Electric Brake Controllers

Far as I know most of 'em just use two sensors
One is the Brake LIght Switch sensor (two leads) and the other is internal (Inerital sensor) in the controller (A weight on a shaft).

Let me check the one I like to recommend. Yup the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 makes no mention of any connection other than electricial and the physical mount of the controller. It uses the activation of the brake lights it appears to activate braking. If not simply the inertial sensor Some work entierly off the inertial sensor. Not sure if this uses both or just inertial.

The yardstick by which brake controllers are measured is the P-3 by the way

Tekonsha Engineering started in a little town in Michigan, Tekonsha.. Where I grew up.

I know this is an old thread, but my revered Jordan 2020 has just gone out. Since Jordan controllers aren't around any more, I was thinking of going to another, true proportional controller such as Brakesmart or the Max, but they are now out of business too!

It looks like most people (who doesn't have a newer truck with a factory braking system) are going with the Tekonsha P3. I know the P3 is marketed as a "proportional" system, however I know it really is just using an accelerometer to guess at how much TT braking should be applied -- not like the old Jordan which used actual brake pedal feedback via an attached cable.

So is the Tekonsha P3 any good at eliminating, or at least toning down, the infamous "Hensley bump"? :@

Thanks!

time2roll wrote:
https://www.brakecontroller.com/maxbrake.htm

IIRC The discontinued one "BrakeSmart" tied into the hydraulic line of the master cylinder.

Many old controllers connected to the hydraulic system and worked pretty good. Some were OK to use with anti-lock brakes, but folks wouldn't read the instructions to see which ones would work, so they quit making all of them for the general public.

Jordon connected to the brake pedal and worked OK.
Brakesmart connected to the brake hydraulic system and worked great.
MaxBrake did the same and they were great.

Sales were low and all three went out of business. Folks would not pay more or do more than absolutely necessary.

Now we have factory integrated controllers that connect to the brake hydraulic system and they work great. It's such a shame that folks could have had great performing controllers for more than twenty years. Now with the factory controllers being more or less forced on them, they are just now discovering what a few of us knew all along.

Kountryguy wrote:
Is anyone aware of a controller that works off a direct connection to the brake pedal?

Seems the Ford factory brake controllers do just that. all I know is. When sitting still. Mine sends more power as I press the pedal. My Prodigy did not.

https://www.brakecontroller.com/maxbrake.htm

IIRC The discontinued one "BrakeSmart" tied into the hydraulic line of the master cylinder.

Edd505 wrote:
Check these tekonsha proportional controllers:
http://www.tekonsha.com/products/brake-controllers/proportional-controllers/trailer-brake-control-proportional/TzaIxkVx1cI5XOy!osRB54WVEaGlY%7CzH

Used by a large portion of the larger 5W people.

Umm.. NO.

The OP was LOOKING FOR A CONTROLLER WHICH HAS A PHYSICAL MECHANICAL CONNECTION TO THE BRAKE PEDAL.

NONE OF THE "TEKONSHA" brand products have a DIRECT PHYSICAL (MECHANICAL) CONNECTION to the BRAKE PEDAL, PERIOD!

And just "because" a lot of 5W people own a Tekonsha product does not mean that it is better or as good than a direct connection to the brake pedal.

Ask anyone who has a Hensley Arrow hitch about the infamous HA "bump".

Yes, the Inertial controllers are better than say a timed controller but they do have some timing issues which to get around that they must employ some hokey at best bandaids.. This makes for multiple adjustment controls and settings which depending on traffic you will find yourself fussing with..

My Jordan was a set and forget, once I had it dialed in to turn on and the output was set I never ever had to mess with the adjustment again..

My IBC is the same way, ONE setting and the brakes work seamlessly.

No "P1, P2, P3" gains to play with, no need to turn off those settings..

