Trailer brakes

[giddyup58]

Some of you may be aware of my Mustang 24 rebuild, which includes a rebuild of the trailer which had 4 wheel drum brakes.

I had fitted a Tekonsha P3 Prodigy brake controller to the tow car and I couldn't be happier about the braking performance, however I always felt that the appearance of the refurbished home built trailer let the whole rig down.

In that regard, I just purchased an exceptionally good rust free Tinka 3.5 ton trailer with electric/hydraulic disc brakes, but it is fitted with an early Sens-a-brake system - (the one with the bracketry cast into the unit to fit a handbrake lever).
The problem is that it did not come with the proprietary Sensabrake in car wiring.
The brake pedal pressure pad system, which is incompatible with everything else on the planet, is very expensive ($475 + fitting is the cheapest I've found).

My 1st question:

Can the early sensabrake unit be made to work with the Tekonsha P3 controller?

If not, I would seriously consider getting rid of the existing sensabrake and replacing it with something modern.
The Tekonsha is current technology. The pressure unit that I have is 2 or 3 generations old.

My 2nd question:

Assuming the old unit will not work with the P3 controller, what replacement do I go for?
Are the current Sernsabrake units a good thing?

[Cape Crusader]

G'day
I had the same issue when our boat arrived from Qld (SA), but have P2 controller. Same deal I suspect, Alko said no go with the old actuator and the new actuators are better anyway so buy a new IQ7 which worked well until it got a guts full of water. After spending $400 at an authorised dealer to get it fixed and it failed again, ALko told me they have a policy of not repairing them once water effected. I had moved it to a higher location where it would have been ok, but I cracked the sh..ts having wasted my money and bought a hydrastar, which although they dont recommend it they do have a video on youtube with one operating in a fish tank. I reckon the IQ7 was quicker responding than the hydrastar, but the hydrastar is quieter and doesn't draw power unless the brake is pressed like the alko will unless you unplug it or have it wired with the ignition. There is a least one other brand that has been mentioned in other threads on the topic, Aussie made from memory
Cheers
Rod

[giddyup58]

So in retrospect, would you go with a new IQ7 mounted away from the water, in preference to the Hydrastar?

[Cape Crusader]

G'day
No, but I am biased now, plenty of happy owners out there. If have a look at the top of the page, just below 'weather and tides' click on advanced search, you'll find plenty of info if you do some searches using key words
Cheers
Rod