First of all, let me just say I *love* this forum. I'm a PUP newbie this year, and the content here from past posts has helped me through a lot of questions without ever having to ask. So thank you all for such kind knowledge sharing.
I am already so much more knowledgeable than I was a day ago, just by this thread.
Its going to take some troubleshooting, and my first available daylight time is not until Saturday, so this gives me a lot to start with, but I won't have many answers as to what I've learned until then, so standby!
opnspaces - I do have a voltmeter - how do I look for a short between brake wire and brake lights? Great idea to test with a friend's, but unfortunately I don't have anyone locally that I can do this with.
opnspaces wrote:
How did you disconnect the emergency plug( breakaway switch)? As far as I know the only two parts to the emergency plug are the cable/pin, and a positive wire to the battery....If you pull the power wire for the breakaway switch does the problem go away?
Yes - I just pulled and re-inserted the pin. I will also try pulling the power wire on the breakaway.
bondebond - I attached a picture of the controller - it is a digital controller built into my truck as an option from Ford. When I squeeze the two manual levers together, it replicates the same problem - a locking effect. Dialed down to zero, doesn't help, and its hard to tell what dialing up does because it feels like a full lock from the beginning. According to the Ford manual, this thing is supposed to detect brake module faults and wiring faults. I discovered in the owners manual that there is a series of digital indicators on this controller that I need to troubleshoot too.
I haven't explored the wiring underneath too much - on my troubleshooting list - what should I be looking for? Exposed wiring that could cause a short I guess?
bondebond wrote:
And Terryallan hits upon what I think is the culprit, in that the TV's brake controller was connected when the break-away switch was activated, sending an electrical charge back into the controller, likely scrambling it.
Hmmm. It is possible I disconnected the break-away pin by hand with the brake controller still plugged in, but I can't remember.
Thank you all for all of this great info. I am anxious to fix and troubleshoot this with another camping trip planned weekend after next!