Inertial controllers do not start the braking process until the BRAKE LIGHT TURNS ON. Once the brake light turns on the "P" settings apply a PRESET OUTPUT. This "covers" (IE BANDAID" the TIME LAG it takes for the controller to detect and determine the rate of speed reduction.

Then once the controller determines (IE CALCULATES) to rate of speed reduction it then applies a MADE UP output voltage which may or may not be more or less than the INITIAL "P" setting.

Once you have stopped, the controller WILL reduce the output automatically after a few seconds to something like 10%-15% of the max output..

Take your foot of the brake to the point the brake light turns off and the controller immediately turns off the output COMPLETELY..

The result can be pretty annoying to downright hazardous depending on the situation.

IF you can live with the shortcomings of the bandaid fixes then that is good for you.

As for me, NO THANKS.

I dealt with a cheap timer for ONE TRIP and decided no matter the cost I was going for THE BEST my money could buy. In my mind, the best was something that did not depend on "timing" did not depend on brake lights, did not try to cover up short comings with bandaid trickery.

The Jordan 2020 was the ONLY controller at that time the met MY criteria.

Fast forward to now days, pretty much all of the big three automakers now supply most all trucks with IBC, hands down IBC IS the best you can get (although I have seen some complaints with RAMs version not being strong enough lately).

For a vehicle that is not able to be factory equipped with IBC, the DirecLink would be the closest to a direct pedal connection you can get since it uses the VEHICLES DATA TO DIRECTLY DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF BRAKING NEEDED.

That would be MY choice if faced with the need.

The TEKONSHA products would be my absolute LAST RESORT in order to have some sort of " PSEUDO proportional" control.

I don't buy on price or ease of installation when it comes to my health and welfare or comfort..

I got a Jordan 2020 in 2000 after I tried a Prodigy that went berserk. I move it from truck to truck and I hope it never breaks! It also works great with my Kodiak disc brakes. Craig

Check these tekonsha proportional controllers:
http://www.tekonsha.com/products/brake-controllers/proportional-controllers/trailer-brake-control-proportional/TzaIxkVx1cI5XOy!osRB54WVEaGlY%7CzH

Used by a large portion of the larger 5W people.

Kountryguy wrote:
Is anyone aware of a controller that works off a direct connection to the brake pedal?

No.

The is no longer any new brake controllers being made that have any direct physical connection to the brake pedal.

Jordan Ultima 2020 was the only one made that did, it used a special spring loaded connection to the brake pedal via stainless aircraft cable.

I have two of the 2020s and you will not pry them out of my cold dead hands, they ARE that good.

My newest vehicle has factory IBC and comparing the feel between having the Jordan and a built in IBC I cannot tell the difference! My older vehicles still have the Jordans just in case I would need to tow with them.

Jordan was planning to bring out a new model which put the actual sensor on the brake pedal, but before they finished they abruptly sold their company to Camco who immediately stopped further development and sales of any Jordans.

There was a couple of controllers that tapped into the master cylinder via a hydraulic to electric sensor, those manufacturers have ceased production.

One of the things in common with all of the above was they cost more than the Prodigy and the Prodigy is dirt simple to install.. And what I have noticed is PRICE and SIMPLICITY of the install trumps everything else with the average RVr..

With that said, there is a new "kid on the block" so to speak called DIRECLINK that plugs into the vehicles OBDII diagnostics port.

This controller IS considerably more expensive the say a Prodigy (and other similar inertial controllers) but instead of using the brake light (like the Prodigy) to start the braking process it reads the vehicles data bus and uses multiple data points from the OBDII port to decide when and how much braking is needed.

The result should be as good as the Jordan 2020 or even a built in IBC brake controllers..

Kountryguy wrote:
Is anyone aware of a controller that works off a direct connection to the brake pedal?

Brake controllers were made that used driver input but few would pay more or do more to install them. Only controllers with a mind of their own are currently available. Directlink makes one that may use some driver input, but information on how it works is not available. Only factory controllers make sense to me.