Eastern Marine - best elec brake controller recommendation?

are there specific brake controllers that will signal my trailer's elec over hydraulic disk brakes to help apply faster and greater braking power?

a friend has told me that elec brakes in combination with my fully proportional controllers (Tekonsha P3 and Prodigy) work great for elec brake trailers (which i found they do work well); but not such a good choice for elec over hydraulic brakes as they do not provide enough "signal" to activate the trailers brakes such that the trailer's brakes only apply minimal braking performance and put too much reliance on the tow vehicles brakes (which does seem the case by what i feel when towing the loaded triple axle boat trailer).

any truth to this? will switching to a different controller solve this problem?

could you perhaps help explain the significant differences between electric brakes (commonly seen and used on land based use trailers such as cargo, utility and even RV trailers) vs. elec over hydraulic brakes which are used on heavier duty boat trailers?

thx.

With electric over hydraulic actuators, proportional controllers are recommended for optimum performance. That being said a lot of your brake performance will depend as much or more on which electric/hydraulic actuator you have as well as your proportional controller.

Your Tekonsha P3 allows you to choose what type of braking system you are using(electric or hydraulic) so they will work with most any electric/hydraulic actuator. The original Prodigy(same as the Intella Stop Ultra) will work with the newest style Dexter(August 2007-present), and the Titan electric/hydraulic actuators.

Since you having a triple axle braking system(I assume all three axles have brakes) it requires a larger volume of fluid to function properly. The Dexter K71-651-00 it is designed for 1-3 axle trailers and has 40 cubic inches of fluid capacity up to 1600 psi. The Titan(Brakerite and Brakerite II) will work with 1-4 axles and provide 75 cubic inches of fluid capacity up to 1500 psi. I don't have exact numbers but from what we understand the Titan does have a faster response time then the Dexter, but either one is still going to be better then any surge style actuator available.

To answer one of your questions, I do not think changing your brake controller is going to make much if any difference in the time delay or performance of your brakes, as much as the actual electric/hydraulic actuator you have.

Standard electric brakes use power from the brake controller to charge the magnet, it grabs the inside of the drum and this presses the shoes against the inside of the drum. They are reliable, easy to work on, and don't have the same time delay a surge system would have. But they have to be adjusted over time(except Dexter Nev-R-Adjust) to function correctly and don't hold up well in a brackish or salt water applications.

With an electric over hydraulic system it uses the signal from the controller to power the pump and operate your hydraulic(disc or drum) brakes. They are more expensive, but allow you to have the performance and corrosion resistance of a hydraulic disc brakes while having the response time of electric brakes.

thank you easternM!
really appreciate your help and wisdom on this subject.
i'll have to check what the actuator is and what size etc. as this looks like the source of issue in my trailer braking.