peculiar brake situation with Prodigy P3
The short version: My Prodigy P3 is displaying "OVERLOAD - NO BRAKES", but the trailer brakes are still activating. What's the most likely cause, and should I worry?
The long version: I hooked up to the trailer on Monday and checked/adjusted the brake controller. It was working normally. Tuesday and Wednesday I was towing (not long distances) but had no occasion to look at the controller, so I can't swear that it was still working as expected. On Wednesday I dropped off the trailer at a shop to have a new axle and springs installed.
When I hooked up the trailer at the shop on Thursday and started down the street, at the light I noticed that the P3 was displaying the warning message "OVERLOAD - NO BRAKES". So I turned around and took the trailer back to the shop. They put a tester on the 7-pin receptacle (back of the vehicle while standing still) and got a proper reading, so it looked to be the trailer. I left it with them again. They went through the brakes "thoroughly" (their word) and everything checked out; they said they could not find any bad grounds and the brakes functioned fine. I hooked up and pulled forward a bit, hit the brakes and the P3 showed the fault. When I asked if we could try the tester on the back of the vehicle one more time, the guy acted put out and said I'd have to take my vehicle to a shop and have it checked out because they don't work on vehicles.
On the way home, I observed that the trailer brakes are activating as expected even while the warning message is displayed. If the vehicle is not in motion and I depress the brake pedal or use the controller lever, the P3 does not show a fault; only when I'm moving the rig forward will it fault.
With power set at 12.0, some numbers from the troubleshooting menu:
Battery 13.6V
Stoplight 12.8V
Output voltage 11.9V
Output current 5.6A
The above numbers were read while activating the lever.
I cleaned the 7-pin connection with Deoxit Red, and no change in behavior.
What is the likely cause? Should I throw some money at a new brake controller and see what results? Should I assume that the shop has screwed something up and can't find their mistake? Or something else? Since the trailer brakes are functioning, should I just let it go?
The long version: I hooked up to the trailer on Monday and checked/adjusted the brake controller. It was working normally. Tuesday and Wednesday I was towing (not long distances) but had no occasion to look at the controller, so I can't swear that it was still working as expected. On Wednesday I dropped off the trailer at a shop to have a new axle and springs installed.
When I hooked up the trailer at the shop on Thursday and started down the street, at the light I noticed that the P3 was displaying the warning message "OVERLOAD - NO BRAKES". So I turned around and took the trailer back to the shop. They put a tester on the 7-pin receptacle (back of the vehicle while standing still) and got a proper reading, so it looked to be the trailer. I left it with them again. They went through the brakes "thoroughly" (their word) and everything checked out; they said they could not find any bad grounds and the brakes functioned fine. I hooked up and pulled forward a bit, hit the brakes and the P3 showed the fault. When I asked if we could try the tester on the back of the vehicle one more time, the guy acted put out and said I'd have to take my vehicle to a shop and have it checked out because they don't work on vehicles.
On the way home, I observed that the trailer brakes are activating as expected even while the warning message is displayed. If the vehicle is not in motion and I depress the brake pedal or use the controller lever, the P3 does not show a fault; only when I'm moving the rig forward will it fault.
With power set at 12.0, some numbers from the troubleshooting menu:
Battery 13.6V
Stoplight 12.8V
Output voltage 11.9V
Output current 5.6A
The above numbers were read while activating the lever.
I cleaned the 7-pin connection with Deoxit Red, and no change in behavior.
What is the likely cause? Should I throw some money at a new brake controller and see what results? Should I assume that the shop has screwed something up and can't find their mistake? Or something else? Since the trailer brakes are functioning, should I just let it go?
