alko electric brakes help

G'day Barb,

I don't have the info requested, however suggest you try AL-KO on 1800 035 603 or alko.com.au

Hope this helps!

Rob.

Barb, I recently replaced a 'brake coil' (actually it's an electro- magnet) because the wire had broken off. When I tested the good brake it was about 4 or 5 ohms. If the resistance reading is high or infinite I'd suggest you need a new magnet (cost me $40 for a pair from Jayco spares in Dandenong, Melb). Cheers. Rob.

The proper way to accurately test a brake magnet is with an amp meter.

To test for a magnet housing short -
connect one lead of the amp meter to either magnet wire (doesn't matter which one), connect the other lead of the amp meter to battery + post. Clamp a separate wire from the negative battery post to the body of the magnet. If the amp meter shows anything other than zero, you have a short, the magnet is toast.

To test for a coil short -
Connect one of the magnet wires to one side of the amp meter, connect the other magnet wire to the neg battery post, connect the other amp meter wire to the positive battery post. If the battery is fully charged, you should be seeing about 2.8 amps on the meter. Any more than 3.2 amps mean the coil resistance is too high, the magnet is toast. The amp reading will drop as the coil heats up, best to view the meter immediately upon connection so as not to get a false (low) test reading.