Wireless Coachlink or Led on mirror in camera

[IMDiesel]

I am in the process of setting up my "2013" sonic as our toad and need to decide if the led light on the rear
view mirror "that will be observed with the rear camera" is a good way to go.

Or should I opt for the wireless coach link.
Can anyone tell me if the camera led is clear enough to even tell how much brake is applied.
I believe the coach link shows the intensity of the brake application with a light bar.

I'm not sure if the led does.

Do you have one of these and what do you think?


I've chosen the AFO brake and Roadmaster Nighthawk All Terrain towbar coupled to a Roadmaster baseplate with EZ5 brackets.


Any advice regarding this setup is welcome.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

IMDiesel-

There's often an "unused" trailer electric brake controller wire that runs from the rear of the coach to under the dash. What some of us have done is to connect the signal in the toad to that wire, and then put a small LED within sight of the driver. Think of it as moving the AFO light bar to the coach dashboard.

You'll hear the wire called the "blue wire," as that is its most common color. For a diagram on where that wire falls on "standard" hitch connectors, see this link.

The setup is pretty easy to do. If you want details, I can dig out some iRV2 threads that discuss it.

I have the non-air version of the AFO, known as the Stay-in-Play Duo, with a dash LED. I bought the unit in 2014, before the Demco wireless link was available.

The Duo light bar (at least, the 2014 version) does not show intensity of braking effort- just that the Duo air cylinder piston has moved. It may be the same for the AFO.

[IMDiesel]

l1v3fr33ord1


Thanks for the reply.
After further study it appears the Coachlink wireless is a single intensity light and does not show how much brake force is applied as I thought earlier. I like your direct connect wire over the wireless as it seems more reliable.

I would like to hear from someone who has Coachlink, about any issues with interference or loss of signal or just how good it is!

[StevL]

I have the Coach Link, for some reason I'm having issues. Sometimes it works great (like 10% of the time) and other times no signal (90% of the time).

The LED's work every single time.

I have had tech on the phone trying to figure out why the Coach Link doesn't work every time. I was told they have little to no issues.

One thing we found; I'm coming off the breakaway wire (switch) and I'm reading a voltage of about 10.9v, tech told me this should be closer to 12v. I can't locate a problem for anything and the brake system works just fine.

Maybe it's just our problem...? I sure would love to solve this!

The only reason I bought the Coach Link was because our JK Jeep I could see the LEDs clearly, we bought a new JL Jeep and the windshield has a glare on it 99.9% of the time making it difficult to see the LEDs.

Best of luck!

Steve

[IMDiesel]

Originally Posted by StevL

I have the Coach Link, for some reason I'm having issues. Sometimes it works great (like 10% of the time) and other times no signal (90% of the time).

The LED's work every single time.

I have had tech on the phone trying to figure out why the Coach Link doesn't work every time. I was told they have little to no issues.

One thing we found; I'm coming off the breakaway wire (switch) and I'm reading a voltage of about 10.9v, tech told me this should be closer to 12v. I can't locate a problem for anything and the brake system works just fine.

Maybe it's just our problem...? I sure would love to solve this!

The only reason I bought the Coach Link was because our JK Jeep I could see the LEDs clearly, we bought a new JL Jeep and the windshield has a glare on it 99.9% of the time making it difficult to see the LEDs.

Best of luck!

Steve

StevL


Thank you for your reply. A low voltage as you described could definitely cause loss of signal. Again a good reason to have a LED indicator.

I was thinking you could use a small auxiliary battery such as a new motorcycle battery temporally to supply power and see if that clears up your signal . Or just find a good ground and a better (voltage wise) location to get your power from. Also poor switch contacts will sometimes reduce voltage. So maybe the switch is bad.

Good Luck.

[redcolorado]

I could not see the led strip on the back of the mirror. I also wanted positive proof that the toad brake pedal had actually moved when commanded. I used the "blue" wire previously mentioned. I installed a switch activated by the toad brake pedal connected to the blue wire. In the coach the blue wire activates a relay that controls a red and a green led mounted on top of my Garmin GPS. When the toad is not connected or the brake pedal in the toad is activated the red led is on. When the toad is connected and brake pedal not activated the green led is lit.