Weak Braking w/ Tekonsha P3
I have been using my Tekonsha P3 brake controller for about five years with two different trailers without problems until this spring when I noticed weak braking. Braking was fine last fall, so the co...
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I made this observation last night --
This does not explain the compass not picking up current on one of the wheels, but I plan to clean up the points of contact between the magnet and actuator arm, as outlined here. An intermittent short there might explain why both the magnet and the wires energizing it passed my tests.
I will report back. Thanks again for all the excellent advice and suggestions.
Tom496 wrote:I didn't recall previously seeing the setting at 6. Then Longtrace and bartlettj both suggested that the P3 may have had the power level turned down inadvertently. I think that may be what is going on. In reviewing the Tekonsha instructions, I noticed that the procedure for adjusting the power level suggests starting on level 6, and then adjusting up or down as needed. I now think that 6 is the default and my unit somehow got reset to the default. I guess I didn't suspect this possibility earlier because it had never happened in the 4-5 years I've owned it, including when I re-installed it in a second TV.
I also put my multimeter on the cut ends of the trailer-side leads to the magnet. With the controller manual lever pushed all the way to the left, I read 4.5 volts. (The reading on the Tekonsha was 6.0).
This does not explain the compass not picking up current on one of the wheels, but I plan to clean up the points of contact between the magnet and actuator arm, as outlined here. An intermittent short there might explain why both the magnet and the wires energizing it passed my tests.
I will report back. Thanks again for all the excellent advice and suggestions.
