Maiden Voyage with new Voltage --- and Brake Issues
Survived the weekend with the new Voltage toyhauler, despite my brake issues. I haven't completely confirmed it yet but it appears my high $$$ MAX BRAKE brake controller went belly up after 8 years.
After leaving home Friday evening at some point into the first 15 miles into my 50 mile trip the controller set the trailer brakes into a parking brake mode. I thought I was just having issues pulling up hill. Then a car pulled up next to me and yelled out the window that I had brake issues. So I pulled over the first chance I had to check. All 4 trailer wheels were hot and one had the brake drum glowing red! After messing with the controller and "Googling" the owner’s manual I was able to figure out it was in the parking brake mode and get it back to normal. Then I drove slowly to a large empty parking lot about 5 miles down the road where I got out and inspected things. The wheels were cooling down and the brakes seemed to work so I continued up over the mountain. I used low gear going down the back side and tried to minimize using the brakes after I noticed the controller indicating excess brake current. We made it to the campground at the bottom of the mountain and got set up OK.
Saturday morning I unloaded the Can Am Spyder (which I wasn't going to take on this 1st trip) and took a ride out to Lowes so I could buy a multimeter to troubleshoot the brake issue. After a nice 100 mile ride we got back to the campground near dinner time so the brake trouble shooting had to wait until Sunday morning because it was getting cold.
I spent a portion of Saturday night searching the web for tech info on my controller, trailer brake system, and wiring.
Fast forward to Sunday…. I hooked up the truck to the trailer and measured brake current and voltage. I kept getting intermittent and changing readings. I ended up tearing the dash out of my truck so I could get to the back of my controller to reset it. After resetting and calibrating the MAX BRAKE controller I was able to get consistent readings and with help of the multimeter I determined that one of the Voltage’s electromagnets was shorted. I cut the power lead to that brake and the braking current came into line so we headed home.
Then part way down the mountain the brake controller started acting up and sometimes I had brakes on the trailer and sometimes I didn't. Fortunately we made it home without incident.
Later this week I'll hook the controller to one of my other trailers to see if it acts up. I may end up buying a new one just to be on the safe side anyway. I also need to pull all 4 wheels off the Voltage to assess the damage. Minimum I suspect I will need to replace brake shoes, electromagnets and at least one drum. Again, I may just replace them all to be safe.
After leaving home Friday evening at some point into the first 15 miles into my 50 mile trip the controller set the trailer brakes into a parking brake mode. I thought I was just having issues pulling up hill. Then a car pulled up next to me and yelled out the window that I had brake issues. So I pulled over the first chance I had to check. All 4 trailer wheels were hot and one had the brake drum glowing red! After messing with the controller and "Googling" the owner’s manual I was able to figure out it was in the parking brake mode and get it back to normal. Then I drove slowly to a large empty parking lot about 5 miles down the road where I got out and inspected things. The wheels were cooling down and the brakes seemed to work so I continued up over the mountain. I used low gear going down the back side and tried to minimize using the brakes after I noticed the controller indicating excess brake current. We made it to the campground at the bottom of the mountain and got set up OK.
Saturday morning I unloaded the Can Am Spyder (which I wasn't going to take on this 1st trip) and took a ride out to Lowes so I could buy a multimeter to troubleshoot the brake issue. After a nice 100 mile ride we got back to the campground near dinner time so the brake trouble shooting had to wait until Sunday morning because it was getting cold.
I spent a portion of Saturday night searching the web for tech info on my controller, trailer brake system, and wiring.
Fast forward to Sunday…. I hooked up the truck to the trailer and measured brake current and voltage. I kept getting intermittent and changing readings. I ended up tearing the dash out of my truck so I could get to the back of my controller to reset it. After resetting and calibrating the MAX BRAKE controller I was able to get consistent readings and with help of the multimeter I determined that one of the Voltage’s electromagnets was shorted. I cut the power lead to that brake and the braking current came into line so we headed home.
Then part way down the mountain the brake controller started acting up and sometimes I had brakes on the trailer and sometimes I didn't. Fortunately we made it home without incident.
Later this week I'll hook the controller to one of my other trailers to see if it acts up. I may end up buying a new one just to be on the safe side anyway. I also need to pull all 4 wheels off the Voltage to assess the damage. Minimum I suspect I will need to replace brake shoes, electromagnets and at least one drum. Again, I may just replace them all to be safe.
