The Automotive Blog

Hercules is a Skimming prevention anti syphon device from aide automotive ltd.

The Hercules Fuel Security and Safety Device is the only device to prevent ANY fuel loss due to its unique float-valve that allows fuel to flow into the tank, but locks off once filling is stopped, meaning no fuel can be siphoned.

Also the Hercules can reduce fuel spillage, stopping spiilages is good for the environment and safety on the road.

With fuel theft on the increase this product prevents thieves from siphoning and skimming fuel from the tank. Another benefit is that it prevents fuel spillages. All in all it saves an organisation money in terms of the cost of potential stolen fuel, replacement fuel and fuel spillages.

Contact aide automotive by clicking on Hercules Anti Syphon Device.

Floating Ball Anti Syphon Device From aide automtoive

aide automotive have posted the user guide for the BrakeCheck TT (Truck & Trailer).

Commercial Vehicle Brake Testing

The following criteria are required for all HGV & Trailer 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:

Tractor Unit Service Brake Bare Minimum    50 %
Tractor Unit Secondary Brake Bare Minimum  25 %
Tractor Unit 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 For A Tractor Unit Test

BrakeCheck TT (4 Truck & Trailer) has a 99 test memory on the Service, Hand & Trailer feature.

Turn the BrakeCheck on by pressing and holding MENU until Sbr is displayed on the screen.

Press ENTER, the display will now show C1 (Wet Ground), this can be used to indicate test ground condition, Press MENU to alter to C2 (Dry Ground) or C3 (Snow/Ice Ground) & C4 (Tarmac Ground). Press ENTER and the level indicator L-| |- will now show, 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.

At the end of the test the display will show L#, this is the test number, press ENTER to store the test, (remember to write down your vehicle ID and test number) if the display still shows L-| |- you did not press ENTER!! The peak reading will report after you pressed 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 Hand Brake Test.

Commercial Trailer Brake Testing

VOSA offered guidance on testing commercial trailers and advised, “The way to use a decelerometer is to first test the drawing vehicle on its own. Then connect the trailer and the deceleration rate should be similar i.e. the trailer is doing its fair share of work. This is not an exact science but would be enough to give you confidence the trailer brakes were working.”

Further individual brake performance testing can be done by using an Infra Red Thermometer to measure brake disc or drum temperatures, this can be done after brake testing or when vehicles are returning from a journey. An optional accessory to the BrakeCheck TT kit is an Infra Red thermometer; please consider this as a very useful way to review individual brake performance!

We suggest you test a tractor unit on the day you are required to test trailers, to test trailers first test a tractor unit, this only needs to be carried out once, you can then add multiple trailers to the tractor unit through the day, no need to test a tractor unit every time you test a trailer. Trailer tests will be associated with the last tractor unit Service Test!

We recommend clearing the memory of the BrakeCheck TT prior to testing trailers, Turn on the BrakeCheck by Pressing and holding MENU for 3-4 seconds, the display will show Sbr, press MENU until Clr is shown in the display, this will happen after Temperature. Press ENTER, wait for 3 straight digits to move across the display and reset to Sbr. This has now cleared all memory.

Test a tractor unit or shunter, you may warm the brakes up prior to testing if the vehicle has been sat for a period. Test a tractor unit or shunter as per previous guidance Arming The Brake Tester For A Tractor Unit Test. Once an acceptable test has been recorded leave the test in the memory, remember the trailer brake test will be associated wit the latest Sbr brake test in the memory! If one test was completed this will be test 1.

Trailer Brake Testing

Press MENU to turn the BrakeCheck on, with Sbr on the display press MENU twice, trb will be displayed. With the BrakeCheck positioned in the pulling vehicle, press ENTER, the display will now show C1 (Wet Ground), this can be used to indicate test ground condition, press MENU to alter to C2 (Dry Ground) or C3 (Snow/Ice Ground) & C4 (Tarmac Ground). Press ENTER and the level indicator L-| |- will now show, if this is not the case re-position the BrakeCheck until achieved.

