Brake Controller Overload

[guitarzan]

Prodigy Controller (10 years old) works intermittently then fails and reads OL or SH.
Cleaned 7-way plug and inspected wires not including inside drum. Took the TT for a spin and brakes still work sporadically.

Checked wheel temps when I got home
Front
98. 116
82. 115

I recently repacked the bearings and magnets looked normal did not take a good look at the wires but did shoot some brake cleaner on the magnet spring mechanism and everything seemed fine. Maybe I set the brake too loose on left rear, or else it's shorting somewhere?

I'm wondering if the controller is failing as it was really acting wonky. When it's working, if I hold the brake it reads about 1.6 and after 3 seconds it drops to .06 and then holds at 1.0. That's not right. It should increase by a big percentage and hold. What the heck? Wire shorting, bad connection, or failing brake controller?

Ya'll have any ideas? I'll be obsessed with it until I get it fixed...

[Community Alumni]

I would just replace the wires. I've just gone through the same thing this year with my P3. I would get intermittent brakes and the controller would either show the error for a short or an overload. Everything tested and worked fine while the trailer was stationary, but I would get the same problems as soon as I moved. Tested everything from the P3 back to the magnets. I decided to rip all of the wiring out, upgrade it to #10 AWG, run them outside of the axle, and upgraded the connections. My trailer is still under warranty, but I chose not to use it. I didn't want to bring it in only to have them return it back to that inferior system that will only fail again one day.

When it was all said and done, I found a few areas that could've been the source of them problem. All of my grounds in the 7 pin box, that were all joined by a wing nut, were badly rusted. There was a broken grommet where the wires went into one of the axles which rubbed away the insulation on a wire. The wires inside of the axle had rubbed so much, I could no longer tell the color of the wires. Some spots were getting pretty thin.

It was much easier to start over new than to fix / test each problem. Ever since the upgrade, no more problems. I have a theory why everything tests out fine. When you're testing, the wires aren't bouncing around and rubbing like they do while you're going down the road. When the trailer starts moving, so does the wires, and you get the short.

[westend]

Another problem area that is very hard to diagnose a fault is the truck's trailer socket connection. If a wire in back of the connector is hit by road debris, it may be enough to part the wire inside the wire jacket. You won't see it and it will intermittently connect/disconnect. I had this issue and discovered it by jiggling wires. The cure was to remove the socket, disassemble it, strip wire for good connection, and reassemble. Be careful, my Ford had a lot of small pieces.

[budwich]

It is not clear how you did your testing and observed the "ol" reading. Are you using the manual lever or just the truck brakes during your "test run"? IF you are just sitting still and pushing the manual lever, full manual, what reading does the P2 indicate and further, do you ever see "OL" even if you hold the manual lever, full
"on", for a "longer period" (ie. 1-2 minutes)?

[Gdetrailer]

guitarzan wrote:
I tested the wires at the back of each wheel and have juice going to all wheels.
I removed all 4 tires and hubs a cleaned the magnet arms and magnets so I should have good ground for magnets. I spun each wheel and had someone push truck brake and the brakes worked at each wheel, plus I can hear the magnet being activated by humming.

Test drove and prodigy p2 still cuts out intermittently and reads O. L. I've traced electric current from TV through 7 way and back to brakes, none of the magnets seemed to have excessive wear, well maybe one but did not see magnet coil showing through.

I'm suspecting the controller now.

NO. YOU DID NOT LISTEN.

OL IS OVERLOAD.

SH IS SHORT.

YOU WILL GET THOSE TWO MESSAGES INTERMITTENTLY WHEN THE WIRE INSIDE THE AXLE TUBES GET WORN OVER TIME.

CUT THE WIRES THAT GO THROUGH THE AXLE TUBES FIRST. RUN NEW WIRE ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE AXLE TUBES THEN RECHECK TO SEE IF YOU CONTINUE TO GET THE OL AND SH.

AS SOMEONE ELSE MENTIONED JUST REPLACE ALL THE WIRE AND BE DONE WITH THE OEM JUNK WIRE.

THIS IS A COMMON PROBLEM AND IS THE WIRING NOT THE CONTROLLER!!!

[guitarzan]

I tested the wires at the back of each wheel and have juice going to all wheels.
I removed all 4 tires and hubs a cleaned the magnet arms and magnets so I should have good ground for magnets. I spun each wheel and had someone push truck brake and the brakes worked at each wheel, plus I can hear the magnet being activated by humming.

