RVIBrake System delivered today

**macnut** · 11-03-2020, 11:21 AM

I am replacing my brake buddy supplemental braking system with the RViBrake3, and also had the integrated TPMS and battery charger sent. Looking for any tips or advice on using the system. Thanks!

Morich · 11-03-2020, 12:40 PM

If you get the tablet that came with our system, it tends to be a little bit lame and slow but does what it needs to do. Just that it is no longer an upscale tablet that we are tempted to use for anything else!
We find turning it on a bit early as we get the rest of the Rv ready to move is good, so that one doesn't have to wait for it as we do the last minute walk around which involves the wife standing behind and checking the lights, then as we are ready, she listens or watches to assure the brakes on the tow car are actually being applied when I hit "test" on the tablet.
Somewhat irritating when the air cylinder on the brake box gets too far forward as the movement to get it back is a bit funny. Hint? When moving it to the rear, try turning the box over so that the cylinder hangs down as that disengages the notches on the slide to let it go back without hanging. That probably makes no sense until you get hands on but easy to see once you work with it. Slides forward much easier but has notches which catch to keep it from going back when the brakes go on? Good for working but a bit of "fiddle" needed to store it.
Our towed battery charger has failed and we are looking at a different alternate on that as it seems more then we actually needed for our Rv/car combo. They have upgraded since our buy, so things are a bit different with some builtin functions like battery status shown on the tablet but not something I'm really too concerned as we rarely/never travel long periods enough to actually worry about the tow battery going down.
Their system does act as a DC to DC charger but if we start with a fully charged tow car battery, the difference in voltage of that battery and the RV battery is not enough that just connecting the two batteries together, much like our coach and start battery strings do, will maintain all three sets.
Kind of a techie difference in the way things are described as much as an operation difference on our RV and car. Their setup will provide more like a charge voltage, while just connecting the RV and car battery using the trailer hitch connection will possibly not provide as high initial voltage for fast charging, just maintaining the existing charge from being used down by the brake and lights operating.
Perhaps just getting used to what happens when and finding how and when to power up to let the TPMS and break things get their little minds in order?
Simple compared to setting the TV to scan but the same in that step one has to happen before step two, if that makes sense?
One thing I would change is adding an on/off switch on the hub as it has none and simply runs until the battery is dead! We now just keep it plugged and charged to avoid the 15-20 minute wait to get it up to communicate with the rest! I started with it on a console at the driver's side but have now moved it away from the cirverand back in the RV, just to cut the amount of potential distractions for driving. It has to communicate with both the tablet at the front as well as the box in the car, so slitting the distance works well for us. I "think" it specs as 40 foot range but never found a problem there.
I think it is a good system, just a few things to learn what to expect and when.

McCharlie · 11-03-2020, 04:20 PM

Make sure it installs flat. If the front is lower than the back it may cause unexpected breaking. In my towed car I built a little platform to make this happen when I experienced unwanted breaking. Now it performs as expected.

I'm curious - what are you doing now to keep your battery charged while towing?

Morich · 11-03-2020, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chabago

Make sure it installs flat. If the front is lower than the back it may cause unexpected breaking. In my towed car I built a little platform to make this happen when I experienced unwanted breaking. Now it performs as expected.

I'm curious - what are you doing now to keep your battery charged while towing?

I am still working the idea but I currently think the plan will be to tie the tow car battery to the trailer hitch wiring on a point that is always hot when driving.
That point will not be as high level charge and then reduced like a DC-DC charger but then I feel like it will do fine for us as a way to keep a charged battery in the car from being run down by the parasitic drains and brake usage while we tow. Our trips are rarely more than six hour drives and the brake system rarely come on so the compressor rarely will be used to pump up and that is what I understand as the major power user, so I feel it is worth giving it a shot as more simple, straightforward method.
The main idea is that all batteries in a string tend to level out at the same voltage after some time, so with the engine alternator putting out at around 14 volts when at highway speeds, there will be an automatic difference in potential which means current flow to the tow battery?
But, I've not fully studied it as we may be trading the tow before we go out again, so no hurry to get it final.
But part of that also depends on what we do as our tow car has been a fit for the last 8-9 months.
We had the tow and used it a lot at first but then after about 18 months, the TCM on the car started doing weird things that three different Ford garages have not been able to sort out. The codes said the battery was down but it wasn't, so they have jumped through hoops to find and fix it under an extended warranty, but the last guess is that the tow battery maintainer is the problem! We have not been able to sort out and agree whether the car is the problem or the charging system so it is now removed and we are driving it for a few weeks to verify what's up!
Meanwhile, I HAVE found that the battery was not being charged during towing! I actually hope it is a simple failure of one part because the other option is that we have a car that can't be fixed!

