Prodigy Brake Controller

[Millfly]

Have any of you fellows installed the new Prodigy Brake Controller from Tekonsha? I had one ordered from the original production run in June at pre-production price but had to cancel the order. My 16K lb. Mountain Aire 5'er arrived and the dealer needed it off his lot. Could not wait for the Prodigy and so had them put on a Hayes Digital. The problem is, when I get the brake power set to where I want it at road spead, it snaps my neck when applied at low speeds in the 5 MPH range. (Like when you are inching your way up to a toll booth. ) It is full on or off with nothing proportional in between. I noticed the Prodigy is now available from Camping World and is proportional. It claims it will add more power to the brakes at high speed where it is needed and less a slow speed. Would really appreciate some feedback on this?

 

[Ramboy]

Millfly,

I bought one about two weeks ago. I have it installed but will not be able to test for a few more months. I bought when I did to take advantage of a very nice discount Camping World was offering. If it does everything they claim, looks like it will be the best thing since sliced bread. I am looking forward to trying it out.

 

[Komik]

You might be interested in this.



After several months of waiting I got mine about 2 weeks ago. Well, after hooking up to the trailer which is a 17,500 # fifth wheel and setting according to instructions I took off. As instructions say go to 25 mph and touch brakes. I did that and found no brakes. So I set gain a little towards the heavy side. Tried it again. Still no brakes, as you know the digital display shows the voltage going to the trailer brakes. After setting the gain high as possible and testing again I could only get up to 7 volts to the trailer. So I went back home to do some testing. I checked voltages, ground and even run hot and ground wires direct to the battery and test again. Still no brakes, I would get my speed up to 30 mph and hit the brakes hard as possible with about a 4 to 5 volts with a max of 7 volts going back to the trailer. Next step I went to the RV dealer where I purchased the controller. Grab the brake expert, new controller and do another test. Same thing. Next thing I did was take out the Prodogy and install my old Sential. I spent 3 full days testing, readjusting and every thing I could think of trying to get this to work to where I felt safe braking.



I call the company and talk with one of the service advisors, didn't get much help there. So I call back again and ask for engineering. I get this cheif engineer and talk with him for an hour telling him all of whats happened. After discussing this for quite some time we conclude that the controller needs to be more aggressive for heavy trailers. Belive me, I did everything possible. I went as far as taking a frequency counter out looking for stray RF in the system.



So from here the company is going to send me two more controllers each with different software with various settings for different weight towing. I should have them in my hand Monday. Seems that the controller was tested and set for 10,000 lb towing. When heavier towing the controller isn't aggressive nor does it respond quick enough for adequate braking.



My conclusion:



I wouldn't get into hurry to purchase this controller unless your towing a 10,000 lb trailer or less. If your going to be towing a wide range of weight I'd recomend waiting untill further testing and the bugs are worked out. I believe its going to be a great controller. Its simple to operate, no fumbling around trying to set the right angle. After I receive these two controllers and testing them with my 17,500 lb trailer I'll call them back with my analysis and from there they will be making needed adjustments for a wider range of towing



Hope this is what your looking for



Komik

 

[Millfly]

Komik,

This is exactly what I was looking for. Till I get it loaded, our trailers are probably within 500 lbs of each other. The Prodigy at present would be of no value to me. The hayes requires about 4 to 4. 5 volts at roadspeed to do the trailer braking I feel comfortable with but this is a real "neck snapper" at 5 MPH. I have to readjust the unit to 2. 5 volts when running at this speed in a stop area. It would be terrific if this Prodigy could duplicate this need. Thanks so much for the infor.

 

[Ramboy]

Komik,

That's a great post. I will be looking forward to your next post as that could save me a real headache. My trailer is also very heavy and I was not going to be able to pre-test it before leaving on a trip later. I would have been really pi$$ed if I had to discover this on the road.