Expensive lesson Master Brake/Bralesmart and Carlisle Hydrastar

[Bonza]

I have a Master Brake controller in my F350. My Gooseneck Flatbed has a Dexter Predator electric hydraulic actuator. Dexter sourced this unit from Carlisle for a number of years. Last Friday, loaded, I lost the trailer brakes.

To make a long story short, the Master Brake/Brakesmart unit killed the hydrastar unit. This was caused by the sensing that the Brake Smart unit does to detect the presence of brakes. Every cycle slightly actuates the brakes, approximately every 30 seconds. Just enough to spin the motor up and activate the unit.

Although my trailer has probably only 3000 miles, it it outside of the warrenty periods. Kevin at Brake Smart said that I am on your own. Carlisle has offered a discount on a new unit, and Dexer has been far more helpful. We have made arrangements on a replacement thru them. No one repairs these "due to liability" I was told. They are throw away. That really irritates me that a $1K piece of hardware is not serviced by the manufacturer.

I even asked, when it was Master Brake about this. They said it was normal operation and not to worry, but it killed a $1000 unit.

If you have this combo, turn communication OFF to stop the sensing.

BrakeSmart said that they would edit their instructions to reflect this change. It is not in my documentation anywhere.

Might save you $1000 and dealing with no trailer brakes.

Thank God there was no accident involved. Had there been one, this would have been a far different matter.

Bob

[MarkEkberg]

Start talking to your local BBB and their BBB. I am sure that the DOT will want to know about this as it will cause 100's or 1000's of failures out on the road.

It should not take much to get your units replaced for nothing. Don't give up and let them know you are contacting the DOT. They will act quickly.