I've been unable to get caravan brakes working properly with a new Ford Ranger (with integrated brake controller). Hooked up to van in the driveway and it works, but it takes a 6-7 seconds before they activate. I can hear the magnets humming straight away, but there is a delay until they grab. Any suggestions as to what could be causing this?
Hi mate. Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately no, it's an integrated system in some of the new Rangers. I've set the gain at 10 though (full) and the brake intensity at high and that's the result. Do it sound to you like insufficient power coming through the controller?
If you jack up one side of van and spin wheel and apply brake hard, does the brake actuate and stop wheel.
I am unfamiliar with Ranger integrated brake controller, but many electronic brake controllers self set braking power and retain effect in their memory - your controller may need to be re-set by a Ford technician.
__________________
Possum; AKA:- Ali El-Aziz Mohamed Gundawiathan
Sent from my imperial66 typewriter using carrier pigeon, message sticks and smoke signals.
Humming magnets can be a sign of AC or pulsed DC. Probably the latter. Magnet driver circuits can have a relatively high voltage to start which drops off to a sustain voltage. It could be that the initial power(Voltage and/or current) are not high enough to operate the magnet or that the inertia in the pads (return springs) is too high or you have a bad return earth.
It's times like this when you need access to an oscilloscope so you can see what the current is.
-- Edited by jegog on Friday 21st of July 2023 04:11:25 PM
The controller has since been replaced, and I've found that the vehicle needs to be moving to send sufficient power to the brakes to activate them. Stationary, the voltage supplied is very low, obviously just enough to make the magnets hum. However once moving, there is now trailer braking which increases based upon the speed, and how hard the pedal is being applied.
So, thank you to all who posted, speculated, pontificated, and took the time to give your knowledge and experience. Hats off also to Ford for working hard to solve this issue.
That is the way most modern electric brake systems work. They use accelerometers to measure the rate of braking. Stand on your brakes, the van brakes hard, it is called proportional braking.
