjusted the max braking setting to as low as 10 and sensitivity 1 but the brakes still act like they are on full. Very irritating and potentially dangerous. I need to figure out whats going on.

asked by: Mark W

Expert Reply:

Odds are there is a bad ground causing the issue with your Curt Echo Brake Controller # C51180, but it could also be one other thing, and it is a quick and easy thing to test.

We have seen a few issues with the Curt Echo when the trailer plug is connected and then the Echo is plugged into the vehicle. Not 100% sure why this causes it to act weird, but it can. What I recommend trying first will be to do a factory reset. This does require deleting the app and starting the process of installing and setting it up again, but we have seen this work with great success. If it doesn't then it will be a bad ground somewhere.

A bad ground can cause any number of weird things to happen and this definitely falls into the weird category. If you installed an aftermarket 7 Way on your Mercedes, definitely start with checking that ground. If it looks good, or you have a factory 7 Way, you will need to check the trailer. Specifically the ones for the brakes. These are exposed to a lot of debris and do go bad fairly often. Make sure they are good and solid and not stacked with other grounds. This is a pretty common practice, but it is always best to have each ground on its own.

If neither of these gets the controller back up and running properly, let me know and I can see about a different solution.

expert reply by: Lazer S