The Automotive Blog

DOE Accpet Use of BrakeCheck For Irish Truck Operators & Repairers
After many years of use in England, Scotland and Wales we are pleased to advise the BrakeCheck decelerometer for use on commercial vehicles in Northern Ireland.

BrakeCheck has been proven to be an excellent inspection sheet brake tester for all commercial vehicles with over 11000 testers sold since 2002. With many commercial operators and repairers using the BrakeCheck to conduct a VOSA accepted brake test on every inspection, BrakeCheck is the number 1 decelerometer on the market today!

Richard Lee Compliant and Enforcement Manager of the DOE in Northern Ireland has recently accepted the use of a decelerometer for heavy goods inspection sheet brake testing. Richard states “I can confirm that a decelerometer may be adequate for checking brake efficiency on some vehicles especially if it is linked to a printer and a record of the brake test can be recorded. This would be consistent with our Guide to Maintaining Roadworthiness which has a section (5) detailing safety inspection and repair facilities.”

The DOE are now advising commercial vehicle operators, commercial repairers and in house workshops to complete regular inspection sheet brake test, The BrakeCheck is the tester! BrakeCheck will conduct a Service, Secondary & parking brake test with ease and store in its memory for later printing via PC or portable printer.

To purchase a decelerometer or brake tester for inspection sheet brake testing click on  aide automotive ltd

13 Pin Tow Bar Tester For MOT
2012 MOT Requirement for Testing 13 Pin Tow Bars
With the new requirement of testing 13 Pin tow bar electrics from January 20012, aide automotive have introduced a tester for the “professionals “ The Tow Bar Tester Pro.
Testing 13 pin tow bar electrics will be a growing requirement of the MOT over the next 3 years with many new cars having a tow bars with 13 pin rather than the 7 pin socket used in the past. Also when caravans moved to 13 pin sockets in 2009 many cars had 13 pin sockets installed so a number of cars will need testing within 2012 and many more in 2003 and 4.
MOT Garages will need a VOSA approved tester to carry out this test and we believe The Tow Bar Tester Pro is the ultimate tester for testing all old and modern day tow bar systems, The Tow Bar Tester Pro has been designed and produced by industry tow bar electric system leaders Right Connections Ltd to be the best all round tester available.
The Tow Bar Tester Pro is built in a rugged case with actual bulbs to replicate all lights and to test as if a trailer was connected, with this there is no risk of confusion of failure or incorrectly failing a vehicle. Some low cost testers that use LED’s have shown inconsistent results when testing tow bars and indicating faults when there is not! Also found with low cost tester was that if the power line is not present on the tow bar socket then the tester will not work at all!!
Tow Bar Tester Pro incorporates a self test facility as required by VOSA specification, powered from the vehicle with a 13 pin cable long enough to connect to the tow bar socket, the operator will activate all tests via toggle switches on the main control board from the drivers seat.
In addition to the MOT requirement test The Tow Bar Tester Pro will also test the flasher warning system on the towing vehicle, although this is not part of the MOT test as yet, but if it ever becomes so Tow Bar Tester Pro incorporates this test. As the MOT garages have seen over the years, new requirements often have special notice amendments to update the test with unforeseen requirements from the first test specification; we believe this could be the case in the future as under European law there is a legal requirement for flashers on the trailer to be monitored by the towing vehicle for failure.
As the Tow Bar Tester Pro is the ultimate towing electrical tester it can also be used to test the positive 12 volt live and positive 15 volt ignition live, to complete all tow bar electrical tests the Tow Bar Tester Pro will also test the reverse lamp. As this is the most comprehensive tester on the market every  tow bar test undertaken will leave you satisfied all aspects of the tow bar electrics are working and your customer can tow with confidence.
So with the RIGHT tester there is no chance of wasting time consulting VOSA on erratic test readings, no chance of incorrect failures and usages beyond the MOT test.

Contact aide automotive to purchase a Tow Bar Tester Pro.

Commercial Vehicle Brake Testing

The following criteria are required for all HGV brake testing.

All brake testing should be carried out away from the sites working area; this should be done in an area that has roughly level ground.

