Bluetooth trailer brakes, fried wiring

[ShadowsPapa]

I did, yes. The entire harness didn’t die thankfully. Im not sure what specifically was fried, just regurgitating what my shop said when I brought it to their attention.




I suppose I should have said created by. Ive definitely had connectivity issues with cheap Chinese crap apps that are poorly programmed, and likely combined with poorly assembled devices.


im actually wondering now if the echo can receive power from the camper battery….as in if i had a catastrophic wire harness failure the echo would still work as long as the TT has battery power. I have noticed the echo stays on when I unplug it from the truck, and its still plugged into the TT. But never gave it any thought.

I suspect, and this is a guess, that is has "auto-off" function after a time-out period.

It would pull some real power but you'd only care for it to work long enough to get you by until you fixed whatever went wrong. The trailer battery charges from the truck..........so there's a connection there already.......... hmm.........

My phone has nothing much for apps on it save for a couple of utilities - such as an app that lets me use it as a level, an app from my plating chemical supply company that lets me run some calculations specific to plating and their chemicals, cell-phone related things like tower location utilities, that sort of thing. First thing I did was rip off any games, that sort of thing - NO games on my phone, and nothing advertised on TV. (If I see an app on a TV ad I'm less likely than ever to download it)
I don't even have fakebook apps on my phone. No instacrap, no messenger or whatever it's called.

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[Gren71]

I suspect, and this is a guess, that is has "auto-off" function after a time-out period.

It would pull some real power but you'd only care for it to work long enough to get you by until you fixed whatever went wrong. The trailer battery charges from the truck..........so there's a connection there already.......... hmm.........

My phone has nothing much for apps on it save for a couple of utilities - such as an app that lets me use it as a level, an app from my plating chemical supply company that lets me run some calculations specific to plating and their chemicals, cell-phone related things like tower location utilities, that sort of thing. First thing I did was rip off any games, that sort of thing - NO games on my phone, and nothing advertised on TV. (If I see an app on a TV ad I'm less likely than ever to download it)
I don't even have fakebook apps on my phone. No instacrap, no messenger or whatever it's called.

Haha we are in the same boat with facebroke and instacrap and apps like those! Haha

my tt has a solar panel setup so the battery is charged all the time. Im not great at charge and draw calculations for electric devices. So IF the echo does get power from the TT battery, in the absence of power supply from the truck, im not sure how long it would last.

i cant find anything on IF the echo does get power from the battery side at all. May be something I just need to test next week when i go to Gettysburg

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Haha we are in the same boat with facebroke and instacrap and apps like those! Haha

my tt has a solar panel setup so the battery is charged all the time. Im not great at charge and draw calculations for electric devices. So IF the echo does get power from the TT battery, in the absence of power supply from the truck, im not sure how long it would last.

i cant find anything on IF the echo does get power from the battery side at all. May be something I just need to test next week when i go to Gettysburg

Will you care how long it will last as long as it gets you there? I doubt someone like you would keep driving it for days or weeks - without fixing the underlying and original damage.
My thinking is that if it gets you where you need to be - safely - GOAL!

Each electric brake magnet pulls roughly 3.0 to 3.2 amps at 12 to 13 volts (max braking power) on 7" brake magnets and 3.2 to 4.0 amps at 12 to 13 volts (max braking power) on the larger 10" magnets.
So you have tandem axles with 4 brake magnets - MAX draw would be about 12 amps on the smaller brakes, 16 amps on a trailer with tandem axles and the larger brakes magnets.
Normal braking, it's less than that.
A fully charged battery should last a while if you weren't in traffic or using the brakes a lot.

 

[Gren71]

Will you care how long it will last as long as it gets you there? I doubt someone like you would keep driving it for days or weeks - without fixing the underlying and original damage.
My thinking is that if it gets you where you need to be - safely - GOAL!

Each electric brake magnet pulls roughly 3.0 to 3.2 amps at 12 to 13 volts (max braking power) on 7" brake magnets and 3.2 to 4.0 amps at 12 to 13 volts (max braking power) on the larger 10" magnets.
So you have tandem axles with 4 brake magnets - MAX draw would be about 12 amps on the smaller brakes, 16 amps on a trailer with tandem axles and the larger brakes magnets.
Normal braking, it's less than that.
A fully charged battery should last a while if you weren't in traffic or using the brakes a lot.