Test drove and prodigy p2 still cuts out intermittently and reads O. L. I've traced electric current from TV through 7 way and back to brakes, none of the magnets seemed to have excessive wear, well maybe one but did not see magnet coil showing through.

I'm suspecting the controller now.

[westend]

If your brake wiring looks unacceptable or has a chafed wire in the axle, I'd suggest to just rewire the brakes.

FWIW, I wired mine, loomed it all and led two wires of each brake assembly forward to an enclosed termination strip. In the future, if I need to diagnose an electric brake problem, the terminal strip is easily accessible and each assembly is wired in parallel to the controller's output.

[Gdetrailer]

guitarzan wrote:
Prodigy Controller (10 years old) works intermittently then fails and reads OL or SH.
Cleaned 7-way plug and inspected wires not including inside drum. Took the TT for a spin and brakes still work sporadically.

Checked wheel temps when I got home
Front
98. 116
82. 115

I recently repacked the bearings and magnets looked normal did not take a good look at the wires but did shoot some brake cleaner on the magnet spring mechanism and everything seemed fine. Maybe I set the brake too loose on left rear, or else it's shorting somewhere?

I'm wondering if the controller is failing as it was really acting wonky. When it's working, if I hold the brake it reads about 1.6 and after 3 seconds it drops to .06 and then holds at 1.0. That's not right. It should increase by a big percentage and hold. What the heck? Wire shorting, bad connection, or failing brake controller?

Ya'll have any ideas? I'll be obsessed with it until I get it fixed...

Your controller IS designed to REDUCE the output (less than 25% of max if I remember correctly) once the vehicle has stopped. So, that looks to be "normal" operation.

PER MANUAL.. HERE

Under "IMPORTANT FACTS TO REMEMBER"

"3. The Prodigy P2 will “HOLD” your trailer with 25% of power setting while you are at a stand still with brake pedal applied for longer than 5 seconds"

The intermittent OL and SH is telling you that you have an intermittent SHORT in the wiring (most likely the trailer).

The typical place for intermittent shorts is at the axles.. The factory runs the BRAKE WIRING THOUGH THE AXLE TUBE..

The wiring inside the tube is free to swing and move around inside the tube.

This movement CHAFFES the insulation until it wears off enough to intermittently short.

The fix is to cut the wiring to the axle tube and RUN NEW WIRE ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE AXLE TUBE.

As far as someone mentioning checking the resistance, that is a worthless test. The resistance is too low for most DVMs to reliably read it.. Better way to check is by checking the AMPS drawn..

Also your brake controller uses PWM (Pulse Width modulated) to regulate the output.. It sends 12V but chops the time on/off to achieve a variable output.. Makes it hard to read the voltage using a DVM..

On edit.. Adding info from Prodigy manual in red..

[LIKE2BUILD]

mogman wrote:
You don't mention what trailer you have, but a possibility is there is a bare or chaffed wire in one of the axle tubes. The factories usually run the wires through there.
Has happened to me in the past.

Just a thought.

That's exactly where I would start. I ran into the same problem with my Jayco several years ago. The Prodigy II in my truck would work sometimes and others it would show OL or NC. My brake wires from the factory were all daisy chained using the scotch lock inline splice connectors. One of those puny connections had failed and killed power to the remaining downstream wheels.

I removed all the OEM wiring and installed 2 terminal blocks in the front compartment where the umbilical comes in the camper. One block was for the brake 12V+ and the other was for battery negative. From there I ran individual + & - wires to each wheel. It's a bit excessive, but even if one brake fails it no longer kills the whole system.

KJ

[mogman]

You don't mention what trailer you have, but a possibility is there is a bare or chaffed wire in one of the axle tubes. The factories usually run the wires through there.
Has happened to me in the past.

Just a thought.

[Campfire_Time]

X2, just call them. Lifetime warranty. If they determine it's bad you'll get a new one.

[SoundGuy]

guitarzan wrote:
Prodigy Controller (10 years old) works intermittently then fails and reads OL or SH.

I'm wondering if the controller is failing as it was really acting wonky. When it's working, if I hold the brake it reads about 1.6 and after 3 seconds it drops to .06 and then holds at 1.0. That's not right. It should increase by a big percentage and hold. What the heck? Wire shorting, bad connection, or failing brake controller?

Ya'll have any ideas? I'll be obsessed with it until I get it fixed...

Why obsess? Call Tekonsha tech service and ask for advice ... 1-888-785-5832.

Those readings would seem normal with the Boost function engaged - B1, B2, or B3.