brake controller

I was getting ready to hook up a brake controller on my explorer the other day and under the brake pedal there is about 6 wires on the switch. Which one would be the one i hook up to, and what are all the other wires for?

 

[Ranger379]

I was getting ready to hook up a brake controller on my explorer the other day and under the brake pedal there is about 6 wires on the switch. Which one would be the one i hook up to, and what are all the other wires for?

using a test light, find what wire has power when you press on the pedal, there are 2 wires that will have power when the brake is pressed (im not sure why) but on wire will work, the other wire will not. i found out the hard way! good thing my brake controller had a fuse... it work work untill you hit the manual brake button on the controller, then POP...blew the fuse... make sure you use the green wire there is also a green wire with red stripe, make sure its the solid green wire you use.

 

[thebrakeman]

I believe 1 wire will be hot all the time. The other will be hot only when you press the brake pedal. This second wire is the line to the rear brake light, and that's the one you want to tap into. It's a simple signal that tells the controller to activate the brakes. If you use the line that is hot all the time, the trailer brakes will engage all the time. Not good.

 

[Ranger379]

I believe 1 wire will be hot all the time. The other will be hot only when you press the brake pedal. This second wire is the line to the rear brake light, and that's the one you want to tap into. It's a simple signal that tells the controller to activate the brakes. If you use the line that is hot all the time, the trailer brakes will engage all the time. Not good.

there are 2 wires that have power when you step on the brake (atleast on my 99) the wire i chose kept blowing fuse when you hit the manual button on the controller. i called the brake controller company and they said to use the the solid green. not sure if the other wire has pwoer all the time when the key is on or something.

 

[robwhite61]

using a test light, find what wire has power when you press on the pedal, there are 2 wires that will have power when the brake is pressed (im not sure why) but on wire will work, the other wire will not. i found out the hard way! good thing my brake controller had a fuse... it work work untill you hit the manual brake button on the controller, then POP...blew the fuse... make sure you use the green wire there is also a green wire with red stripe, make sure its the solid green wire you use.

Does this also hold true for an '02 Ranger Edge? I wired in my controller, just not the wire to the brake pedal switch. According to my directions, the red wire form controller is to be connected to the "non-powered" wire on the brake pedal. Only function is to turn on the light on the controller to let you know by sight that it is working.

 

[Ranger379]

Does this also hold true for an '02 Ranger Edge? I wired in my controller, just not the wire to the brake pedal switch. According to my directions, the red wire form controller is to be connected to the "non-powered" wire on the brake pedal. Only function is to turn on the light on the controller to let you know by sight that it is working.

im not sure, did you check the wires yet? and the wire for the brake controller shouldnt just power the controller, that tells your brake controller WHEN to APPLY the brakes.. what kind of controller do you have? should only be three wires and a ground wire

 

[robwhite61]

It's a Hayes Syncronizer. I'm probably wrong about the function of the wire. Anyway, it's the red wire from the controller. It has black for hot, blue to the trailer connector for power to trailer brakes, red to the brake switch, and white to ground. Instructions say "connect red wire to non-powered stop lamp wire (of the stop lamp switch) or trailer tow wiring harness." With 4 wires coming from the stop lamp switch, I don't want to guess which one and blow a fuse or worse. Thanks for your help.

 

[Ranger379]

It's a Hayes Syncronizer. I'm probably wrong about the function of the wire. Anyway, it's the red wire from the controller. It has black for hot, blue to the trailer connector for power to trailer brakes, red to the brake switch, and white to ground. Instructions say "connect red wire to non-powered stop lamp wire (of the stop lamp switch) or trailer tow wiring harness." With 4 wires coming from the stop lamp switch, I don't want to guess which one and blow a fuse or worse. Thanks for your help.

use a test light, i unhooked the connector on the brake pedal for easier access, but you dont have to, you can just poke the wires with the test light- press the pedal and check to see what one(s) have power when you press the pedal.

 

[robwhite61]

Well, after reading ALL the instructions, I found a warning at the bottom of the page telling me which wire to tie into. Wouldn't you know it. Thanks anyway for the advice.

 

[Ranger379]

haha ya, i seem to work on things the same way.... after hours of wondering how to do something.... there it is.... in the instruction manual... that im JUST Now reading lol ..

what wire does it say to use anyway?

im not sure if all vehicles have two wires. im assuming not, i just wanted to pass along the info that i had found on mine

 

[robwhite61]

haha ya, i seem to work on things the same way.... after hours of wondering how to do something.... there it is.... in the instruction manual... that im JUST Now reading lol ..

what wire does it say to use anyway?

im not sure if all vehicles have two wires. im assuming not, i just wanted to pass along the info that i had found on mine

The light green wire on all 99 and up Fords. It also says to be sure there is a 20 amp in-line fuse.