Press ENTER the display should now read 0.00 ± 5. Accelerate and brake the combination, when testing trailers we recommend a gradual acceleration and then a controlled emergency stop. Once the test has been completed the display will show L#, this is the test number, press ENTER to store the test, (remember to write down your vehicle ID and test number) if the display still shows L-| |- you did not press ENTER!! The peak reading will report after you pressed ENTER, as per the VOSA guidance stated above this should be similar of the service brake test of the pulling vehicle to confirm a trailer pass.

To Print:-

Point the front of the BrakeCheck at the Printer about 10-30 cm’s apart.

To Print a Service Brake:

If the BrakeCheck has powered-down due to inactivity:

Press     until the display shows Sbr.
Press    three times until the BrakeCheck display shows Sbr and the bottom half of the BrakeCheck shows two lights, one on Service Brake Test and the other on Last Test Result

Press   once, the display will show L n, press MENU the display will show L A (pressing ENTER now will print off all tests in the memory), Press MENU and the display will show L 1, pressing MENU will increase the test number by ONE, holding down MENU will increase the test number at a rapid rate.
With the desired test number on the display press ENTER, the Peak Reading will be displayed, with the printer switched on and the BrakeCheck pointed at the printer press PRINT. Each print out will take roughly 10 seconds to print.

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 the printer is turned on by pressing the button on the front of the printer; a green light should now be on.
If a green 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 and Trailer Brake but have the Hand or Trailer brake test light and LAST TEST RESULT illuminated on the BrakeCheck.

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

With the number of diesel cars on the road increasing, and therefore so have the problems and  associated costs of misfueling.

Putting petrol in your diesel car is easily done as the nozzle on a diesel pump has a larger diameter than an Unleaded fuel nozzle, so the Unleaded fits into the filler neck of the Diesel vehicle without any problems.

It can only take the slightest distraction for anyone to make this error, and the consequences can be costly.

This cost effective product will keep vehicles on the road and save money in repairs.

Contact aide automotive to enquire further or request a fleet quote.

Solo Diesel The Mis fuelling Device From Petrol In Diesel

Poor service brake performance continues to be a perennial problem for semi-trailers at annual roadworthiness tests. Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) statistics confirm that this remains the most common reason for test failure, despite a mushrooming in the number of disc-braked trailers in service. Small wonder then that trailer braking was the main talking point last month in Birmingham at a half-day vehicle-braking seminar organised by IRTE.

A Vehicle Inspectorate plan to require all vehicles and trailers to be laden when presented for test (Transport Engineer August 2001) has not been carried through. This is no bad thing, according to some delegates at the Birmingham seminar. Their view was that trailers stood a better chance of passing when presented unladen. VOSA project engineer Frank Ashurst says the opposite is true. VOSA’s own data shows that by comparison with a loaded trailer, an unladen one is twice as likely to fail on brake performance. Perhaps the explanation for the disagreement lies in the definition of “laden”. In VOSA’s book it means that the load on each trailer axle is at least half the axle’s design weight, though test station staff prefer to see trailers (and trucks) presented for test with every axle carrying at least 65 per cent of design weight. All speakers at the seminar agreed that part-laden with significantly lighter loads is the worst possible condition for a brake test, at least in the UK, where at test pass requires at least 45 per cent of the trailer’s total axle design weight. BPW’s UK technical manager Paul Billson went through the maths, showing that some lightly-laden trailers would need braking efficiency readings of over 100 per cent at each axle to achieve the required 45 per cent of total axle design weight. “This is a physical impossibility,” declared Mr Billson. “The test is really totally unrealistic.”

If the 45 per cent brake-performance threshold were measured against actual axle weight at the time of the test, load-sensing valve effect would be taken into account, he pointed out. Describing this as a “true efficiency” reading, Mr Billson showed how a trailer with a 27-tonne bogie design weight achieved only 35 per cent in the VOSA test but would have achieved 51 per cent had its actual bogie weight of 18.6 tonnes been used instead.

