- Hi guys, Briohny here from
Accelerate Auto Electrics and Air Conditioning.
Today we're gonna run you through the reasons
we use and recommend the REDARC
Tow-Pro Elite electric brake controller.
The first reason, the Two-Pro Elite
is what we call a remote-head brake controller.
The base unit goes behind the dashboard,
and you'll never see this at all.
All you see on the dash is a little remote head here,
which is used to control the unit.
Most other brands have a big box,
similar to something like this,
that sits under your steering column,
or somewhere on the dash.
Quite often you'll knock your knees on it,
and in an emergency when you need to apply the brakes,
you've got to locate it and use the switch.
The second reason is you don't have to change
between electric and electric hydraulics.
If you have caravans or trailers
with different braking systems,
as long as they're compatible,
it will automatically detect and adjust for you.
The third reason is it's Australian
designed, developed, and manufactured.
The fourth reason, it can go on 12- or 24-volt vehicles.
The fifth reason, and the main feature that I love,
are the two types of braking modes.
Automatic mode for highway conditions,
and user control mode for off-road.
Here's REDARC's Stuart Peddle
to explain to you the two different types of braking modes.
- Tow-Pro works in automatic mode
by sensing how hard the vehicle is braking.
Automatic mode is indicated by the LED being blue
in the back of the knob there.
So I have a brake pedal here,
I can simulate applying the brakes in the car,
where when I brake with the vehicle,
the vehicle brakes, and generates inertia.
The Tow-Pro senses here how hard that vehicle is braking,
and applies a proportional amount of braking to the trailer
to suit that application at the time.
And we can also dial it down,
or dial up, less or more braking force,
depending on the weight of your trailer.
But essentially, if you brake hard and fast,
so does the Tow-Pro and so does the trailer.
If you brake soft and slow,
so does the Tow-Pro and so does the trailer,
meaning that the whole vehicle
and trailer system all brakes as one,
and you get a nice smooth progressive braking.
The user control mode is really great
for off-road applications,
where inertia isn't necessarily the best way
to detect braking force.
To enter user control mode, we stop the vehicle,
we set the controller to zero,
we put our foot on the brake, and double-tap.
The LED is now green.
User controlled, or manual mode,
is purely triggered by the brake lights.
As soon as the brake lights come on,
the trailer brakes come on to the set level
that you have set on the control knob.
And it does not consider how hard the vehicle is braking.
So if we look at a soft, beach-sand type driving situation,
if we brake hard on soft sand,
the vehicle bites into the sand.
So what we don't want to happen
is the trailer to bite into the sand as well,
or else we'll be anchored there.
So what we can do is we can have
a very light amount of trailer-braking force applied,
so you can brake as hard or as soft
as you want on the vehicle,
and the trailer will just glide
to a stop on the top of the sand.
Likewise, if you've got a
steep, rocky descent that you want to do,
and you're going to using low-range
first gear with the vehicle,
the engine's gonna be doing most of the braking.
We don't want to have to brake hard
in order to brake the trailer hard.
So we can dial the Tow-Pro right up,
just touch the brakes on the vehicle
to bring the brake lights on,
and you can set more or less
trailer braking force for that steep descent.
Another feature is that you can
actually push the knob itself
in order to brake the trailer independent of the vehicle,
and also bring on the vehicle and trailer brake lights.
In user control mode, it comes on
to the level that you have set.
In manual mode, if we return to it by setting to zero,
foot on the brake, double-tap,
the override goes on to a level
that equates to a soft braking on the trailer,
and the Tow-Pro actually feels
how hard the trailer is braking
and regulates the amount of pressure
to make sure that the trailer is pulled straight
behind the car, if it gets a bit of sway.
So if you've gone past a semi-trailer
or something like that on the highway.
- If you'd like any more information
about electric brake controllers,
or the REDARC Tow-Pro Elite,
give us a bell on 1-300-227-353,
or head to our website, www.amae.net.au.