**macnut** · 11-04-2020, 03:43 PM

Morich have and Chabago, thanks for the great advice. I’ll print it out and see if I can follow along when I use it.
Thanks!
Al

Morich · 11-04-2020, 05:18 PM

I would assume that you will not have any real trouble that is above the level of wishing to do it different next time. Really when I get down to the most irritating thing being that I forget to get the tablet turned on and have to WAIT? We are getting pretty picky when a delay of less than a minute is something to complain about!
That ranks right up there with the wait when setting the brake box in the floor! You set it in, slip the arm on the brake pedal and once plugged in, the box asks you to push button but to assure the box is setting secure and not going to move, the thing asks you to push the button twice more! I suspect the whole thing takes almost as long to do as my TV takes to warm up! Man! It's those BIG things that get to you.....
I have not had any question of getting it set level but I also do not know of any time when I have hits the brakes hard enough to slow the motorhome quickly enough to set the car brakes.
It's a legal requirement and I do like the idea of the car stopping if it ever does tear totally off the RV but then I also hope to never actually use those features!

Lakejumper · 11-04-2020, 05:45 PM

I have found my RViBrake easy to use. I have had it since 2017. I have only used this brand so I can’t compare. A couple of things to know... The hub has two lights on it. An orange one shows that it’s on and the blue light indicates that the internet signal is on so it can communicate with the Android tablet. Periodically, it may not light up. You only need to unplug the cable and plug it back in to reset it. Once the RViBrake is set up in the toad, it will work regardless if the tablet/monitor is not charged or turned on. My installer ran a toad charge wire from the RV to the toad through the towbar plug. Plus, the company’s customer service has been great.

Morich · 11-04-2020, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakejumper

I have found my RViBrake easy to use. I have had it since 2017. I have only used this brand so I can’t compare. A couple of things to know... The hub has two lights on it. An orange one shows that it’s on and the blue light indicates that the internet signal is on so it can communicate with the Android tablet. Periodically, it may not light up. You only need to unplug the cable and plug it back in to reset it. Once the RViBrake is set up in the toad, it will work regardless if the tablet/monitor is not charged or turned on. My installer ran a toad charge wire from the RV to the toad through the towbar plug. Plus, the company’s customer service has been great.

Glad to see somebody else who has some experience with the system, so perhaps I can butt in a bit to ask a couple questions as it may also help the OP get his "learning curve" smoothed out?
The hub info seems pretty lacking and I still have not got some things answered, even though they have not come up as real problems.
What info do you have on the tiny black switch on the hub? In calling and checking, I was told this is a switch to turn the hub on/off but I can't find a away to make it do that. I also have found info that the switch is a rest button. Any idea of what/how/when we might need a rest or if there is some specific manner to use it as on/off?
Your info on the orange and blue seems right, although I had been reading the lights action as charging and fully charged,rather than powered and connected. Your info seems more likely.
My install place is really vague and assured me it would all come clear as I used it and the call to RVI seemed to get me somebody who had only read about what the hub needed, but did assure me the switch worked if I pressed it correctly. It is hard to do with fingers alone but I do think I was able to get it pressed! I was kind of reluctant to press a reset when not knowing what I was resetting! I did it anyway but never saw any reaction.

Jerry J · 11-11-2020, 04:43 PM

I have found that watching the videos to be a great help.