Though dismissing the notion that actual axle weights should be used in brake performance calculations, Mr Ashurst nevertheless sympathised surprisingly strongly with criticism of the design weight fixation. “Why the hell are we testing at design weights?” he wondered, and nobody could offer an answer. Using the UK legal limit (maximum authorised mass or MAM, in the legal jargon) would drop the reference weight from 27 to 24 tonnes for most tri-axles, so some marginal test failures would become passes.

Around 70 per cent of tri-axle semi-trailers at present are presented for test entirely unladen, according to Mr Ashurst. They thus qualify to be assessed on the basis of whether their wheels can be made to lock-up for a given brake force. (Transport Engineer November 1998). “This is a trial we have been running for the last 15 years,” said Mr Ashurst with a grin. It has never formally been written into the legislation. He sees it as a pragmatic solution to the problem but admitted it was one he would rather do without. “Testing on the basis of wheel lock-up is a second best,” he said. BPW’s Paul Billson agrees. “We try to stop trailer wheels locking 364 day a year,” he said. “On the 365th day we want them to lock.” He too urges operators to submit trailers for test laden to as near total axle design weight as possible, “and avoid the part-laden condition like the plague.”

Turning to brake temperatures, Mr Billson urged VOSA to test trailer brakes at normal operating temperature, perhaps by conducting the brake test as soon as a trailer arrived at a test station. Mr Ashurst freely admitted that VOSA’s roller brake testers turn at only three kilometres an hour and thus generate very little heat in friction material. “But it gets my hackles up when operators say their brakes need conditioning before they are tested,” said Mr Ashurst. “Can you guarantee that nobody is going to step out in front of a truck the moment it leaves the depot?”

Mr Ashurst summarised how VOSA has been trying to sharpen up brake testing. This had included a long hard look at techniques used in Germany and elsewhere, including extrapolation of brake performance at low pressures to calculate what it would be at high pressures. There is considerable interest in this among UK fleet operators, not least because it makes high axle loads for brake tests unnecessary. Two
pressure readings are taken while the vehicle or trailer is on the roller brake tester – one from the trailer coupling head (or the truck’s front brake chamber) to show system air pressure, the other from downstream of the load-sensing valve to show how pressure is being modified to suit the load. Accepting that multiple readings at various braking pressures improve the accuracy of extrapolation, Mr Ashurst said that VOSA nevertheless was unpersuaded. He cited problems of inaccessible air tapping points and the time it takes to conduct the test. VOSA had run some extrapolation trials and found poor correlation with conventional testing. “The results were not reliable,” said Mr Ashurst. “The number of false fails would increase, and so would false passes, but not to the same extent, so we didn’t want to go there.”

Shaun Starkey, for one, finds these objections unconvincing. Mr Starkey, fleet manager at BS Eaton, the Staffordshire-based paving products supplier, researched the German extrapolation testing technique years ago (Transport Engineer December 2000) and still believes it beats the UK method. “It seems logical that when Germany builds so many trucks and brake components, it might know how to test them too,” he observes wryly.

“We have admitted defeat when it comes to trying to find a new wonder brake test,” conceded Mr Ashurst. VOSA’s short-term solution is to continue testing brakes in the time-honoured way, but with new-and-improved roller brake testers. An order has just been placed with BM Autoteknik of Denmark. A three-year installation programme at HGV test stations is due to begin this autumn. There is also talk of the load simulators used at VOSA test stations, limited to five tonnes at present, being replaced with simulators capable of imposing 10 tonnes. The option of pulling-down axles has been rejected for several reasons, including practical difficulties in finding suitable lashing points.

