Anybody had a Prodigy go bad?

Not sure if my Prodigy 2 is bad or not. I have it cranked all the way up. I stop ok but using the truck brakes way too much. Had a shop put a tester on it and said it was ok. Had dealer check brakes on trailer, hooked it up to their vehicle and said they were fine. So I really don't know if the issue is my Prodigy or what.

Most likely over heating the relays/breakers... They open when hot... They reset themselves...
They also go bad...

On a desend the will get hot...

Possibly its your first time towing?

My opinion....

Probably the brake wires where they cross over inside the axle tubes. They just lay in there and grind against the inside of the tubing until the insulation wears through and then you get an intermittent short.
I would also follow the trailers umbilical cord to the junction box and make sure the connections inside are still tight.
BTW, there are no relays or breakers between the brake controller and the trailers brakes.

X2 on shorts in the axle wiring. Had the same symptoms on my weekend warrior.

You may be exceeding the tilt level on a down hill slope. But yes, my older Prodigy started acting up, replaced it with an Endeavor I had for backup and much better. Call them, most controller companies have lifetime warranties no questions asked.

After about 8 years the manual application lever on my P1 quit working; the company replaced it with a new one.

Inspect your magnet wiring inside your trailer's wheel hubs for any wear spots or flimsy wiring, especially where the wires connect to the actual magnet housing.

Things actually move around jnside the brake area. It isn't unusual for wiring to get snagged, rubbed, a spring or bolt broken, friction material separating, etc.

I don't doubt a Prodigy can "go bad." The easy way to determine this is to try a different controller and see if it makes a difference. Ideally another identical model to yours. Beg, borrow, steal, buy...

Like others have said, though, you can't have "been over the trailer wiring" if the wires disappear into the axle tubes, and you haven't taken the brake drums off the axles. If the replacement brake controller doesn't improve things, that's the next place to look.

Frankly, I do not trust a dealer telling me everything is "just fine." I've heard it too many times in threads like this. People with brake problems taking it to a dealer, dealer testing it with their truck and proclaiming it "just fine."

Did you ride with the dealer? Did they let you tow it with their truck to see if it felt okay to you? No, and you still have problems.

I rank dealer assessments of trailer brakes right up there with auto parts stores "testing" alternators and batteries. Alternators are always good, even when they don't charge in your vehicle and a new one fixes the problem. Batteries are always bad, even if they start your vehicle up with no problems.

We had the same problem as the OP. It happened in august but when we stopped to think about what happened it worked ok. In October going south it started up again. the brake wire had a bare area that was hitting the inside of the axle tube as some have said. Easy fix.

chevman

I've had other brands of controllers go bad and just get very weak (Tekonsha Voyager). When I took it apart I found they had used components (op-amp) that was severely undersized for the power going through it. They just heat-sinked it a lot to make it last longer.
It's an electronic device with multiple components and they can fail.