GPanek · 11-12-2020, 07:40 AM

I've been using RVi3 for a couple years now and I find it the best solution. I tow a Jeep so its easy to just plug into the hot cigarette lighter which worked for a while. Then I noticed issues like having to restart it several times, and the brakes briefly going on in city traffic while accelerating from a stop sign. Talked to the company and they said that was indicative of dirty power. So I installed a direct connection to the battery and havent had any issues so far. BTW, the amount of battery usage is nil so recharging the Jeep battery is no concern at all.

Another issue I had was tablet not coming on right away. I found out you are supposed to start it up before its plugged in. Be sure its charged up but do not plug it into power until its booted up. Why they didnt state this in the instructions I dont know, since it was consistently driving me nuts trying to fire it up. And its not necessary to be on for the brakes to work, just gives a sense of security seeing them working.

Calling up tech support or using the chat, works very well. They seem to be very responsive. Overall, I highly recommend the system.

Morich · 11-12-2020, 08:38 AM

with some spare time to study, I've gone pretty deep down into the videos looking for info on the lights on the hub and found a bit that I certainly was NOT expecting. I most often think of wanting electronic gizmos plugged into power when trying to sort questions as that assures they have the power they need.
Not so on this hub at times!
I found this note on the lights and rest button. Not a help on the orange and blue light but some info on why I might not have gotten any reaction from the rest button!
Quote:
Q. What is the light and button on Command Center for?

A. The orange LED light indicates that Command Center is charging when the charger is plugged in. The button is a reset button for troubleshooting purposes. In order to reset the hub, the USB must be unplugged.

So to do a reset, that I still don't know what it does, I need to UNPLUG from power?

I now find that both the hub and tablet should NOT be plugged intot he same charger. But the provided charger has two ports and two USB, which tends to make me plug both into that charger???? Can I assume the second port is just for other uses like my phone but not for both of these items?

I can call in a bit with questions but I would like to have the list of questions a bit more clear in my mind first! I' still a bit boggled about having a unit with rechargeable battery but no way to turn it off to avoid running the battery fully down???

GPanek · 11-12-2020, 09:22 AM

The button on the command center tablet is to turn it on. But as you say it needs to be unplugged. Hold in for a second or two, then it takes a bit before it fires up.
The two port charger gives you another port to charge your phone or whatever. Any charger will do. The receiver has its own charger and is located in the back of my rig.

**macnut** · 11-14-2020, 06:56 PM

All, thanks for the great tips and advice! I installed the system, including the brake system, hub, control center, TPMS for 10 tires, and the battery charger without a hitch. Usually it takes a few trips to Home Depot before I complete a project! :-) the hardest part was rewiring the 4pin receptor on my CRV to a 6pin receptor, but that also went well even though Roadmaster botched their directions. Luckily eTrailer had good directions on their site.

We went on a RV trip about two hours away and the command center tablet was a pleasure to use. I loved having all tire pressures register almost immediately and seeing all of them at the same time. It was also great to how much my car battery was being charged while we were on the road.

While on the road, I got an error message twice that the hub lost contact with the brake system. It lasted for about 2 seconds then reconnected, so I guess it was just some interference we passed by, as it was in an urban area.

I keep the hub on our bed during travel, as recommended in the RVi video. I powered on the hub first, setup the brake, then turned on the command center. Worked perfect the first time.

I have to say the YouTube videos that RVi have were also very helpful. Glad to see they are communicating this way.

Oh, I also replaced the breakaway connector so it would fit the RVi brake system. I used the one installed for the Brake Buddy, and just snipped off the end and replaced it with one that would fit the new system. For those that haven’t already routed this wire through the firewall I noticed they have a wireless module you can mount under the hood.

Greg121 · 11-15-2020, 05:27 AM

The black button on the command center functions as an on/off for me. Just assumed that's what it was when I got it (sometimes ignorance works). Although, I did have quite a learning curve on the turn-the-tablet-on trick.

One other recently learned tidbit - don't leave the brake in the toad during extremely cold (10 degree in our case) weather. It doesn't like it, gives you an error code and won't work.

