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Old 01-21-2020, 10:44 PM   #211
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All these technical suggestions are wasted on a non mechanic.
I would Point everyone back to the original post: This unit was installed BY ROADMASTER TECHNICIANS
When it failed the support line admitted the product was faulty. “We thought we had a fix”
For this and other reasons we’ve sold our RV along with the piece of crap Invisibrake.

I can’t believe they’re still selling them!
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Old 01-22-2020, 10:02 AM   #212
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasEd View Post
All these technical suggestions are wasted on a non mechanic.
I would Point everyone back to the original post: This unit was installed BY ROADMASTER TECHNICIANS
When it failed the support line admitted the product was faulty. “We thought we had a fix”
For this and other reasons we’ve sold our RV along with the piece of crap Invisibrake.

I can’t believe they’re still selling them!
Well, I did a lot of research before buying one and installing it. I am sure your opinion won't change but I find it to be a solid device and it works well for me. BTW, guess I was a beneficiary since I bought one used off a forum.
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Old 01-23-2020, 07:06 AM   #213
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Originally Posted by Sbrownstein View Post
The TOAD lights will come on as they are wired from the Coach and mimic what the coach brake lights do. Invisibrake is separate.

My was activated by the coach tail lights so what separate source are you using to activate you Invisbrake.
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Old 01-23-2020, 08:19 AM   #214
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My was activated by the coach tail lights so what separate source are you using to activate you Invisbrake.
You can use an alternate way to trigger the Invisibrake. There is a socket under the dash of the coach that is designed to accept a brake controller for a towed trailer. The socket has 12 V, Ground, brake pedal signal to activate the aftermarket brake controller and a blue wire that goes to the 7 way connector on the coach to normally operate the trailer electric brakes.

Unlike your Jake Brake, the stoplight signal in this bundle only fires when the pedal is actually depressed as it comes off the pedal switch.

You can route the red pedal signal to the blue wire in the bundle and the resulting signal will appear on pin 2 of the 7 way. This is routed to the TOAD using either the brake pin or charge pin on the 6 way and connects to BOTH the left and right brake light inputs to the Invisibrake. This way the Invisibrake will only fire when the coach pedal is actually depressed.

The only complication is that if you have a charge in to the TOAD and a "brake" indicating LED in the coach...you will run out of wires for the LED and will be required to run the brake confirmation signal from the TOAD to the coach using an auxiliary wire. Most installations use the blue electric brake wire to activate the coach brake LED indicator.

I use the same method in my Buick Enclave to route its pedal signal from its 7 way back up to the 6 way on the front and up to the Coach to run my "pedal depressed" LED via the blue electric brake wire.

More complicated to write than actually do.

Schematics and pinouts attached.
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Old 01-23-2020, 04:57 PM   #215
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I still have the Invisibrake in box and getting ready to setup a Rubicon and you got my hopes up. Called RVI and set them you post and they said that will not work. Blue wire you reference puts out between 3 and 12 volts depend on the settings on the trailer controller and the amount of brake pressure applied and the Invisibrake is looking for 12 volts plus or minus 1 volt. Less than that it will not activate.
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Old 01-23-2020, 05:45 PM   #216
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Originally Posted by CWSWine View Post
I still have the Invisibrake in box and getting ready to setup a Rubicon and you got my hopes up. Called RVI and set them you post and they said that will not work. Blue wire you reference puts out between 3 and 12 volts depend on the settings on the trailer controller and the amount of brake pressure applied and the Invisibrake is looking for 12 volts plus or minus 1 volt. Less than that it will not activate.
That whole scheme is wired WITHOUT a brake controller in the coach!!!! You attach the red wire (pedal signal 12 volts when depressed) to the blue wire in the coach and the blue wire on the TOAD goes to the Invisibrake. Without a brake controller all you will get is 0 volts when the pedal is up and 12 volts when the pedal is down. It is the brake controller, which you do not use, that outputs a variable voltage between 0 and 12 volts.

They didn't understand the idea. It will work!
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Old 01-23-2020, 06:09 PM   #217
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mule Skinner View Post
I know this thread goes back several years.
I had Camping World install invisabrake on my 2018 Jeep GC yesterday. They showed me how to adjust the air pressure for braking but have not tried it yet. They still tmy mh for other maintenance.
I did notice the brake peddle in the Jeep seems firm, or ?. I think the unit is tapped into the vacuum brake booster? (I haven’t looked at it yet).
I have a bulb kit from Blue Ox, sounds like that’s a good way to go? I will need to check to see if theres a diode in the charge line that was added.
Also, the comments from roadmaster about shorting in the plug socket on the toad was across the floor of the socket where the pins protrude, not voltage jumping from pin to pin. I was a little confused by that at first.
I do have a question for those of you that had the brakes lock up, if I understand the way the system works it will only brake as hard as you set it too.
50 psi. Vs 80 psi. Setting? Is this correct?
InvsiBrake does not get tapped into the vacuum booster. If you look at the brake pedal there is a cable attached that goes back to the controller under the seat. That cable is run under your carpet and trim.