Its more of a personal curiosity really lol now that im wondering if it works, id want to know how long it would work.

Sort of a “if you give a mouse a cookie” scenario going on in my head!

and yea for sure I wouldn’t keeo driving if the power supply was jacked up! Id have a harness overnighted to my house and take my motorcycle everywhere until it was fixed before i just kept driving hah simply knowing something was wrong would drive me bonkers until i corrected it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Its more of a personal curiosity really lol now that im wondering if it works, id want to know how long it would work.

Sort of a “if you give a mouse a cookie” scenario going on in my head!

and yea for sure I wouldn’t keeo driving if the power supply was jacked up! Id have a harness overnighted to my house and take my motorcycle everywhere until it was fixed before i just kept driving hah simply knowing something was wrong would drive me bonkers until i corrected it.

The only treats I give to mice are to entice them into a bucket of water....... but that's a different topic.

 

[Trickster]

How do brake controllers function if you decelrate but do not apply brake pressure? Say for example you hit a large puddle or snow drift?

They do nothing, because you asked of nothing by not applying any brake.

 

[Trickster]

Multiple reasons I won't go the Curt Echo system - and I know those who have them will swear "I've never had an issue and they are perfect and flawless and my phone is also perfect and I've never had an issue with BT or an app crash" - yeah, perfect, hear ya.

I've seen BT freeze and crash. One a month at least I rescue my wife as she says "hey, how come my phone won't connect to xyz today" and I have to restart BT. Sometimes it's with her target device and I have to reset that.
I use BT on my phone for my hearing aids - it's a great indicator of how well BT can or can't switch things it's paying attention to. I note when I get into my truck, the phone pairs to my truck and drops the hearing aids - sometimes. When I exit the truck and move far enough away, I have to reconnect to the hearing aids again. If I use my phone to use jscan or AlfaOBD with the OBD adapter via BT - guess what doesn't work - the connection to the trucks system and my hearing aids - I have to reconnect.
Granted, that's likely because both are "audio" devices in the profile - but then why does the OBD adapter kill the other or audio connections? (I have to go into pairings and choose to connect again)
There are multiple levels and versions on BT - how it works on one phone will differ from how it works on another. I've read where iPhone users have complained they can only get 2 connections at a time even though back then the max was 5 and now it's 7.
I don't want to have to rely on my phone being connected and not dropping connection or that app not freezing to use that button.
If they make that button so it would work with my phone sitting in the house - I'd consider it, but as long as it relies on an iffy app and BT connection, not for me.

Now here come the "but my phone is perfect and no apps ever crash" and "my BT always automatically connects and never drops connection" claims.

My choice - my reasons. I prefer simple and BT and an app on a phone that must be present and ready is not simple.

You seem hellbent on the BT connection.
As mentioned countless times here, BT is only required on initial setup with your braking parameters. It is NOT required after for the Echo to function. Only the “Oh crap” button requires a constant BT connection with the app on your phone. And how many times have you had to use that feature on any style of BC?

 

[ShadowsPapa]

You seem hellbent on the BT connection.
As mentioned countless times here, BT is only required on initial setup with your braking parameters. It is NOT required after for the Echo to function. Only the “Oh crap” button requires a constant BT connection with the app on your phone. And how many times have you had to use that feature on any style of BC?

I know it's NOT required after for the Echo to function. (seems I've pissed you off recently)

I've used it - and it's not only for "oh, crap" situations. It's not a "have to" - it's helpful at other times.
About the time you do need it for the button to work - can you count on that connection?
Probably but I don't like probably.

Curt makes good products, hitch parts, controllers, etc. and the controller has good reviews and is good quality.
Not dissing their products or this controller - it's just not for me.
I like something installed, simple, ready to use ay any time. My preference.
Maybe someday they'll figure out how to connect that button to the controller without a go-between. Very doable.

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