Does anyone use a Curt Echo brake controller, the bluetooth/smartphone one that plugs into the 8 pin connector? What are your thoughts on it?

I set ours to max on the braking force and sensitivity, and we feel the brakes working, pulling back on the TV (a Volvo XC60) but they will not lock up. Directions with our previous controller, a Curt with a hand held controller and a braking force adjustment wheel, were to set the force so the tires lock up then back down the setting to the point where they just do not lock up. I can never get our Echo to lock up the tires unless the road is wet.

Our dealer says our brakes are functioning correctly, although they have not tested the Echo unit itself.?

thanks,

Don Knabb
West Chester, PA

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Hello Don:

I worked at a Bosch plant that made ABS brake systems. When your wheels lock up the effectiveness of the braking is over. I think your dealer is correct.

ABS for tractor trailers was Bosch's first big market.

Carl.

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I use the Curt Bluetooth brake controller. I’ll preface my comments by saying that I am new to towing. I have the controller set very low to avoid the trailer from pulling my truck to a stop rather than the other way around. The trailer is well under the tow limits of my full sized truck so I felt the trailer brakes are really only needed to keep the trailer in line during a panic stop. ?My Aliner Classic has always towed easy and straight so I have not felt the need to tap the trailer brakes to stop an unruly sway.

I have had issues with the controller activating the trailer brakes after stopping. I could feel the extra drag then noticed the controller thought the brakes were on. I had to tap the brakes to get the controller back in line. ?The controller at other times has lost and can’t find the connection to my phone. I had 2 iphones on our last trip and it would happen to either phone randomly.?

JoeS
2015 Silverado double cab 5.3L
2022 Aliner Classic double dormer

Those "wireless" brake controllers like the echo are sort of funky.? They pull the power to activate the brakes from the trailer power wire, not the brake wire.? That means the power comes from either the car alternator, or the trailer battery.? I've seen during testing my fridge on DC mode that it pulls 2 amps from the alternator and 11 amps from my trailer battery.? 10 inch brakes pull a max of about 8 amps, and I haven't tested it myself but I would guess a good percentage of that would come from your trailer battery.? So one question for you is do you have a good trailer battery?

The other funky part of the wireless controllers is they sense brake activation by both brake/turn lights being activated at the same time.? But that means they tend to pulse the brakes when you turn on your hazard flasher lights.? You're given a button you can push on your echo phone app to disable the brakes if you have your hazard flashers on.? This behavior doesn't affect your braking power, but I mention it because most don't know that, and you don't want to find out when you turn on your flashers for the first time in some emergency situation.

As long as your trailer battery is good, that brake controller is a proportional controller, and should be as good as any other design. The place that controller pulls current from is the only difference between that controller and any other wired proportional controller.

I have to ask, though, are you sure that the drop in braking power is due to a new controller?? I towed a buddy of mine's trailer, and I tested how it braked with my vehicle, and his trailer brakes were close to non-existent.? We all set up our brakes when the trailer is new, and after the break in period, most of us don't mess with them much at all, and wouldn't know if they became weak.

But brakes on trailers do get weak over time for a variety of reasons.? It's a fairly common problem.? So you need to figure out if you have a trailer brake problem or a controller problem.? The way to do that is tow your trailer with another vehicle, with a different ('preferably wired) trailer brake controller on that vehicle.? If the brakes have good power on the 2nd vehicle, but not with your curt echo controller, and you have adjusted your echo controller to the max, then the echo controller is bad.? The echo controller gets good reviews, so it shouldn't be a design problem, but more likely you just got a defective unit.

Most of the dealers who do the brakes just put a gadget on the 7 way plug and short the brake wire to the battery power wire.? If the wheels can't be turned by hand, they say you're good to go.? Ask the dealer who said your brakes were good if they tested them by towing with their own vehicle or not.? If not have them do that and then do a more in depth check if they find why the brakes are weak. Also be aware that if you had the brake pads replaced, the brakes are weak for the first few hours of driving, because the pads aren't worn in yet.

I've had both a brake lock up problem and a brake too weak problem.? For some reason multiple RV dealers could not find those problems.? I called up Dexter since I had Dexter brakes, and they recommended one of their certified service centers near me.? I took my traioer there and they fixed it on their first try.

If you want to try and diagnose the problem yourself, here are the things to check:

1. Brake pad adjustment (as Dave mentioned)
2. Ohms of the brakes
3. Current supplied to the brakes
4. Volts supplied to the brakes
5. Brake pads worn out
6. Drum/hub worn out
7. Bad connections from brake wire twist nuts, or ground bolts into frame.
8. Worn wire that goes along or through axle to right side brake.?
9. Oil on brake pads
10. Oil on magnet where it skids on the hub
11. Rusted or sticky pivots in the moving parts of the brake.