You are correct on the setting for brake pressure.

The problem I had with my InvisiBrake installation on our 2019 Grand Cherokee was the. installer connected all wires at the 6 pin connector on the front of the jeep. This caused an intermittent short which blew the 7 pin fuses on the motorhome. My RoadMaster rep came to the house, determined what the problem was and then rewired the light harness and the wiring for the InvisiBrake.

As a note, our original installation was done by Camping World and they refused to. look at it when it blew the moron home fuses. That is how the RoadMaster regional rep got involved. Also, periodically check the bolts that attach the cable to the brake pedal. My installer over torqued the bolts and they both snapped about a week after installation. Luckily we were not in tow at the time.

Did you have a brake monitor installed as well?
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Old 01-23-2020, 06:09 PM   #218
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Originally Posted by CWSWine View Post
Called RVI and set them you post and they said that will not work. Blue wire you reference puts out between 3 and 12 volts depend on the settings on the trailer controller and the amount of brake pressure applied and the Invisibrake is looking for 12 volts plus or minus 1 volt. Less than that it will not activate.
Let me be more clear. You take the Red pedal signal from the brake controller connector (not the brake controller) and jump it to the blue wire in the connector which goes back to the 7 way and then to the Toad and then to BOTH invisibrake sense lines. The pedal signal is zero volts with the pedal up...and 12 volts with the pedal depressed. As a result, the Invisibrake sees either 0 or 12 volts. 0 when up and 12 when depressed. That is exactly what it is looking for.
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Old 01-23-2020, 06:14 PM   #219
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Originally Posted by EA37TS;5121455[B
InvisiBrake does not get tapped into the vacuum booster.[/B]
Oh yes it does. The Invisibrake has an internal vacuum pump that tees into the vacuum line at the master cylinder. They even supply 2 separate check valves to go between the tee and the TOAD vacuum source.

The vacuum pump in the Invisibrake only runs when the pedal is depressed, but trust me it does run and it does give yo vacuum assist on the TOAD. Not as much as running the engine does but vacuum nonetheless.
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Old 08-11-2020, 12:20 PM   #220
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After reading what seems to be a water encroachment issue, I pulled the diodes out of the taillight compartment on my 2001 Jeep Wrangler, and removed the electrical tape I had wrapped them with. I reapplied dielectric grease (Ox Guard) to the diode connectors. I then used "Liquid Tape" to seal the connectors. I basically "doped" the connectors in it. I have used this before, and it is indeed waterproof - but NOT for immersion. But you can soak it pretty well and it holds up. Messy... but effective. This stuff should also prevent the connectors from pulling out of the diodes...

I just finished installing the Blue Ox baseplate (using Blue Ox tow bar), Invisibrake, taillight package with diodes, and relay (to disable signal from Jeep's brake switch when plugged in). The whole install took me FIVE DAYS, busted knuckles and a LOT of YouTube video referencing! Tested it out in a huge vacant parking lot yesterday, and all is magically working as intended!

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Old 08-11-2020, 02:58 PM   #221
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Originally Posted by Sbrownstein View Post
Let me be more clear. You take the Red pedal signal from the brake controller connector (not the brake controller) and jump it to the blue wire in the connector which goes back to the 7 way and then to the Toad and then to BOTH invisibrake sense lines. The pedal signal is zero volts with the pedal up...and 12 volts with the pedal depressed. As a result, the Invisibrake sees either 0 or 12 volts. 0 when up and 12 when depressed. That is exactly what it is looking for.
I second that. Our Thor Chateau is pre-wired for a brake controller.
The "pre-wired bundle" runs from the 7-way connector at the rear of the motorhome to a female connector under the motorhome dash - I found ours under the middle of the dash (not easy) by popping out the dash trim panels.
I could see the blue wire on the back of the 7-way motorhome connector in the wire bundle, and also in the bundle running into the connector I found under the dash. I did a continuity test to confirm I had the correct blue wire. This blue wire is essentially "dead" (no current).
In the toad, I ran a jumper wire from the brake pedal switch (per the instructions) to the 6-way connector on the front of the toad. I then wired this jumper wire to the 6-way contact corresponding to the "blue wire contact" in the 7-way female motorhome connector.
Under the motorhome dash, I spliced the red LED/buzzer (hot) wires to the blue wire in the brake controller bundle, and connected the other LED/buzzer wires to ground. When the toad brake pedal is depressed by the Invisibrake, current is sent directly from the toad brake pedal switch to the LED/buzzer. I didn't measure the voltage, but I assume it's 12 volts.
The buzzer is supposed to activate in case this voltage is held high for a predetermined time (30 sec.?), which would indicate the toad brake pedal is stuck, blocked with something, etc.
So far in testing, all is working correctly - but still need to test the buzzer function before a trip out on the road.
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Old 02-06-2021, 10:15 AM   #222
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Why not just shrink wrap it?
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Old 04-11-2021, 11:11 AM   #223
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Grateful