It emerged at the Birmingham seminar that VOSA is already beginning to wonder whether in the more distant future annual brake testing of any kind will be necessary. Mr Ashurst floated the idea that a combination of electronic brake actuation (EBS) – fitted to 80 per cent of new trailers supplied to UK operators last year – and on-board diagnostics could tell VOSA all it needs to know about brake performance. The issues, according to Mr Ashurst, revolve around whether EBS can collect the necessary data such as measuring deceleration and relating it to brake pressure; whether VOSA can get at it – “most of it is the other side of the manufacturer’s firewall” and whether the information is secure.

Gathering such data would be no problem for a modern EBS system, according to Brian Robertson, OEM (original equipment manufacturer) trailer and technical manager at Haldex, the brake controls manufacturer. He showed examples of trailers’ EBS braking data, confirming what has long been common knowledge: that about 90 per cent of trailer braking is at pressures below two bar. For one trailer in Mr Robertson’s set, the average pressure of all braking was 1.7 bar. For another (lightly-loaded) trailer the average was a mere 1.3 bar. Operators suffering from trailer brake-test failures need look no further than this EBS data for likely explanations, according to Mr Robertson. Glazed or “sleeping” (under-used) brake pads could soon be spotted. And EBS could be programmed to shape trailer braking at various points along “the braking corridor”, within brake performance boundaries in a graph plotting braking retardation against coupling head pressure, as used for type approval.

But how would a fleet engineer know whether or not a trailer’s EBS program was optimised for any particular operation and gross weight? Roger Thorpe, BPW’s customer services manager, told the seminar that some trailer brake problems arise because trailer manufacturers fail to program EBS correctly, prompting nods of agreement from Haldex’s Brian Robertson and Knorr-Bremse’s Andrew Lumley. Trailer salesmen who failed to identify a trailer’s likely operational pattern and thus missed the chance to customise programming also came in for criticism.

The consensus among speakers was that operators should insist on print-outs of EBS programming when taking delivery of new trailers. Changing an EBS program after delivery requires a VTG 10 (notifiable alteration) form to be completed, delegates were reminded. Rental trailers that can be working on vastly different duties from one day to the next represented the worst case here. One rental fleet engineer said he needed a three-position EBS switch, for light, medium and heavy loads.

Long-standing braking compatibility problems between tractive units and semi-trailers would be solved by the advent of disc brakes and electronic braking systems, it had been promised. Not so, judging by the observations of speakers and delegates at this seminar. Noting that abnormal brake temperatures are a convenient way of spotting compatibility problems, Jeff Lowe, an independent brake engineer, wondered why EBS brakes do not incorporate heat sensors which could transmit temperature data to the truck’s CAN (controller area network) electrical system through the two pins (numbers six and seven) on the seven-pin ISO 7638 ABS connector that are dedicated to the EBS system. Haldex’s Mr Robertson saw no insurmountable technical difficulty but questioned whether operators would accept the on-cost. Replying to another question from Mr Lowe, he agreed that some brake problems arise when new brake chambers are installed because their threshold pressure differs from that of the old ones. Mr Robertson recommends like-for-like swaps when brake chambers are replaced.

Braking compatibility problems have swung through 180 degrees in the past few years, according to BPW’s Mr Billson. Looking back at BPW’s compatibility calculations from 2002, he found that most revealed “aggressive trailer braking”. Not any more. In 2005 it was tractive units that became the aggressors. BPW now sees a growing number of trailers with those “sleeping pads” that fail to wake up when we need them. Mr Billson advises operators to avoid over-use of endurance brakes such as engine brakes or retarders, maybe having periods when they are not used at all, so trailer brakes are given something to do. Another of Mr Billson’s tips to counter under-used trailer brakes when running with new EBS tractors and EBS trailers is to consider using a five-pin ISO 7638 ABS connector rather than the usual seven-pin model. This deactivates the EBS function, but leaves ABS and electronic load-sensing still working. Though the EBS signal is lost, the traditional pneumatic signal is still there for trailer brakes. BPW’s tests have shown that using a five-pin ABS lead shifts more of the braking effort from tractor to trailer. Undeniable benefits of EBS, such as swifter response and roll stability are lost, but it may help ameliorate the sleeping-pad problem.

