Troubleshooting Brake Controller that Applies Random Voltage with Bumps in the Road

Question:

Hi, I have a Exiss horse trailer that I hook up to my Chevrolet Express Van RV and everything works fine the brakes and the lights when Im parked but when Im on the road and I go over some bumps the electric brake controler applies brake by itself but not at a constant rate more like flashing some numbers on the indicator. My electric brake controler is a Tekonsha Primus IQ. Also, I dont know if its link or not but when that happen I noticed that if I put my flasher on it blinks like if I had a burned light on the truck. I checked my ground and everything seems to be ok since there is a wire running directly from my battery to the 7 ways plug on the RV and since the brakes are grounded with a wire that goes from the brakes to the 7 ways plug of the trailer.

asked by: William

Expert Reply:

Check the red wire of your brake controller. Sounds like it is shorting out to a 12 volt power source which is telling the controller that it needs to be looking for braking activity and apply braking voltage. When a proportional brake controller has voltage on the red wire it looks for any change in inertia and will apply braking power in a proportional amount to that. So if you can make sure your red wire is connected only to a power source that's active when the brake pedal is applied you'll be good.

expert reply by: Jameson C