Electrical Dredded Break safe system

[Roosterman]

G'day all, firstly I have searched and searched the forum for the info im after, have found a few answers, but nothing that really leads me in the right direction...

I have the tow secure system fitted with the wireless remote unit which lives in the car...

Now I have power to everywhere, and battery is charged, once the car and van is connected and I conduct the test from the main unit, I receive the 5 audible beeps from the receiver telling me that the system is working...all good

However when I turn the car on, according to instructions I should hear the 5 beeps again to tell me the system is working....but im not getting the beeps, further to the problems, I am meant to PAIR the wireless receiver...I have done this countless times, both LED's are meant to illuminate once paired, but again this isn't happen during the process.

My ESC is working, well I have both lights working when connected to the car, and the charge LED on tow secure main unit is also illuminated telling me that there is power where needed..

So im thinking im doing whats needed, but I cant get it to work 100%.

Am I missing something..??

Any ideas....????

Thanks.

 

[mfexpanda]

I think mines the same . The remote in the car has nothing to tell you it's working but it started beeping when the battery in the unit was flat .hook it all up and pull the cable out of the unit and the brakes should come on

 

[davemc]

ESC and brakeaway is different.. I pull the pin out now and then to test the brakeaway is working.
No idea a better way you think there be a LED to say its ok.

With ESC some other ESC system not ALKO have a monitor inside although you can only see if ESC activating if your on the drawbar while driving you do feel it though

Brake away activates when the pin is pulled out as you lost the van from the back of the tug, it is supposed to apply the brakes so the van stops

ESC is Electronic Stability Control it is supposed to apply breaks if the van starts to move to stop it.

Sorry edited a few times kids running around stupidly

 

[Roosterman]

By your reply's its sounds as though I am doing things right, I have pulled the switch on the draw bar to check and yes its doing what its meant to be doing.....crap system TBH, well maybe not the system, but the wireless receiver and the way that it works...

 

[davemc]

you know I am not sure I have heard it chirp 5 times found the manual.
http://rvpartsexpress.com.au/_instruction_manuals/Towsafe_Operating Instructions.pdf

 

[pauljygrant]

Agree with other replies. I also had a few initial issues with the unit - I had pulled the pin then reinserted it but for some reason, it didn't record that the pin was back in place. I didn't know this and couldn't work out why the battery was completely flat and wouldn't recharge. After 2 days of checking all wiring, and recharging the battery directly via my Ctek, noticed that the brake lights were on enabling me to track the fault down to the pin and trigger switch.
Thankfully all good now and I certainly have a better understanding of how it works so maybe good that it 'failed' when in my shed rather than on the road some where.

 

[bigcol]

while personally i am not a fan of anything wireless, i dont think that mass produced wireless receivers are paired together as securely as hard wired.

what is the distance between sender and receiver..... is it close to the max distance???

 

[Roosterman]

while personally i am not a fan of anything wireless, i dont think that mass produced wireless receivers are paired together as securely as hard wired.

what is the distance between sender and receiver..... is it close to the max distance???

It would be 4/5 meters I guess, the main unit is under the dinette seat, and the wireless receiver is on the dash of the veh....so I would think the distance is fine.

Bloody frustrating, from what I have tested etc, I believe its working, but it wont PAIR via the instructions, and when connected on start up, again it wont chirp like its meant to....not sure..

 

[Where to next]

Hi @Roosterman your timing on this topic is impeccable. I have just dropped my van off to Page Bros. Jayco to check out the exact same issue that you are talking about with the receiver. I made comment to the service tech about the receiver not making any beeping noise when the car is started as what is stated in the manual. He said that even though it is noted that way in the manual he has not known the receivers to ever do that. There is nothing that happens on the receiver to indicate that it has paired up.

While on my last trip I thought I would do some investigating and connected the receiver in the van where it proceeded to beep its head off telling me the battery on the brake away system was flat. When the reciever was connected in the car it did not make a sound. As a result have ditched the small battery from the breakaway system and connected it to the house battery.

