For Those Of You That Are Interested In Towing

[PG2]

I have no connection to this business. I am only posting this up for those of you that are interested in towing heavy stuff.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/48...craig/?cs=4200

Central Coast developer Craig de Leon takes his Elecbrakes to the market


IT’S been a long road, but Central Coast entrepreneur Craig de Leon is on the cusp of seeing the game-changing electric brake controller he invented transform the tourism and transport industries.

Mr de Leon is the brains behind the Australian-first product Elecbrake, a wireless brake controller that mounts onto a trailer, caravan or horse float.

The device removes the need for the traditional hardwiring of electric brake controllers into tow vehicles – which costs up to $1000 in parts and labour – and allows drivers to control the brakes with their phone via the Elecbrakes app.

“The Elecbrakes system is designed to be installed on a trailer and does not require any modification to the tow vehicle,” says Mr de Leon. “This ensures any vehicle bigger enough to tow a trailer can sync wirelessly to the Elecbrakes device.”

Mr de Leon, 41, is a self-taught product developer who learnt his entrepreneurial craft from a young age in his father’s fitter and machinist business in Sydney: “That taught me all about the nuts and bolts of how things work and I had an interest in mechanical design,” he said.

He worked in the family business, heavily involved in the computer numerical control (CNC) programming, computed drafting and technical aspects of manufacturing. When a customer had innovative ideas he turned them into products and eventually left the family business to work in the pre-cast concrete industry.

He then founded his own business in Brake Commander, a hydraulic trailer brake controller designed largely for boat trailers.

The business was a precursor to Elecbrakes and Mr de Leon was already thinking about how to service the caravan market when Newcastle start-up Camplify asked Mr De Leon for help.

Camplify connects caravan owners to holidaymakers who wish to rent caravans, and the company wanted a wireless brake controller to fit to the vans. This removed the need for holidaymakers to pay up to $1000 to get electronic brakes fitted to their cars and made caravanning more accessible. By late 2015 he had the first protoype out and after start-up and manufacturing stages, Elecbrakes are finally on the market.

“They are generating interest with the right people and the take-up in the last month has been exciting,” says Mr de Leon. “Once people realise the product exists then we are finding the conversion rate is pretty simple.”

Caravan manufacturers are interested in the product and Camplify is the major supplier in the RV market.

Mr de Leon is tweaking other products and inspired: “I love seeing a product to completion and the satisfaction of positive comments and I don’t shy away from the negative, either.”

[mike_nofx]

Sounds interesting, I'll be looking into this further.

I've installed a couple of electric brake controllers but the idea of being able to use any vehicle is cool

One immediate concern I have is that with traditional brake controllers such as the Tekonshas that I have used, they have a manual brake control lever on them. Meaning if you get into a situation where you want to immediately apply braking power to the caravan but not necessarily the tow vehicle, say with speed wobbles, you just need to move the lever over - the brake controller should always be mounted in an easy to reach position.
Not to mention if you want to make tweaks to the brake controller on the move, add or reduce braking power for example.

Can this be done via a phone app? Legally it probably cannot as you cant touch a mobile device while driving. But even illegally, can you unlock a phone and activate the brake override function in a hurry?

Originally Posted by PG2

I have no connection to this business. I am only posting this up for those of you that are interested in towing heavy stuff.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/48...craig/?cs=4200

As someone who works in the IT field of networking and also tows horses, there is no way I'd ever rely on wireless brakes.

What sort of safeguards are in place should the link fail?

Edit: Ok had a read of their website. The device uses bluetooth and the user sets the braking limit through the app. If the bluetooth disconnects, the unit on the trailer holds on to the previously-communicated setting until such time as the bluetooth link is restored. I still wouldn't use it.
It's also $650, that's pretty expensive. Not sure if that's supply and fit or just supply.

[Kieron]

Interesting device and Aussie designed/made too.

Some more info here -
https://www.elecbrakes.com/faq
If Bluetooth fails, it has a backup.

[csv8]

Rear vision cameras in caravans hard wired is best. Wireless picks up interference.

[blackf6]

Caravans with electronic stability also have the capability of a drawbar mounted brake controller. With no silly phone app. Blokes idea is already redundant. Just a money making app for him.

[snowcone]

Not sure how he would still get the dynamic effect from a phone app that most controllers have in an emergency stop ie applying max brake power to the van when the tow vehicle is also in a max brake situation.
I tow vans with single axle and dual axle braking and this requires me to adjust the unit each time I change vans to get the correct brake ratio so the unit has to be accessible and easily adjusted on the run.