Wireless Toad brake on indicator

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

When we bought a auxiliary brake unit for our toad, we choose the Blue Ox Apollo unit because Blue Ox said their wireless unit for indicating the toad brake being on would work at at least 100' while Brake Buddy would not state a distance far enough to get past the 40' Travel Supreme to the Volvo.

 

Our transmitter or receiver has given up the ghost after 10 years. The problem is Blue Ox no longer uses the wireless system or has parts and I really don't want to get a new auxiliary brake unit.

 

I don't have quite the same amount of distance to go with the motorhome.

 

Any suggestions for a wireless solution to replicate the toad brake light in the motorhome?

[Nuke-E]

Mark,

 

I've put together a slightly different (but similar) setup on my toad for making sure (mostly) that I'm good to go--I have an LED on the dash that I can see in the rearview camera. In my case, it indicates that the parking brake isn't set and the transmission is in neutral (I lucked out with a manual transmission that has a neutral switch). It could just as easily have been wired to the brake light circuit instead.

 

I assume you're towing the Equinox?

[RandyA]

10 years? Possibly a 400 to 800 Mhz analog unit since it appears to be a single channel indicator. Do you know an "old Ham" you can pay a visit to? One of us ancient souls should have a frequency counter and O'scope that can determine if it is a RX or TX problem. Either way, it could be a straight forward fix even if Blue Ox doesn't have parts - it is usually easier to ID and cross reference chips and transistors for generic replacement from older gear. Most any remote control that provides a RF signal could be used as a new wireless signal unit. Start here for an example - there are many, many more like it available at a very low cost. Wire the TX side in the toad to the push button contacts and connect to the brake switch and possibly 3 other switched parts of the toad. Connect a signal (LED) to the output of the RX part at the dash for each channel. Just an idea, Mark. I hate to see anything thrown away that could possibly be repaired or jury rigged to work again.

[NeverEasy]

Just brainstorming here. Put a wireless camera at the rear of the toad and wire the power to the brake lights. When the brake lights come on, so does your wireless camera. Then you can see what is about to hit you!

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

 

 

I assume you're towing the Equinox?

Yes I am. I am going to try putting one of the tow lamps we carry as spares on the dash. I am not sure how well that will show in the rear view camera. Would prefer something on the motorhome dash, easier for older eyes.

 

 

 

Start here for an example - there are many, many more like it available at a very low cost. Wire the TX side in the toad to the push button contacts and connect to the brake switch and possibly 3 other switched parts of the toad. Connect a signal (LED) to the output of the RX part at the dash for each channel. Just an idea, Mark. I hate to see anything thrown away that could possibly be repaired or jury rigged to work again.

Yes there are tons of fob transmitter/receiver combinations. Looking for something that would take the brake light voltage as the trigger or use 12 volts for power and use the brake light to turn on the transmitter.

[RandyA]

Yes I am. I am going to try putting one of the tow lamps we carry as spares on the dash. I am not sure how well that will show in the rear view camera. Would prefer something on the motorhome dash, easier for older eyes.

 

Yes there are tons of fob transmitter/receiver combinations. Looking for something that would take the brake light voltage as the trigger or use 12 volts for power and use the brake light to turn on the transmitter.

What about an optical isolator or photo cell?

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Most of the fobs use the push button to contact the battery roenergize the transmitter. Using the brake light voltage would be too much. Optical isolator could be an method to transition the brake light voltage but finding a transmitter (within reasonable cost) has been the stumbling block.

 

I have been looking at the Brake Buddy Classic Alert system that connected to the Brake Buddy unit. I have been trying to find what the two wires from the Brake Buddy to the Alert are, like voltage and ground?

[rickeieio]

What about an optical isolator or photo cell?

So, call me lo-tech, but have you thought of a mirror?

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

A mirror? The toad is only visible in the rearview camera. The need for an indicator is for a situation where the Apollo Brake unit can cock and jam the toad brakes on (happened once). Without a brake light indicator, the next signal is the smoking brakes which might be visible in the mirrors.

[rickeieio]

Ah-ha. I was mis-understanding your dilemma. I envisioned a mirror on the rear corner of the toad, which you could see in your driver's mirror of the MH.

 

So, what if you used a 3/4" LED marker light on a stalk, projecting out the driver's side of the toad? If the toad has a rear hitch, it would be easy to whip up a little arm from there, and plug into the trailer outlet.

 

In case you haven't noticed, I try to look for simple solutions where there are less technical gizmos to fail.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

After trying using one of the magnetic toad tail lights we carry as a spare, I decided that wasn't bright enough to see in a casual scan of the rearview monitor. It was going to have to be a very bright light.

 

I dropped back to an old rule from when I was a computer mainframe engineer, if you shoot a problem to a part and you can get the part, the part isn't the problem. Getting a replace transmitter/receiver was looking impossible. Go and shoot the problem from a different direct.

 

When I had checked the transmitter and the receiver for voltages, I had 12 volts. When I went back and checked again. I checked the voltage and the ground at the transmitter and the ground was bouncing, meaning it wasn't tied to ground.

 

Traced it to a broken wire in the cigarette lighter plug. Replaced the plug and the problem is fixed.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.

[HERO Maker]

Great investigative work there Mark.