prodigy p3
I just decided to replace my old Hopkins proportional brake controller with the p3 after reading all the good reviews. I also want to be better informed on what's happening electrically with my brakes...
Forum Discussion
Bigbird65 wrote:westend wrote:
Amperage is dependent on the draw of the total of the brake magnets and associated wiring. Voltage to the brakes is controlled by the P3. Your battery condition will have little to do with brake controlling as the vehicle's alternator will be delivering power to the P3 and back to the trailer's brake system.
Tekonsha advises an initial voltage of 6 V and adjusting up or down from there. An improvement in electrical efficiency for the trailer's brake system can be had by wiring the trailer braking in a star configuration rather than a daisy chain, as most trailers are OEM wired. This helps to deliver more power to the brakes. An increase in wire size accompanying the star configuration will also help with maximum electrical efficiency.
Etrailer.com indicates that trailer brakes are wired in parallel(star).
Parallel wiring
Diagram
If trailer brakes were wired in series (daisy chain) as you indicate, it would only require one brake magnet coil to open up and all of the breaking would be lost.
Yes, parallel but crawl under your trailer and see what you have. Most trailers have one power wire that is led from the tongue, then from one brake set to another and down the chain. A star configuration uses one wire set per brake. The four power wires are terminated at a common power terminal close to the tongue. It is a better power configuration than the typical wiring installation.
