RE: Brake Controller

[mwh710]

 
I have a " Escort II"  brake controller & have lost the manual & can t find who makes it etc...  To make a long story short I have forgotten how to adjust it correctly.  Anyone with suggestions?  Thanks.[&:]

[Ab Diver]

 mwh710
Mike, if I read the description of this controller correctly (Bright ten lamp bar graph displays reaction speed and hardness of trailer brakes!), you " can t"  adjust it correctly to meet probable driving conditions. Before you get all bent out of shape (no pun intended), this looks and sounds just like another brake controller on the market that is time-based. A Time-Based controller *can t* be adjusted to meet the demands of slow, controlled stopping AND an all-out emergency stop at the same time. It s either one or the other. An inertial controller, however, *will* allow you stop safely during both sets of circumstances without having to reset the controller over and over again as driving conditions change. Do a search of this site for " controller"  or " inertial"  and a whole slew of stuff will come up, or check out the Brake Controller article in this month s issue of Pop-Up Times. A state of the art, top-of-the-line inertial brake controller can be had for less than a hundred bucks nowadays-- downright cheap considering how much more efficient your trailer s brakes will operate.
 
 That said... you adjust a time based controller so that the brakes receive " almost"  enough power to lock them up (if the tires lock up, it s too much power), and then set the time for how fast you want the brakes to come up to full power: fast, or slow. Trouble is, once they ve come up to full power, they stay there as long as your foot is on the brake pedal. So if you are gently slowing your TV down on a hill, you ll be frying your trailer brakes at full power the whole time.
 
 Hope that helped a bit. Sorry if I sounded a bit " preachy" [], but the subject of brake controllers[8D], and out-of-date[&:] (if not downright unsafe[:@]) technology like time-based controllers[: (] gets me all worked up.[]

[AustinBoston]

 mwh710
I don t know if the Escort II is a time based controller, but I want to echo Ab Diver s comments.  Timer based controllers are best used for paperweights or doorstops.  Once you use an inertial controller, you ll wonder why the time-based ones are legal.
 
 Austin

[mwh710]

 mwh710
From reading previous posts by various people, the Tekonsha Prodigy is what I should be looking into?[&:]
 
 BTW thanks for the info.  I know Camping World carries Tekonsha.

[Tim5055]

 mwh710

 

ORIGINAL:  mwh710
 
 From reading previous posts by various people, the Tekonsha Prodigy is what I should be looking into?[&:]
 
 BTW thanks for the info.  I know Camping World carries Tekonsha.
 

 
 Yes, CW does carry them but you will pay $40 too much.  The were $138 at CW last week.  
 
 http://www.rvwholesalers.com/  has them for less than $100

[Jo Ann]

 mwh710
yep, tekonsha prodigy is the way to go...so glad when we got ours!!!