SETTING THE BRAKE CONTROLLER

[gabe]

Hello: I'm using a Prodigy electonic brake controller and I'm having difficulty finding the right setting for the power-wheel / knob. First, I jacked up the 17B and I adjusted the brakes according to the instructions............ adjust to lock up and then back off to a free wheel with just a slight sound of brake shoe. Then I adjusted the Prodigy as instructed in their manual. That is, I set the power wheel to 6.0 and then keep backing off until just before lock-up. I found this setting to be 4.3. Then I road tested the rig. Everything was fine..........the trailer stopped nicely and the wheels did not lock up. Then I went downtown to see how the brakes would react for traffic lights etc. I found that the setting of 4.3, which was set following the manufacturers instructions was causing the wheels to lock up at the lower city speed limits. So, approaching traffic lights there would be a loud squeal as the trailer brakes locked up and the tires dragged on the road. I found that to avoid this situation I had to back off the power to 2.0 to avoid lock up. What I'm wondering is, do other users of the Prodigy experience the same problem, and what are the settings you use? Based on my experience, it seems to me that I would have to have two settings..........one for highway driving (4.3) and one for city driving (2.0). I did not use the boost feature at all, as it worsened the lock-up situation. Is there something I'm missing here? Your ideas would be greatly appreciated.
gabe

[gbaglo]

I'm on the road, with Keath and his 19'. He was having problems with lock-up of the forward wheel on the tandem set-up.
Stopped at a mechanic to check it out and he recommended backing off the standard setting for city driving. I think you've probably got the right setting and just need to reduce it to 2.0 for the city.

baglo

[PGDriver]

I find that after you get used to the Prodogy you can tell by the feeling when you brake
wether you need to adjust it up or down a bit. I do turn it down a bit in town to stop lock up.
On the highway I have them set at about 4.6 and 4.3 in town.
This works with my truck and trailer combination, every vehicle / trailer will be a little
different.
Also the other variable is inertia, the harder you tend to brake the harder the
trailer brakes come on so if you tend to be light on the brakes you can use a higher setting,
if you tend to run up to a light and hit the brakes harder you will need a lower setting to
prevent lock up.
Inertia based controllers tend to take a little time and patience to set
up perfectly for your driving style.... but once you dial them in or have used the old
timed ones you will love them.

[gabe]

Thank you Baglo and Doug. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that has to feel his way around the settings. I just thought for a minute that there was something I was doing which was causing the problem. For the next while, I will set it at 4.3 for the highway and 2.0 for the city......................and come up a bit slower to the traffic lights!!!
gabe