Brake controller, one for the electrickery gang

Ooops, should have possibly mentioned that the electrical tow connection is a standard 7 pin flat unit. Sorry, but I know little or nothing about this stuff, I'm just used to hooking up a light weight camper, checking blinkers and stop lights etc are working, then off I go.

Thanks, Dave

Pin 5 is the one for power to the brakes so a meter across that and earth will tell you if it works or not.

Providing whoever wired it up did it properly.

Personally I would chuck both the flat plug and put a LARGE ROUND and get a Prodigy Brake controller.

Reason The Large round has much bigger pins to transfer voltage and current.

The Prodigy works on a different principle to the Hayman and is a far better unit.

Would be the most widely used unit by vanners I would think.

Get a circuit tester, multi-meter or a 12v globe and a piece of electrical cable will do & with the ignition turned on get someone to operate the manual slide control on the unit while you check each terminal at the 7-pin plug outlet to see if one of them supplies a voltage each time the brake controller is operated. If that works then press the brake pedal and see if the same terminal gets a voltage supply every time the brake pedal is pressed. Don't confuse that signal with the terminal that supplies power to the trailer to activate the brake lights which should be the red wire going in to the the trailer plug. There should be fuse in the power supply circuit to the brake controller so be sure to check that if you aren't getting any output before deciding that it is inoperative. Otherwise just connect a friends electric braked trailer to you vehicle, jack up one wheel on the trailer and turn the wheel by hand while someone holds their foot on the brake pedal with the ignition turned on and the wheel should lock.

I have a Hayman Reece brake controller - controling tandem brakes on 3 tonne van - it works well.
Its voltage when measured at the socket – Max strength is equal to battery voltage and minimum strength setting about 3 volts.
I had a fair bit of trouble with the 12 flat plastic socket, in arduous conditions (lots of red dust and water submersion) and had it replaced it with two cast alloy large 7 pin sockets.
I've had round and flat plastic plugs in the past but they don't stand up to the conditions I use them in.

Hi Buswackers,

Dave as everybody is advising you, ultimately, go with the Tekonsha Prodigy as they are probably the best given the number of different settings you can program into them. They are not difficult to set up and you can adjust them on the fly as you are traveling along, if needs be.

Just take your time and read the instructions first up and keep a copy in the vehicle to refresh your memory should you need to.

If you set them up with a 4 pin connector just below the unit, you can easily remove them and transfer from one vehicle to another if you so desire.

My nephew talked me into mine and I have not regretted it for one minute.

I paid over $200 for mine many years ago. Still going strong and I would not have anything but electric brakes and i have towed with all sorts of systems for nearly 50 years now.

Cheers, Bruce.

Hi all,

Thanks for all the helpful advice. I will do a couple of the checks to see if the Hayman unit works or not..... but now, after an afternoon discussion with my wife, the Jackaroo may not be going as soon as we were thinking.

So, will probably upgrade to a better connection and controller for when the van is ready, and order the appropriate connection on the van during fit-out.

Thanks heaps for all the advice,

Cheers, Dave