What exactly does the brake controller do?

old guy wrote:
if you go to their web site you will find u tube videos on how to set up the controller properly. at 5 mph it is not set up properly. you need to get it up to 25 mph to set it up right. the brakes should not grab that much when you step on the brakes of the truck. it should be a gradual grabbing of the TT brakes and not jerk you that hard. you need to do more home work on setting up the prodigy. the TT should engage before the truck, it is all in the video. I take it you did not get the little instruction disk when you bought the controller.

I did not get the disk! Thank you so much, guy (hey, old is relative!)

spike99 wrote:

If one does 5 mph and slams on the brakes, the brake controller may decide NOT to send any current to its trailer wheels. Thus, it feels like only the TV's brakes are working. When testing "inertia technology" Brake Controllers (like Prodigy 2 models), do test when driving above 20+ miles per hour.

Hope this overview helps.

I'm still not completely clear on this, if you would be so kind as to elaborate.

What would cause the controller to send or not send current at 5 mph, or any speed for that matter? Is it because 5 mph is too slow for an accurate test?

spike99 wrote:
The Prodigy 2 brake controller contains a mini computer and has motion sensors inside it. If one does 5 MPH and slams on the TV's brake Pedal, its computer sends very little current to the trailer brakes. If one does 50 MPH and slams on the TV's brake pedal, its computer sends large amount of current to the trailer brakes. Based on ground speed and braking "inertia", the brake controller decides how the attached trailer brakes behave. The adjustments on the brake controller allow some "variance" behavior within its computer.

Thank you very much. I had no idea motion sensors was how it worked.

if you go to their web site you will find u tube videos on how to set up the controller properly. at 5 mph it is not set up properly. you need to get it up to 25 mph to set it up right. the brakes should not grab that much when you step on the brakes of the truck. it should be a gradual grabbing of the TT brakes and not jerk you that hard. you need to do more home work on setting up the prodigy. the TT should engage before the truck, it is all in the video. I take it you did not get the little instruction disk when you bought the controller.

Ex-Tech wrote:
Read the directions for the controller. Any adjustment made affects the braking of the controller in general, not just for the lever.
You need to adjust the dial on the side to lessen the power to the trailer and then program the controller to activate the trailer brakes later then the tow vehicle.

I suspected that it did, but thanks for confirming.

Why I was trying to find this out is because I've noticed that sometimes the trailer brakes will be super sensitive, and I figured this must have something to do with how the controller is set.

BTW, the instructions were very cursory, only telling how to set it, which I did to the letter.

The Prodigy 2 brake controller contains a mini computer and has motion sensors inside it. If one does 5 MPH and slams on the TV's brake Pedal, its computer sends very little current to the trailer brakes. If one does 50 MPH and slams on the TV's brake pedal, its computer sends large amount of current to the trailer brakes. Based on ground speed and braking "inertia", the brake controller decides how the attached trailer brakes behave. The adjustments on the brake controller allow some "variance" behavior within its computer.

If one does 5 mph and slams on the brakes, the brake controller may decide NOT to send any current to its trailer wheels. Thus, it feels like only the TV's brakes are working. When testing "inertia technology" Brake Controllers (like Prodigy 2 models), do test when driving above 20+ miles per hour.

Hope this overview helps.

Read the directions for the controller. Any adjustment made affects the braking of the controller in general, not just for the lever.
You need to adjust the dial on the side to lessen the power to the trailer and then program the controller to activate the trailer brakes later then the tow vehicle.