Trailer Brakes Do Not Stop Trailer with Manual Override

Question:

when i pull my manual override i get 12volts, when i check it on trailer wire, hook to trailer, i get 3volts , not moving. moving the manual override will not stop the trailer.

asked by: Nick

Expert Reply:

When you are testing the blue brake output wire the second time and only getting 3 volts, are you using the manual override again or the brake pedal. If it is the brake pedal then that is normal as the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller part # 90195 is a proportional brake controller which means that the intensity of the trailer braking will be a direct correlation to the intensity of the vehicle braking. Therefore, if the vehicle is sitting still, the Prodigy P3 or any proportional brake controller for that matter will not send a full 12 volts to the brakes using the brake pedal so this sounds perfectly normal.

If you are instead using the manual override again when only recording 3 volts, there is more than likely a short somewhere in the blue brake output wire from the brake controller to the braking assemblies. I would begin tracing this wire back with your multimeter and testing at different points to see where the drop in voltage occurs. Once you find the issue you can either repair it or replace it with part # 10-1-1.

expert reply by: Conner L