NA Trailer Brake Controller Install

pernsdorff said:

I ran into same thing which is why started digging in to the technical details. Hate to say it but it likely is not actually doing anything.

I will post details on TRM to see if better signal there although I suspect the input will be same as that wire under seat. Most likely have to use an output from TRM

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LeeroyJ said:

I wonder if what we are missing out on is the "bonus" features of the Redarc controller. It is supposed to be smarter than a regular controller using its built-in accelerometer to measure vehicle motion and adjusting its brake signal accordingly. Maybe all we are getting is regular dumb controls? I don't know, I'm just guessing out loud. Either way though, I agree this is something that we should get to the bottom of.

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anand said:

If anything I'd say you're only getting the "smart" accelerometer controls and not the basic control

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LeeroyJ said:

I guess this could be easily tested by seeing if the trailer brakes engage with the brake pedal depressed while the vehicle is not moving. I'm about to head out of town so cant check that today. But my thought is that if the vehicle is not moving, then the accelerometer will not be triggered, so any brake signal must be coming from the Redarc reading the brake signal from the Grenadier. This would require another person to stand by the trailer brakes to see if they are engaging (maybe not easy to do with drum brakes?).

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LeeroyJ said:

I guess this could be easily tested by seeing if the trailer brakes engage with the brake pedal depressed while the vehicle is not moving. I'm about to head out of town so cant check that today. But my thought is that if the vehicle is not moving, then the accelerometer will not be triggered, so any brake signal must be coming from the Redarc reading the brake signal from the Grenadier. This would require another person to stand by the trailer brakes to see if they are engaging (maybe not easy to do with drum brakes?).

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pernsdorff said:

You can't use pin6 because that is also right turn signal. There technically is no dedicated brake light on the NA 7pin connector. Would have to be an AND with pin1

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anand said:

There is however, dedicated brake light input into the TRM in the passenger rear of the vehicle

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pernsdorff said:

Which is the TRM?

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pernsdorff said:

Which is the TRM?

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Robert T said:

Got a reply from Elliott Bay today:

I heard back from INEOS' lead tech, here's what he told me:

"There is no signal at the trailer brake wire. I wo uld recommend getting the signal from the center high-mounted brake light until there is a factory solution. There is not an ETA from the engineers for this solution as of yet."

I can't believe they released vehicles with wiring for a trailer brake controller but didn't think they should include a signal to the brakes.....

Looks like I'll follow @Clark Kent 's suggestion....Thanks Clark

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pernsdorff said:

Nevermind, found it

Better Solution Found

Use the wires under the rear seat as others have indicated for power, ground, trailer brakes.
There is a brake trigger/signal wire that feeds input to the TRM (trailer module). Blue/orange wire fourth in from left - see pic.
Test drive successful and RedArc properly finished it's learning after a few miles of driving around.
Hopefully these pictures help.

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chtucker said:

I assume you just tapped that wire with a scotch lock or positap?

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pernsdorff said:

That blink pattern is the hint that it hasn't been able to learn detection of brake signal.

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pernsdorff said:

Use the wires under the rear seat as others have indicated for power, ground, trailer brakes.

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Driver8 said:

The vilot/orange wire that is apparently useless, did you just tape that up? If that is not the brake trigger wire, I wonder what its purpose is in life? Am supposed to be going to the dealer on Thursday because I thought that wire was malfunctioning due to a mechanical issue or a software issue related to the big issue we had here in NA when vehicles were first delivered. However, if the Elliot Bay dealer is saying there is nothing baked in already for this, then that wire is not the problem, and I can save myself a 4 hour drive. All the other wires line up and work as expected, so I too thought this wire would work for that purpose.

Thanks for tracking down the wire from the TRM, that may be the solution I have to take.

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anand said:

That wire is supposed to be the brake trigger based on some documents... However, appears to not be working, or not to be wired correctly on the North American vehicles. You don't need to tape it up as it already is capped.

The reason for the initial vehicles delivered stateside to not have hitches (and the reflash/update) was not to rectify anything trailer brake related. It was trailer lights (specifically the brake/turn, because the RoW uses separate outputs in the trailer harness for brake and turn signals, not combined like we do).

My recommendation for North American folks who are wiring in trailer brake controllers is to do like @pernsdorff suggested, grab power, ground, and trailer brake output under the rear seat, and grab the brake trigger from the TRM. Grabbing the brake trigger from the TRM and running it forward to the rear seat is a quick and easy job

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Driver8 said:

The vilot/orange wire that is apparently useless, did you just tape that up? If that is not the brake trigger wire, I wonder what its purpose is in life? Am supposed to be going to the dealer on Thursday because I thought that wire was malfunctioning due to a mechanical issue or a software issue related to the big issue we had here in NA when vehicles were first delivered. However, if the Elliot Bay dealer is saying there is nothing baked in already for this, then that wire is not the problem, and I can save myself a 4 hour drive. All the other wires line up and work as expected, so I too thought this wire would work for that purpose.

Thanks for tracking down the wire from the TRM, that may be the solution I have to take.

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MTNDOG said:

I think we all need to contact our dealers. The more voices heard that the trailer wiring needs to be addressed will hopefully get some response from Ineos.

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Driver8 said:

This is one of the pieces that clued me in that something was amiss. The redarc is supposed to learn its orientation so the accelerometer can determine how hard the tow vehicle is slowing down and then proportionally give the same braking effort to the trailer. It kept blinking green and blue to say that it was calibrating. It only takes about 20 brake applications to learn its position, even without a trailer attached. Mine did not calibrate until I used the manual override about 20 times and now is a steady blue. It did not know the tow vehicle was braking and was not calibrating. Only when the manual override was applied did it realize that braking was going through the controller and then calibrated. So @LeeroyJ if it has not calibrated by now and showing a steady blue light when trailer and a hooked up, then I suspect you have the same issue. When I press the manual override, I can feel the trailer brakes engaging, big difference when I just brake the tow vehicle.

@pernsdorff I see in a later post you tapped another wire for the signal and are now calibrated- that is promising!!

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pernsdorff said:

On mine I had to unclip a useless zip tie that was probably there before the TRM was installed at port

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