There are youtube videos on how to do all this stuff.? I had the impression that the rv dealers didn't check all this stuff, especially the electrical measurements.

I have 10 inch brakes on a 1600 pound sport.? I have to set my curt Bluetooth about 40% for lockup when brakes are wired in parallel (normal wiring).? Problem was that even with low sensitivity, the brakes would grab too much at low speed, pulling back on the equinox.? I switched to series wired brakes and can run 100% volts and level 9 sensitivity without lockup nor excessive braking force.??

I put the controller under the rear fuse box area of the car, installed a trailer side connector there.? I feed it 12v from a relay direct from that fuse box, ground, and center brake light to both left and right, and the blue brake wire that goes to the actual connector at the hitch.? With this, hazards blink isn't a problem and it isn't hanging out so far from the bumper.? Plus, with the relay isolation, it loses power when the car is off(no back feed from the camper).? This way the controller resets it's gyro when starting the car. I live on a slope, so after pulling out, I can turn off the car for a moment and cause a recalibration. The system uses the power on condition as level for determining the inertia increase in voltage vs sensitivity.?

The 10 inch brakes are over kill for my 13 inch wheels, but never find them getting hot.? Nothing gets so hot that I cannot hold my hand on the hub/wheels.

My issue has been with the curt app, I have to pair the phone almost every time I use it. First couple years it stayed paired, so it must be an issue in an update to the app. But, Since my settings are good, I don't bother with the app, the controller remembers the previous setting.?

Joe S.,
We have a 2022 LXE, (dry weight 1,790). We tow it with a 2020 Honda Ridgeline.? We have had brake grabbing concerns over the course of the last two camping seasons.
In October the grabbing problem intensified while we were rolling in to Santa Fe. Luckily, we landed an appointment with Santa Fe RV and spoke with Jim, who told us they had encountered quite a few issues with the Echo controller. (He offered to give us the pick of the controllers he had behind the counter).
Anyhow, they were able to fix us up with a plug in, direct wire Tekonsha unit for around $325, installed.
Since returning to our Wisconsin home (approximately 1400 miles) we have had no problems at all.
I'm thinking of using the old Echo to sight in my hunting rifle.

https://www.amazon.com/Tekonsha-8508220-Brake-EVN-Proportional-Controller/dp/B09Z33F298/ref=asc_df_B09Z33F298/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598351409759&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2660694006896500126&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9018945&hvtargid=pla-1685883361641&psc=1&mcid=81458712999237efae5da318c30211a6

Thanks Carl!

They are 10 inch brakes. The dealer adjusted them today, and they lock up in the dealer parking lot during a test, but don’t quite lock up on the road. I think they are OK.

Thanks for all the info Steve! The battery and entire camper are only 2 years old with only about 2500 miles on it. The dealer went over everything except the Echo controller, but today I picked up the camper and the service rep went along for a ride. The brakes lock in the dealer parking lot and on my driveway, but not on a regular road. I think they are just on the verge of locking and I can feel them pulling back on the car when I activate them without the TV brakes on. I think they are OK. I tested the adjustment of the braking power using the Echo app, and it works fine. If I turn it down to 1 there is hardly any braking, at 5 I notice some and at 10 they are very noticeable pulling back on the car.?

We use the Curt Echo on our Aliner Ranger 12.? We wanted to get a wired brake controller on our Subaru Outback XT Limited, but we were advised against it by the local RV dealers as well as the Subaru dealer.? I believe this is because of all the safety braking features.? Either way, it has worked pretty well.? We set it to where we can feel it drag a bit when we hit the car brakes, but then back it off just a little.?

The big problem for me is that it only works sporadically with my cell phone, which is a Motorola Android.? For one trip, it worked great; I just had to disconnect the bluetooth from my car.? However, on subsequent trips, it lost connection over and over again.? But my husband has no problem at all using the Echo with his old I phone 7.? It never disconnects.? Every once in a while it seems to stick ON, according to the big brake button on the screen.? I don't know if this is the brake sticking, or just a delay in transmission to the phone that it is off.? Either way, tapping the break seems to work.? But it is a little scary when it happens on the highway.? Someone else had mentioned this problem on this thread.

I spoke to Curt about how the bluetooth keeps disconnecting from my phone.? They sent me a new one (and didn't want the old one returned!).? Now I have two that work the same.? The rep said that some phones work better than others with this.? They had no list of what worked at that time, and what did not.? :? (?

Overall, it does the job.? Looking forward to our next car that will have a wired controller if at all possible.?