Will keep you posted on what Jayco come back to me with when I pick up the van again in a week or so.

 

[Roosterman]

Hi @Roosterman your timing on this topic is impeccable. I have just dropped my van off to Page Bros. Jayco to check out the exact same issue that you are talking about with the receiver. I made comment to the service tech about the receiver not making any beeping noise when the car is started as what is stated in the manual. He said that even though it is noted that way in the manual he has not known the receivers to ever do that. There is nothing that happens on the receiver to indicate that it has paired up.

While on my last trip I thought I would do some investigating and connected the receiver in the van where it proceeded to beep its head off telling me the battery on the brake away system was flat. When the reciever was connected in the car it did not make a sound. As a result have ditched the small battery from the breakaway system and connected it to the house battery.

Will keep you posted on what Jayco come back to me with when I pick up the van again in a week or so.

@Where to next, thankyou, I thought I was going mad with this bloody thing, TBH following the instructions is pretty straight forward, the bits just don't want to play the game.....as I mentioned earlier, its a crap type of system IMO, I will keep an ear out mate for a reply after you get word back from Jayco.....my first service is due after coming home from Vic when I picked it up, but cant get in until Feb, I intend to also raise the problem with them....in the mean time I intend to complete the testing seq before we take off each time...pretty much to ensure the system is working..

Thanks for the info, and good luck...

 

[SkinnyBuddah]

I found on mine that if the battery switch in the van isn't on when turning on the vehicle I don't get the five beeps. Now with that said its still hit and miss as to weather or not the damn thing will beep. When it does it will work for the entire trip. When it doesn't I've stopped caring. ... If the van breaks away from the car I don't think the beeping will save much. Hahahaha.

 

[Rockape]

HI,
Mine only sounds when you pull the pin and activate the breakaway.
Cheers
Nick

 

[Where to next]

Hi @Roosterman, I picked up my van today from Page Bros. All requested items were attended to all under warranty.

The comment with the break away receiver was that there is nothing wrong with it. The receivers DO NOT actually beep when the car is started as the instructions say it should. The service tech from Page Bros admitted the instructions are incorrect. Mystery solved. Really when you think about it the reciever is a waste of time if it does not give any indication that it is working ok. Long story short better to check the status of the battery at the controller in the van, if that is ok then all good. If the van was to breakaway from the car your gonna know about it, don't need a beep or two from the receiver to tell you that.

Hope this helps!

 

[dagree]

Long story short better to check the status of the battery at the controller in the van

The receiver will let you know if you have a flat battery as soon as you turn the ignition on...... Frightened the S out of me

 

[SkinnyBuddah]

I was also told the instructions were wrong... That's simply not correct as mine beeps five times when I start the car. However if I'm holding my tongue in the wrong direction and Venus is in the house of Aquarius it won't. Next trip away I'll see if I can work out what makes it work and what doesn't.

 

[BigSkiddy]

I use one of these which is hardwired. Every time I put my foot on the brake in the car a green light comes up to show that the breakaway battery is charged and ready for action.

 

[swannie]

Guys when at home do you leave the breakaway plugged in on the drawbar? I pulled mine out but then noticed that the unit constantly clicks & I assume flattens the service tow battery? I've just bought the van and even after picking it up it beeped to say battery was flat, charged for 5 days and it's been all good. So if you remove the secure tow while in storage it drains battery?

 

[pauljygrant]

If you pull the plug, it will activate the brakes and flatten the battery. May also turn your brake lights on.
I have left the 240v battery charging unit plugged into the brake unit and connected to mains so that it keeps the brake away battery constantly charged. Will also charge when connected to your car.

 

[achjimmy]

Yeah it's a bit simplistic and I spent the first month re-pairing it but I have now brought the charger and leave the battery charged and have hard wired the 12v to the remote device and mounted it in the dash. Seems to work impeccably now.

 

[dagree]

Did the same as @achjimmy but yet to work out where to mount the remote sensor!