curtwpk

Bret, I am in the process of hooking mine up like this: 1---Tail Light hooked to relay so that solenoid disables surge brakes when the tail lights are on.. 2---Brake Light hooked to relay so that it over rides the tail light and enables normal surge braking. Brake lights on --- Surge brakes enabled. So.... a-- When tail lights are off, surge operates normally. b-- When tail lights are on (in the mountains) surge brakes are disabled EXCEPT when the tow vehicle brakes are are applied. c-- IF there is no power at all - the system reverts to normal surge braking. (fail safe). Bottom line... this allows me to disable the surge brakes when there is only engine braking that would cause the surge brakes to over heat. IF the brakes are applied, the surge are automatically enabled.

Good points all, Rich. I did some more head scratching on this idea and have concluded that using the lockout to prevent braking when using only engine braking has merit BUT I lean to making it "automatic" so one does not have to remember to turn the lockout on and off manually. That seems to be fairly easy to do by hooking it up so that the surge brakes are locked out (using solenoid) except when the tow vehicle is braking. IE when the brake lights are on. As a fail safe, I would do it so that if there is no electric power at all, the surge brakes work in the normal way. It seems that the only thing needed to do this is two reversing solenoids. One the closing type and one the recirculating type. Both are standard accessories for surge actuators. -curt 2003 Safari Trek gas.

I live in the Colorado mountains so this is an important topic. The conventional wisdom here is that "surge brakes don't work in the mountains". I have looked into the idea of a stronger spring in the actuator - as suggested by desertdeals. I can't find any manufacturer that says that is even possible. You would certainly be on your own and the spring rating would be a toss of the dice. I have thought of another solution that I am considering trying. This assumes that your actuator has a reversing solenoid switch that can lock out the brakes when backing, and assuming it is the type that works with backflow to the master cylinder. One could wire a control for the solenoid that allows manual control in addition to the backup light control. Then when using engine braking on long hills just turn the trailer brakes off (locked out). You would need to be careful to remember to unlock them again and so this has its dangers. Or... you could wire it so that the brakes can be manually locked out .BUT. they would be unlocked again if the tow vehicle brake lights come on. So on long hills, you lock out the brakes but if you hit the tow vehicle brakes, then the trailer brakes would be re-enabled. (over ride the manual lockout). This would be simple to wire. In fact, with this solution, you could wire it up so the brakes are always locked out except when the tow vehicle brakes are applied. In other words, engine braking would not cause the trailer brakes to work at all. The one thing I don't know - how do the trailer brakes behave when locked out and being towed forward ? Does the actuator bang back and forth loosely ? The lock out is designed for backing up - not forward travel.