help with prodigy 2 brake controller

[98tsiawd]

so I decided to fix the two wires on my breakaway switch, they had bare wire showing so i removed the crimps, soldered them and resealed them up. then I put a new breakaway battery in, then afterwards got in my truck and my break controller is flashing S.H. I looked in the manual and it says the prodigy detects a brake short during idle condition. I thought maybe i hooked up the breakaway battery backwards so i reversed the neg and pos wire but that didnt stop the flashing S.H on the controller. so i disconnected the trailer from the truck and prodigy is still flashing S.H., did i screw up my prodigy break controller by cutting and resoldering my breakway wires while having it all hooked up to the truck? (the power on the truck was off when i did the work) everything was working 100% before i touched the 2 wires and replaced the battery, or any other thoughts on why the prodigy is flashing S.H.

thanks for the help

just to add, Im not sure if my breakaway switch even worked before as the original battery was dead. once i hooked everything up I pulled the plug out of the breakaway to see what happens and the only thing i could hear was some ticking noise from one of the brake drums. not sure if that is what is suppose to happen when the breakaway plug is removed.

 

[The_Roadie]

Sorry to report that reversing wires on anything without running a structured troubleshooting process can have bad side effects. In this case, the Prodigy instructions have this warning:

View attachment 29913

 

[98tsiawd]

live and learn, it sucks i have to learn the hard way before i put a new controller in i want to make sure the breakaway battery cables are going to the right terminals on the battery. Unfortunately for me both cables are the same color, i havent had time yet to look to see where the cables go but is it safe to assume the negative cable is grounded at the trailer simalar to a vehicle set up? that way I'll be able to tell the colors apart.

thanks for the help

 

[The_Roadie]

Please tell me you loaned out your meter and that's why you're working blind.

 

[98tsiawd]

I do have a multi meter but to be honest I'm not 100% on how to use it for this case, I've only ever used it for checking the charging system on my car.

 

[C-ya]

Turn the meter to DC volts. Put the red probe on one of the 2 wires and the black to ground. If you read +12, you have the power wire. If you read zero, you have the ground wire. Switch wires and recheck. To verify the ground wire, change the meter to resistance and connect either probe to the zero volt wire and the other to ground. You should get a dead short. To see what your meter reads a dead short as, touch the 2 probes while in resistance mode. Some/most meters don't show 0, but it may be 0.2, 0.3 - something small. If you see that when you are measuring for a short, then that is a short.

 

[gmcman]

MAYBE, if you're lucky and are handy with soldering, could be a diode in the Prodigy that could be replaced. Other than that, at least they are somewhat affordable for being such a great brake controller. I love mine and would replace it in a heartbeat with the same one. Sucks it may have bit the dust though.

 

[98tsiawd]

Thanks for the help guys, I bought a new brake controller, confirmed the neg and pos wires for the breakaway battery and all is good again.