Knorr-Bremse’s trailer sector account manager Andrew Lumley explained why the latest EBS-equipped tractive units are taking on so much more of an articulated combination’s braking. It seems that it all stems from a poor interpretation of the original (1975) European Union truck-trailer braking legislation, directive 75/524/EEC and its subsequent translation into ECE Regulation 13. At low retardation values (where braking force is less than 0.1 of the vehicle or trailer’s mass) the need for proportionality between the tractor’s braking and coupling head pressure was never spelt out. It is only above this level that the relationship between coupling head pressure and braking effort is closely defined. Describing this as “ineffective legislation” because it left the issue of truck-trailer compatibility undefined in the key area where most check-braking is carried out, Mr Lumley showed how tractor manufacturers set up braking systems to provide virtually no braking effort at low pressure. According to Knorr-Bremse data, even when the coupling head pressure is up to 1.25 bar, a tractor could be providing only 30 per cent of a combination’s total braking effort, leaving the trailer with 70 per cent. By 2.0 bar, the split was more even, at 45/55.

Recent amendments to ECE 13 meant that tractive unit brakes must develop enough braking force at a coupling head pressure between 0.2 and 1.0 bar to prevent a wheel from being turned by hand. This forces tractor manufacturers to start truck braking at much lower pressures. The amendments to ECE regulation 13 became effective on 4 April 2005, but will not apply to all new registrations until April 2009. Introduction into UK Construction and Use regulations is likely to be around 2012. Mr Lumley says that knowing that the amendments were on the way, truck manufacturers have already started implementing them – hence the change towards more aggressive tractor braking detected by BPW.

Andrew Lumley explained how operators can redress the balance and transfer more braking effort back to the trailer when coupling new tractors to non-EBS trailers. The first step was to increase the trailer’s load-sensing valve’s “inshot pressure” – the threshold at which it begins to function – and thus prevent it from reducing trailer braking at low brake pressures. If that was not enough, then adjust the predominance setting on the trailer’s relay emergency valve to apportion more braking to the trailer, advised Mr Lumley. But he warned that adjusting trailers with conventional braking systems to achieve the right compatibility may be tricky. New EBS-braked trailers are far easier to set up. Phew, some good news at last on trailer braking.

aide automotive offer a truck & trailer brake tester, BrakeCheck Truck & Trailer is a portable brake tester in the decelerometer design.

Using the Sensor Tester to check a sensor, the gap and exciter ring  a truck or trailer fitter will easily and cost effectively repair warning lights faults on trucks and trailers without the need for expensive diagnostics tools or dealer trips.

The ABS Sensor Master is an easy to use device which will confirm each EBS/ABS sensor is operational and effective. By connecting to the sensor socket on each wheel, individual sensor faults can easily be identified. The Master also tests the exciter ring and the distance between the ring and sensor.

Many workshops use a multimeter to tests sensors but with this only a third of the problem is tested, the Sensor Tester will also test the gap and indicate if the Exciter Ring is damaged or mis aligned, a multimeter cannot do that!

Contact aide automotive to purchase a EBS/ABS Sensor Tester for a Truck Or Trailer Workshop.

Truck Trailer ABS Sensor Tester

Lee Lock is a locking system for a commercial trailer to lock down a pallet truck.

It is reported that 1200 people a year are injured during the loading and unloading of vehicles at the workplace: 64% of these accidents involved someone falling from height, while 17% saw the victim hit by a falling object or material.

Lee Lock is fitted into a trailer or rigid truck and is designed to lock the pallet truck in place at all times, hence reducing any chance of the truck slamming into other pallets or slashing the curtain side.

Contact aide automotive to improve load or health and safety.