brake controller errors

bigwaylon

bigwaylon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Charlotte
got my Prodigy brake controller wired up this morning, and headed out to get the power level set...


sometimes it works fine, sometimes it flashes an error...

the two I'm getting are:

1. oL
2. SH

oL is: Prodigy "sees" an overload during operation

what exactly is an overload?

SH is either: 1) brake wire sees short during idle condition or 2) use of some test lights on non-Tekonsha testers can cause this problem

since I'm not using a test light or a non-Tekonsha tester, where do I start? the ground wire off of the trailer plug?


Thanks.
Greg
 
Make sure you have a good ground path, and the trailer ball doesn't count.. ;)
 
Rich said:
Make sure you have a good ground path, and the trailer ball doesn't count.. ;)
Click to expand...


the ground from the plug?

I hooked the "ground" from the controller itself directly to the negative side of the battery, just as the instructions said...

but where I tied the plug ground to the frame (same spot Ken had it) it is a little rusty...so might need to just hit it with some sand paper...

Thanks.
Greg
 
That, and make sure there's a ground wire going to the plug from the frame on your trailer.. and that the brakes also ground to the trailer, and all the connections are clean and solid.

I fixed a friend's trailer because his Prodigy was showing some weird errors - It was all grounding issues.
 
worked on it some yesterday, and then when I got back from DPG today...

it goes for spurts working fine, and then when pressing brake pedal switches from showing voltage to oL, and when you let off the pedal, it changes to SH...

then, after a while of just driving, you'll see it go back to .c. (meaning connected)...

got it to show SH in the driveway and jiggled every wire I could possibly find, and never got it to go away...

I put a new receiver plug on the truck last week, and even changed to a new trailer plug today...still doing the same thing...

gonna work on it tomorrow with an additional set of hands and eyes...

just don't want to have to tow to Tellico without it working!!

Greg
 
just to wrap up the topic...

found the error the last Sunday night, before heading to Asheville Tuesday morning...

faulty wiring on the trailer...somewhere up the line from me owning it, somebody had used quick splices to connect the brakes up...they were used in spots where a butt connector would've worked (i.e. just two wires hooking together, not tapping into an existing line)...

instead of having the wires "end" in side the connector, both were slid through the connector where they stuck out a couple inches on both sides...they weren't stripped, but there was bare metal visible on the end...

one of the wires was curved just perfect where it rested on one of the trailer leaf springs...every once in a while it must bounce just right so it lost contact and Prodigy errors would go away, then it would make contact again and errors would reappear...

respliced everything underneath, and towed to/from Tellico just fine!!

Thanks to Chris for giving me a hand trouble-shooting the wiring!!

Greg
 
BRUISER said:
SO how did the set up for you towing ???
Click to expand...


other than burning a crap load of gas...:D :D

I think I remember you saying it stayed between 8.5-12MPG...and I know I was a good bit below that at times...

I went 26 miles and topped it back off with 6 more gallons...:confused:


With the brake controller and the Weight Distributing Hitch, it actually towed very comfortably and "true"...

I do think I'm going to go ahead and buy a new carb in the next couple weeks...and get rid of that Holley...replaced plugs/wires and fuel filter before I went, cause it stumbled a few times last Monday (the day before I was leaving)...towed all week flawlessly...just still running after you turn the key (like it did for us that day) and there's a ton of carbon in the carb from it backfiring.

Stayed over 50MPH over every hill between Charlotte and Tellico, except for the final climb up Black Mountain (dropped to ~40MPH), and 2-3 small climbs as you get to the Andrews area and the speed limit is lower (so the momentum isn't maintained as easily)...


Greg
 
Old Fort Mnt is a good test. My Bus will keep a steady 12mph! My J-10 about 22 or 23! So I'd say you did good.
 
new carb came in Friday...should go on Monday or Tuesday...

I opted for the Holley Truck Avenger, so it's good for 40-degree inclines and 30-degree off-camber, in case I decide to do some 2WD wheelin'!!

Greg
 
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