I am hugely grateful and appreciative of everyone that has contributed to this thread - I didn't come across it when I first purchased my Invisibrake for my 2016 Chev Colorado 5 years ago (if it existed then). I guess I've been one of the lucky people who have not had trouble with their Invisibrake, even though I was not particularly careful with my diode installation. I came across it while looking to troubleshoot a problem I've had with lack of charging (I'm far from retirement so have only actually towed the truck on 2 or 3 trips in the last 5 years, so it hasn't been a priority).

I can say without hesitation that knowing what I know now, I NEVER would have purchased the Invisibrake. Between these electrical risks and the mechanical challenges of arriving at a reliable and trouble-free installation on the Colorado, I am of the firm opinion that these units involve far too many factors that have to be dealt with "just so" in order to end up with a safe package. It took me about 100 hours to install in the Colorado, including fabricating a custom pedal bracket - none of the positioning options of the stock bracket would work without obstructing foot positioning on the brake pedal, and mounting the pully and establishing a good path for the cable was also very tricky given the soundproofing the Colorado has on the floorpan. I'm a die-hard DIY'er/fabricator who is comfortable taking a step back and resisting the urge to kludge something - I can only imagine how many installations of this system in modern vehicles may have cut corners and been installed in ways that are far less than ideal, unless people are paying serious $ for installation.

At the time, the diode approach definitely caused me to raise an eyebrow but I didn't find any threads expressing any serious safety concerns and I was so fatigued by the rest of the installation I just trusted it and carried on. After reading this entire thread, I've ordered some LED bulbs and sockets to mount within the existing taillight housings - and until I get those installed and the diodes removed, will be disabling the Invisibrake.
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Old 04-11-2021, 01:40 PM   #224
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...I can say without hesitation that knowing what I know now, I NEVER would have purchased the Invisibrake.

...

At the time, the diode approach definitely caused me to raise an eyebrow but I didn't find any threads expressing any serious safety concerns and I was so fatigued by the rest of the installation I just trusted it and carried on. After reading this entire thread, I've ordered some LED bulbs and sockets to mount within the existing taillight housings - and until I get those installed and the diodes removed, will be disabling the Invisibrake.
I understand your concern, especially after reading the horror stories that some people relate. However, you can also get a bunch of horror stories in the reviews for almost anything on Amazon that has to be hooked up to something else.

I am extremely happy with my Invisibrake and am moving it to my second TOAD. I researched it and even communicated with the factory technical staff before buying my unit. it is a solid, well designed and truly hands free system...but there are two things that I installed differently.

#1: I installed an on/off switch!!!! In fact, that would have taken care of almost 100% of the issues in this thread since problems do not occur when towing but when driving with the RV disconnected and the bare connector on the front bumper. Now, with that said, the problem cannot be caused by leakage in the diodes from the TOADs brake lights to the Invisibrake since that would only occur when the driver depresses the pedal on the TOAD and the regular brakes would come on anyway and the pedal is already depressed by the driver. When the problem does occur it generally happens when driving the TOAD and when the driver doesn't want the brakes and hence doesn't depress the pedal.

#2: The real problem is that the Invisibrake left and right brake sense lines operate like high resistance voltmeters and the logic will fire when they sense something around 7 volts or more. Small, high resistance leakage into these lines "could" get them to misidentify a brake signal and fire since they don't draw any current. The solution in my installations is to use Bosch 12 volt relays between the lighting circuits and the Invisibrake sense leads. They are cheap and highly reliable and a small leakage voltage is incapable of firing them. You need a real, 12 volt signal which can only come from the RV pedal being depressed. For those who are electronics literate, the relay coils act as "pull down" resistors that force the system to ground in the absence of a real signal.

Those two things done...it's perfect! Actually, I almost dropped using the relays on my second installation since I am confident that the on/off switch eliminates potential problems, but well belt and suspenders..."you know the thing!"

Mechanically it is pretty straightforward, straight run to the pulley, careful installation, etc. Not for the average DIY guy though.
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