favorite brake controller

[Barb&Tim]

Shop around for whatever you choose to buy

P2 & P3 price a little lower here: $97.99 & $115.99

http://www.adventurerv.net/towing-br...page=4&sort=2a

But there might be less expensive places out there.

Tim

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by Barb&Tim

Shop around for whatever you choose to buy

P3 price a little lower here:

http://www.adventurerv.net/towing-br...page=4&sort=2a

But there might be less expensive places out there.

Tim

Not bad, I paid $131 on e-bay without the harness.

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Not bad, I paid $131 on e-bay without the harness.

Prices have gone up. The original Prodigy was around $90 in 2005.

Cheaper than my solution. I paid $30,000 for my IBC, but it came with a truck.

Thanks everybody for responding...... It looks like the prodigy3 is the
controller of choice. I will take all your advise and pick one up.
Thanks Bill for welcoming me onboard... I have had a lot of good advise
and more importantly good ideas from experienced travellers. ( we are
new to trailering) Thanks again.... I will be talking/asking for advise in the
future.

thanks karen..................from all the response,i think the p3 is the route to go!! thanks for your experiences

Absent all the obvious expertise on this thread, we have towed both a 3326 and our Elkmont 26. When the P3 is set up according to the instructions, the braking performance of our Suburban is the same with or without the TM.

Has anybody had any experience using a P2 vs a P3?

I had a P2 but was planning to get a P3, until the new truck with it's built in controller appeared.

AFAIK, the P3 has a few more bells and whistles than the P2 but basically operates the same.

The P3's most important bell/whistle to me was the ability to check the current output of the P3. You can't do this with the P2. It's a bit convoluted to do it on the P3 (under "Troubleshooting" IIRC), but it does allow you to test your brake system and ensure all brakes are operating as expected.

A couple of us have had broken brake wires and only one out of two brakes working without realizing it. A routine check of the current would have diagnosed that. Monitoring the voltage (the normal display for the P2 and P3) does not tell you that.

Unfortunately, the built-in brake controller in my new truck does not provide current monitoring (although it has some other really nice features). But I've purchased a tiny digital ammeter and once I get up the courage, it's going in, somehow.

Is it that involved to do "the test" you are referring too?
Thanks.

Originally Posted by moaboy

Is it that involved to do "the test" you are referring too?
Thanks.

To check that both brakes are operating?

Without a current reading, I would always check the brake drum temperatures by hand immediately after stopping. If both were warm, then both were working. It was when one drum was cool that I discovered the broken brake line. I believe Bill has also experienced a broken brake line.

A continuous current readout in the cab would be better as that would tell you instantaneously that something was wrong as you were traveling.

AFAIK the P3 will not give you a continuous current reading while on the road. It is only in diagnostic mode that you can check the current as you press the brakes. But I could be wrong. And even so it's easier to do your current check before every trip, than make a stop and check the brake drum temperatures.