Morich · 11-15-2020, 08:27 AM

Interested in what you may have learned about the breakaway switch and how it might need to operate. Did you get involved in finding out how the switch works with the rest from an electrical view? When changing out the plugs of the two, did you find if the switch contacts are normally closed and then open when the pin is pulled or does it close contacts when that happens.
We are currently changing tow cars as the Ford Focus reached "unrepairable" status after numerous visits to three different Ford dealers under an extended warranty and we are now gearing up to tow a Honda.
With the labor involved to get the old breakaway switch off the Focus we found it better to buy a new switch but then the question of whether it is actually worth the $55 for the RVI switch versus $5-10 for a different switch but not knowing how the RVI works is killing that thought and the switch is now gone with the car!
Anybody have info on what the switch requires?

**macnut** · 11-15-2020, 07:03 PM

Since you will not have one installed in your new vehicle, I would probably just get the wireless breakaway unit and avoid all installation costs. In my case, I had the old breakaway cable in the car and just needed to replace the end plug so it would into the RVi unit. Since I could do that myself, it was an easy $12 fix for the part from RVIBrake.com. I’m not really sure how it works....whether it connects the loop when the pin is pulled or if that disconnects a closed loop. The RVi customer service is really responsive and would probably know.

Morich · 11-15-2020, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macnut

Since you will not have one installed in your new vehicle, I would probably just get the wireless breakaway unit and avoid all installation costs. In my case, I had the old breakaway cable in the car and just needed to replace the end plug so it would into the RVi unit. Since I could do that myself, it was an easy $12 fix for the part from RVIBrake.com. I’m not really sure how it works....whether it connects the loop when the pin is pulled or if that disconnects a closed loop. The RVi customer service is really responsive and would probably know.

When we decided to give up on getting the Focus fixed we had already figured in so much cost for the deal of rebuying that a few dollars more was not a major thing! The newer car has to have the tow plates installed and that is a three hours labor or more than a week for me, so the $55 for the breakaway is not much more, just a nagging wish to know what it does as much as anything. I have the part in shipping and have a different install place lined up, based on a better feel for what they plan to do.
The last install was not a good one from day one and got worse as time went on, even to being involved with the Focus not starting reliably.
Ford decided it must be a wire that was damaged but not their problem to sort out which wire as they wanted it taken back to the hitch installers! Basic idea was that if they could not find the problem it must be something else?
Makes a person regret ever taking anything for repair!

**macnut** · 11-18-2020, 04:32 PM

I agree! Our CRV was new when Camping World did the install. Luckily, the tech was great and did a good job. Best of luck on the new car!

Morich · 11-18-2020, 05:25 PM

As a side issue, since we are waiting for the parts and I had the old battery maintainer from the old car, I have been considering WHY I needed it! Nice little box with a cute LED to tell me it was charging but not really too handy to go to the tow car and open the hood while the engine was running but cute!
While waiting I was thinking how I know that batteries are charged because there is a higher voltage on one point than the other, so If my wiring from the battery on the RV is higher potential than the tow car battery, current will flow if they are connected together.
So the question became one of why not just run a wire to the tow car battery and not need the special box to maintain the battery? Special electronic gizmos in the box to do something I did not understand?
So I had to look in the box! That turned out to be a bit harder than needed as I assumed the box was only sealed with adhesive and therefore went straight to prying it open----only to find it had a screw in each corner and one in the center but all covered by the label! Very easy to take apart if I had just used a screwdriver instead of the hammer!
Surprise, surprise, there's hardly anything in the three inch square box!
Basic wires come in from the RV run through the LED and a diode and go out to the tow battery with no other function other than making the LED light up!
Not a bad profit margin for a box and two dollars worth of parts that sell for more than $30!
Since I have it, I'll glue it back together and use it but if ever again, I will just run a wire to the tow car battery! I don't ever plan to leave the RV, go to the back and open the hood to check that little led that tells me if it is charging!

**macnut** · 11-21-2020, 10:13 PM

I think it’s great you have a healthy curiosity, and even better that you can put things back together and they still work! :-) The original battery charger seems pretty basic. The new RVi battery charger has a fuse, and also WiFi to the hub, so you can tell how much the towed car battery is charging.