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Mollysdad · 10-22-2019, 10:54 AM

Getting ready to, leave tomorrow, and today I have a warning on my Tekonsha P-3, "Warning, Internal Error, No Brakes."
It's been acting weird some, mostly grabby brakes at walking speed.
MY WARNING:
So I call Tekonsha, and get run in circles by the recording. There is no option to speak to a human. And since I didn't have the receipt, it hung up on me after telling me to contact the seller.
Tekonsha is part of a giant supplier Horizon Global, so be advised their customer service is nil.

aftermath · 10-22-2019, 11:21 AM

Most disturbing. I will be following this. Good Luck and keep us posted.

**Action** · 10-22-2019, 11:56 AM

Isn't that warning telling you the Tekonsha system is not seeing the vehicle brake system?

And the owner's manual or paperwork that came with mine had a trouble shooting section. Which might be valuable at this point.

And the website might help as well.
https://www.tekonsha.com/products/br...RB55TR19SXShj4

>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

pcskier · 10-22-2019, 12:02 PM

I had an issue with mine, emailed them, and they sent me a new unit with a prepaid label to return the old one, no questions asks and no proof of purchase needed.

Halford1 · 10-22-2019, 04:19 PM

I had a scary experience with wireless Tekonsha last Sunday as I brought my Bambi home. Got off the ramp from highway, going downhill, the warning N.C. flashed on and off while braking downhill, it was jerking like the electric brake was on and off repeatedly… i took my foot off the brake and for a second and applied brakes, everything went back normal.... whew. what was that? will it happen again?

**GCinSC2** · 10-23-2019, 06:23 AM

Any inspection of the 7 way plug to TV?

Halford1 · 10-28-2019, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

Any inspection of the 7 way plug to TV?

completely plugged in. It didn't happen again when I towed an hour the next day.

**GCinSC2** · 10-29-2019, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Halford1

completely plugged in. It didn't happen again when I towed an hour the next day.

Completely plugged in is not the same as inspecting the plug and receptacle terminals for wear, damage or corrosion.

Bill M. · 10-29-2019, 06:24 AM

I had a similar situation. Turned out I had a loose wire in the cable on the Airstream side. I guess the unit could be faulty but from what you describe I doubt it. I also have had multiple failures of the wire to each brake.

These brake controller units are not very expensive. RV labor is. The faster, simplest and cheapest procedure to trouble shoot, if you are worried about the unit, is to just buy another one and plug it in. Probably less than $150 depending upon the unit.

Clean the connections at the 7 pin and look for any "signs" in both sides of the 7 pin connector and under the truck for any damaged wires or connections. Maybe check each brake but the controller should stay in if even 1 is working.

waninae39 · 10-29-2019, 07:26 AM

I had a similar situation. I wiggled the connections on the 7 pin.it came back on.

then i sprayed the pins and socket with an anti oxidant spray /water repellent
no issues since.

keeping it clean is the issue

Mollysdad · 10-31-2019, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Action

Isn't that warning telling you the Tekonsha system is not seeing the vehicle brake system?

I took it to mean it was failing internally.
I've never seen this "internal error -- NO BRAKES" warning.
Of course I was leaving the next day.
That's why I wanted to ask Tekonsha! That warning is not part of the troubleshooting.
Here's the current status. Amazon would take two days to ship a new one. I called around and found one at a local trailer supply house nearby. So I bought a new one for a little premium, but I got it the same day. Now, when I hooked up the trailer for real the original one worked again! Maybe it needed to reboot, although the unit stays powered up all the time. (or at least on standby). I could not clear the "No Brakes" warning by turning on and off the ignition. But it did clear after the truck sat for a few hours.
Maybe having a new one on the passenger seat scared it.

I still find the brakes grabby at parking lot speed. Stop and go traffic almost lock up the trailer although the voltage readout still says "2.0"
I've learned to shift manually with the Tundra, when approaching a stop, I move the shift to the left, into 4th, and paddle down to 2nd and perhaps 1st as I approach a stop. That minimizes how much I'm using the electric brakes.
Anyway, I drove 1300 miles and did not have that same "Internal error" warning. Before the next trip, I'll swap the controllers and see if the grabby brakes is related to that first controller.
The Tekonsha P-3 has some accelerometers to tell it how hard you're braking, plus you can put it in any orientation.
Hint: While braking, do not flip the controller up unless you're ready for a hard stop!

**Action** · 10-31-2019, 11:43 AM

I have a P3. However my towing as of late has been with a trailer that has surge brakes.

When I was towing with electric brakes the P3 worked rather well. I assumed your did at one time too.
Wonder what changed?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Action

Bill M. · 10-31-2019, 11:56 AM

How is the "boost" set on the controller? On my Tekonsa Voyager the brakes come on when the brake light switch makes contact at first and there is a control that sets the level of that braking. That happens before the proportional braking part of the sequence responds. I find it easy to get the boost set too high. I have dials for setting gain and boost but do not have the display that is on the P3. I do not know what it is actually set at. I adjust it by low speed feel every time I drive though. I have a new P3 in a drawer because I could not find a place on the truck to mount it where I could see the display and I am well used to the old on by now.

Of course the brakes could just be grabby because of something on the braking surface or bad electrical contact. And maybe the controller could be causing it. Sometimes when I have a brake wire loose (it happens to me fairly often) I will set it too high and the wheel that is working will lock or grab.

BrentB · 11-23-2020, 04:19 PM

I have the same problems. Grabby brakes at low speed, and the warning "Internal error - no brakes" intermittently. If you have one of these products, make sure you keep track of the original sales receipt. Without that, there is no warranty whatsoever! (Per their customer service rep.)

Halford1 · 11-23-2020, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrentB

I have the same problems. Grabby brakes at low speed, and the warning "Internal error - no brakes" intermittently. If you have one of these products, make sure you keep track of the original sales receipt. Without that, there is no warranty whatsoever! (Per their customer service rep.)

did you adjust the power of brake grabbing? there is turnable wheel on side of handheld. use it to adjust.

I did with mine and it solved the problem.

BrentB · 11-23-2020, 06:10 PM

There's no wheel on the P3. I have tried different power settings however.

Too tall · 11-23-2020, 06:29 PM

Howdy Brent. Call me crazy. How new are the brakes and have they had a chance to fully break in?

I have the same P3 and thought I had a problem until I spent some quality time bedding in the brakes and it's been nice and smooth since.

waninae39 · 11-23-2020, 07:37 PM

the warning is usually because the cable connector is not clean, so it can't see the brake signals

ensure that you clean the contacts each time

CRH · 11-23-2020, 07:58 PM

I do not believe that warning is even in the user's manual. I have seen the topic come up on a forum or two saying that if you get the "Internal Error-No Brakes" message the controller is faulty and needs replacing.

I got that message on the P3 in one of my trucks a few months ago. I emailed Tekonsha, but did not receive a reply.

RTOS_LLC · 11-24-2020, 02:37 PM

"Internal Error - No brakes" message sounds bad and is clearly not a "not connected" error. Not connected on most controllers I have tested products with generally mean "current flow is less than about 2 brake magnets". Ya, if you have a triple axle "connected" generally means you have current flowing to at least two brake magnets!

I didn't design prodigy but my guess is they are getting bad readings from their accelerometer chip or some other "intermittent" signal (like a cold solder joint) that results in the intermittent error. I would return it as others suggest as it may not work when you need it.