How does it work?

 

Similar to your tow vehicle each trailer wheel speed sensor is monitored by the Electric Anti-lock Braking System (EABS) Controller.  The braking pulses (blue wire) from the in-vehicle brake controller are individually routed to each brake magnet within the EABS Controller.  When you apply your trailer brakes if any wheel slows below the vehicle speed the applied brake magnet signal modulates (decreases) to limit the difference between the wheel speed and the vehicle speed.  One patented braking mode maintains wheel speeds a configuration speed below the vehicle speed for optimal braking.  Since controller is Trailer CAN (TCAN) ready vehicle/trailer braking data may be shared with tow vehicle to further improve your braking experience.  Testing of hydraulic ABS braking systems have resulted in significant reductions in braking distances in low traction braking scenarios where similar results occur with EABS braking systems.

​

Why should I consider an EABS Controller?

​

The majority of electric braking systems on your new trailer utilizes fifty-year-old braking technologies (drum brakes) that haven't kept up with those in the tow vehicles.  All but one of the existing brake controllers (DirecLink) are archaic as well.  For example the most popular brake controllers perform "two diagnostic functions" on you trailer brakes by indicating either "Connected" if the current flow indicates at least two of your brake magnets are connected and indicates "Not Connected" below this current flow.  The most "advanced" brake controllers will determine if a short circuit exists somewhere on the "blue wire" and if detected, stops generating brake pulses nd indicates a short exists, at which time you "have no trailer brakes".  These brake controllers are also designed for "one size fits all applications" where they provide one "gain setting" which is adjusted by the driver to apply more or less braking when the brakes are applied.  If set too high for the current trailer and road conditions wheels may lock up prematurely, sometimes resulting in "flat spots" on your tires, resulting in trailer vibration and requiring costly tire replacement.

​

Similar to your tow vehicle this patented technology modulates braking forces when excessive braking occurs and thus eliminates tire flat spots.  Perhaps more important is where the EABS Controller constantly diagnoses each brake magnet, each wheel sensor and whether or not each brake shoe actually slows each wheel during heavy braking and clearly identifies the status of each brake.  For example, when the brakes are applied if a short is detected, all brakes are momentarily turned off, each brake individually turned on, one at a time, until the shorted brake magnet is identified and disabled after which all the operational brake magnets are turned on.   This occurs in one tenth of a second, after which the specific shorted magnet fault is indicated to the user via an available User Interface (UI) module, and you still have braking on all non-shorted wheels.  Today your brand-new trailer would have no brakes! If no current flows to a brake magnet during this test an open circuit fault is be indicated as well.  Whenever brakes are applied the blue wire voltage and current at the EABS Controller is measured and if the peak voltage is low due to a wiring problem like a corroded trailer connector or damaged blue wire this fault is indicated since the low voltage will reduce brake effectiveness.  If one of the higher functionality UI devices is purchased the driver can initiate a patented "brake shoe diagnostic" operation where the blue wire pulses are increased to each wheel until the wheel speed drops below the current vehicle speed where the blue wire duty cycle at which the wheel speed was reduced is then displayed to the driver.  The displayed value is an indication of brake shoe condition or if brake shoe adjustments are required, taking the mystery out of the adjustment of each brake and when brake service is required.  The EABS controller also diagnoses its own operation, like indicating if a brake output has failed on or failed off.  The EABS controller provides extreme diagnostics, where when connected to the TCAN network any available tool can monitor voltages, currents and timing of wheel sensors, brake outputs, system power and so on enabling any Do It Yourself (DIY) customer to maintain their own braking system.  See PC EABS Tool document for details.  Once vehicle interface standards exist this controller will allow another controller, such as the tow vehicle brake controller or sway controller, to set each wheel speed to any desired value to integrate the tow vehicle braking systems with the towed trailer using the TCAN interface. 

​