Demco Hydraulic Brake Actuator - Drum - Zinc - 12" Adjustable Channel Down - 12,500 lbs

Video Transcript for Review of Demco Brake Actuator - Surge Brake Actuator - DM8102131

Jeff: Hello, everybody. This is Jeff at etrailer.com. Today we're going to take a look at this Demco 12 inch adjustable channel down hydraulic drum brake actuator. Has a 12,500 pound capacity. Now this hydraulic actuator will activate your trailer's brakes when your tow vehicle slows or stops. Basically what happens is when you apply the brakes in your tow vehicle, deceleration occurs and the momentum will push your trailer towards the rear of your vehicle.

So with the surge brake system, this actuator is triggered as your trailer moves forward once your tow vehicle starts to slow down. So when this happened is the inner portion of this actuator will contract back and it applies force to the master cylinder in the back here and this in turn supplies the necessary hydraulic pressure to engage your trailer's brakes.Now it does use an acetone co-polymer lining on the inner portion here. That'll provide a nice smooth operation as the actuator telescopes in and out. And if you notice on the front, it is an adjustable channel design. So it does have five different mounting positions for your coupler and the coupler is not included.

We do sell that separately on our website. And it is a channel down design. You can see most of the channel is positioned down, so this will allow for a greater drop.Now this is a heavy duty steel construction. Now master cylinder in the back here, it is a composite master cylinder. It's very durable and efficient.

It's a glass reinforced nylon construction to resist rust and corrosion, and it provides a nice large reservoir, provides increased capacity for the brake fluid. And if you notice up at the top here, it uses an automotive style diaphragm cap, and that'll create a nice completely enclosed system to help prevent contamination of the brake fluid.Now, this does include this breakaway cable right here. Now this is required by law because it will prevent a trailer runaway situation. Basically what you do, you take this hook portion and you attach this to your tow vehicle. And then what'll happen is if by chance your trailer comes disconnected from your tow vehicle, it'll pull on this cable, which will activate this lever, which will apply pressure to the master cylinder.

Again, prevent the trailer from a runaway situation, it applies the brakes on the trailer, but it is included.Now this is a bolt on installation. You can see at the bottom here. Let me just go ahead and get this hook back up. There we go. But right down here at the bottom, you can see these holes, it's for a bolt on installation. Now this part is made in the USA. A Few specs on this. This is for trailers with hydraulic drum brakes. Gross towing weight capacity is 12,500 pounds. Maximum tongue weight capacity is 1,250 pounds. Now the channel width, which is the inside portion of the channel, if we put a ruler on that you can see the inside is three inches. The channel height, which will go from the bottom to the very top, is 12 inches tall. And when you go to install this, this is designed to mount onto a straight three inch wide trailer tongue.Now, this actuator also goes by the model number of DA10. And one last note on this is because this actuator does not include a reverse lockout in the back here, it is recommended that you equip the trailer or this actuator with either a reverse lockout solenoid are on your trailer to install free backing brakes. Either one of those, because then you can be able to drive in reverse without the actuator triggering your trailer's brakes.But that should do it for the review on this Demco 12 inch adjustable channel down hydraulic drum brake actuator with a 12,500 pound capacity.