electric brakes - help needed

Submitted: Saturday, Mar 11, 2006 at 21:16
ThreadID: 31656 Views:1940 Replies:5 FollowUps:1
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hi, our camper is fitted with electric brakes which have up unitl now worked great (they do get hot) on our last trip out we noticed that the brakes seemed to be grabbing and sometimes not working, not a very nice thing to happen while driving though Adelaide. the grabbing is mainly when taking off from being stopped. as we are not really up with electric brakes we are hoping that someone can shed some light on what to look for. thanks.
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Reply By: Shaker - Saturday, Mar 11, 2006 at 23:28

Saturday, Mar 11, 2006 at 23:28
Good luck, my electric brakes worked absolutely perfectly, until they needed new shoes, I have had all sorts of problems since, hopefully I have now got it sorted.

Regarding your problem, firstly make sure that the handbrake isn't over adjusted, by that I mean make sure that the shoes are resting firmly on the inside pivot & not being held off by the handbrake cable.
The other thing that may cause the problem, is if, as you say, the brakes have been hot, the lining may be contaminated by grease that may have melted & passed throught he seal.
Or, maybe you need to re-set up the brake controller, as you would from an initial install.
AnswerID: 160010

Reply By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Sunday, Mar 12, 2006 at 12:05

Sunday, Mar 12, 2006 at 12:05
It is unusual to have electric brakes grab when taking off.

One of two things could be at fault.

1) The controller is faulty and still supplying power to the brakes when the brake pedal is not depressed or the stop light switch is faulty or out of adjustment.

2) The springs and pivot points in the drums are rusted up or full of dust causing the shoes to bind / stay locked on when you stop.

Get a test lamp and firstly test the power at the trailer plug to make sure it does not have power when brake pedal is not depressed. If that is ok then disassemble the brake shoes and do an inspection of the shoes and moving parts.

Regards Derek.
AnswerID: 160055

Reply By: Member - Charlie M (SA) - Sunday, Mar 12, 2006 at 18:29

Sunday, Mar 12, 2006 at 18:29
G/day
Gonebush SA
Controller may be giving one or two second delay before release to brakes after stop. Relevel and readjust controller. Had this problem with (Voyager) controller.
Cheers
Charlie
AnswerID: 160103

Reply By: Darian (SA) - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 09:19

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 09:19
Having done a bit of forward research myself on this recently. Mine are 18 months old and have not played up yet. I'd be pulling the hubs off and cleaning the whole braking assembly - wash and brush it all out with a drying solvent I guess - then inspect the few parts in there for wear. Once clean and dry, and without worn or faulty parts, the magnets should be the main focus. Distributor told me that the main things with magnets is the wear indicators - the little holes in the metal face - they are only about 3mm deep - must have at least some hole left - also another biggy is the locator in the centre of the magnet - slots the magnet onto a shaft - that can get horribly worn too. After that, IF the wiring from the magnets back to the controller is sound, seems the controller is next..... even though I have an idea or two, I'll leave that testing to the sparky types here.
AnswerID: 160378

Reply By: gonebush SA - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 21:10

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 21:10
thanks to all for your inputs, we have tested the plug to make sure take there isn't any currant going through when not in use. i think it's a case of pull the wheels off and having a good clean/ look under there. then if still nothing might have to try to find some one that deals in electric brakes- a question is that an auto electrician or a brake specialist? thanks again.
AnswerID: 160516

Follow Up By: Shaker - Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:00

Tuesday, Mar 14, 2006 at 22:00
Might be better with caravan/trailer repairer.
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FollowupID: 415327

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