Troubleshooting a Brake Controller Draining a Vehicle Battery When Not in Use

Question

Question:

I need wiring diagram for a prodigy p2 for a 2006 hyundai tucson. We had it installed and we need to trace it, because it keep drawing the battery dead every 2 days. Can you help us?

asked by: Timothy R

0

Expert Reply:

It sounds like there is a short somewhere in the system that is drawing power and draining the battery. The brake controller you have should only draw a few milliamps of power when not in use. The most likely shorts are a short to ground and a short to the blue wire.

Start at the brake controller and sever the blue wire leaving enough length to reconnect when finished testing. If everything is shut off, test the blue wire to determine if there is voltage coming through. You can use a multimeter like # PT89ZR if needed.

If there is power, more than a few milliamps coming through on the blue wire, then that would indicate a problem inside the brake controller and it will need to be replaced. You can also check the power draw on the black wire.

If it is pulling more than a few milliamps, then you will need to check the connections on the black wire to see if it is intact. Do the same with the ground (white) wire of the controller. It should be attached to a clean bare metal surface.

If the brake controller checks out, move on to the vehicle side trailer connector. If there is dirt or corrosion in the trailer connector or in the back where the wires attach, this can cause a short to ground or short to brake and be drawing power all of the time.

Since this happens with or without a trailer connected, the trailer is most likely not the problem, but it would not hurt to make sure there is no dirt/corrosion in the connector just to be safe.

I also attached an FAQ article on wiring a brake controller from scratch that should have information on how you installed your controller.

expert reply by: Jameson C

0

Answer 1

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

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Answer 4

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Answer 6

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Answer 7

You are correct, you should only be getting output when the brake is applied, or the override switch is activated. It sounds like the controller might be bad, but to make sure, you should probably bench test it before tossing it. Use a circuit…

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Answer 8

When a trailer with electric brakes is connected to a vehicle that has a brake controller that brake controller is sensing the draw of the brake magnets by sending back a small amount of voltage on the blue wire. The brake controller also get's…

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Answer 9

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Answer 10

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Answer 11

To install a brake controller on your 1982 Blazer, you will need our Brake Controller Installation Kit, part #ETBC7, which includes everything needed to install a brake controller if your Blazer has a functioning 4-pole trailer connector. If you do…

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Answer 12

This indicates a problem with the red wire. There are several wires that can carry the brake light signal, but only one that is a brake light only wire. the red wire should be plugged in right next to the white wire and above the black wire like in…

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Troubleshooting a Brake Controller Draining a Vehicle Battery When Not in Use

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