The MOT performance figures are for the Peak Reading:

Service Brake Bare Minimum                        50%

Secondary Brake Bare Minimum                   25%

Parking Brake Bare Minimum                        16%

Although the test requirement looks for a peak reading, you could use the relationship between the peak and average to determine brake performance, if you achieved a peak reading of say 51  – 58 this is not indicating good brakes, peak figures of 70 + can be achieved to indicate good brakes, even though high peaks are recorded if a low average is recorded (20 – 30 example only) this would indicate bad brakes or you will more than likely fail a roller brake test!

Brake Tester Position

The brake tester should be positioned in the foot well of the vehicle, preferably up against a bulkhead with the direction of travel arrow pointing in the intended direction and with the tester straight.

Vehicle Test Procedure

With the vehicle stationary, position and arm the brake tester, accelerate the vehicle at a constant rate in a straight line up to a safe site speed then apply the brakes in an emergency stop manner, hold the vehicle on the brake until the vehicle has come to a complete rest.

Arming The Brake Tester

Turn the BrakeCheck on by pressing and holding MENU until Sbr is displayed on the screen. Press ENTER, the display will now show the level indicator L-| |-, if this is not the case re-position the BrakeCheck until achieved. Press ENTER the display should now read 0.00 ± 5. As described above accelerate and brake. The peak reading will report at the end of the test, if the display still shows L-| |- you did not press ENTER!!

With the Peak reading displayed press ENTER, this will show the average reading. Pressing ENTER again shows further information.

For a Hand Brake Test press MENU twice, this is while the service brake results are displayed; the display should now show Hbr. Now go to the second paragraph under “Arming The Brake Tester” to carry out a test.

For a Secondary Brake Test press MENU three times, this is while the hand brake results are displayed, and the display should now show SEc. Now go to the second paragraph under “Arming The Decelerometer” to carry out a test.

Printing Stored Tests

BrakeCheck has a 1 – TEST MEMORY on the Service Brake, Secondary Brake and the Hand Brake Test

The BrakeCheck can output test results to a printer if required. A cable is provided with the serial printer.

To Print using the Cable Connect the supplied cable of the printer with the BrakeCheck cable

To Print the Service Brake:

If the BrakeCheck has powered-down due to inactivity:

Press   until the display shows Sbr. Press  twice until the BrakeCheck display shows Sbr and the bottom half of the shows to
lights, one on Service Brake Test and the other on Last Test Result Press  once, (this is not necessary if the unit has
not powered-down) the Peak Deceleration (Front/Rear) LED will be lit and the display will show a value, eg:

Make sure all cables are connected and turn the printer on by pressing the button on the front of the printer, a green light should now flash.

If a red light is flashing the printer needs recharging!! If you have an orange flash your paper is getting low!!

Press   once, the display will show: and the printer will print the results for the last test performed.

Now do the same for the Hand Brake or the Secondary Brake, but have the Hand brake test light and Last Test Result illuminated on the
BrakeCheck or the Service, Hand Brake & Last Test Result illuminated for the Secondary Brake .

To Purchase a Brake Tester, Decelerometer BrakeCheck click on aide automotive ltd

TrailerCheck 4 Vans is an ideal cost effective trailer diagnostic tester and service tool.

Designed to be installed in a van or workshop, the TrailerCheck 4 Vans will power, test air brakes and read / clear the ECU of a commercial trailer.

An intelligent unit, the TrailerCheck 4 Vans pulses the lighting circuits to conserve battery power and will not burn out short circuits. Powered on for 2 seconds and then off for 1, TrailerCheck has the capability to power multiple trailers without the inconvenience of continually recharging batteries. In diagnostic mode a single circuit can be powered for fault finding, TrailerCheck is also protected against short circuits, if so the micro processor will keep resetting with a back up fuse as protection.
Two air test gauges are incorporated within the TrailerCheck with a hand held remote brake activator and digital pressure gauge, one operator can be under a trailer activating brakes and reading pressures.
Switching brakes on and off allows the user to look for wear in s cams and faulty slack adjusters, activating the brakes while under the trailer operators are able to see all components working to identify faults and wear. The digital pressure gauge measures pressure at the brake chamber, ideal for setting load sensing valves.

EBS Trailers can be tested for CAN line integrity, a quick and simple test to confirm the CAN lines are OK or at fault.

TrailerCheck 4 Vans is priced at £1,495.00, with the option to add the Remote Controller and Diagnostic Code Reader for an extra £900.00. All plus VAT.

aide automotive are the main dealers for the Trailer Light Tester TrailerCheck.

Trailer Light Tester to test lights and air brakes on a commercial trailer