Surge Brake Bleed Valve

I'm wondering if anyone has hydraulic surge brakes with an electrically actuated "Bleed Solenoid Valve" coming off the trailer master cylinder? My situation causes me to be downward facing with my tow vehicle & trailer prior to backing up my driveway. This causes hydraulic pressure to be already applied prior to backing up & in this state, I cannot release the "Mechanical" reverse lockout lever. I know Champion Trailers sells the Bleed Valves but you have to drill & tap a hole in the master cylinder for the 1/8" NPT return line. I don't like the idea of drilling & taping into a casting. Does anyone have an Attwood tongue on their trailer with option installed? Can I buy a new master cylinder with 2 port holes already installed? Any info, guidance or help would be greatly appreciated. Below is a pic of the type of valve I am referring to.

Ken

I don't think you have to drill, you should be able to remove the seal from the inside leaving a hole for the return line. If you don't want to modify the master cylinder, you should be able to buy a new actuataor (sp?) that is already set up to handle disk brakes for about $125.00.

If you have drum brakes, just remove the solanoid valve completely.

Troy, I am not clear as to what you mean by removing the seal from the inside. There is only one port on the master cylinder & that supplies the fluid to the brakes. The second is to dump off the pressure back into the master. I am not really opposed to buying a new master for disks with the second port but I haven't been successful location one. Do you know who would carry it? I thought I had seen one at Champion Trailers but now I can't find it & there tech support via e-mail is not being responsive to my questions.

Thanks, Ken

Ken,
I have this on my brake system, and I have completely dis-assembled and re-assembled it when I was getting the trailer galvanized. That solenoid is just connected right to the line coming out the back of the master cylinder. Basically, it is in line with the brake line. When the solenoid is tripped it dumps the fluid right back into the mast cylinder instead of allowing the mast cylinder to apply pressure to the brakes. You connect the lead coming from the solenoid to your reverse lights.

I am not sure actually what you are asking in your post, but I think I might be able to help out.

Ken,
Check out the following web site. They have all the parts you need and they have how to articles, including how to modify your master. This site helped me a ton when I rebuilt my brakes. Good luck

www.championtrailers.com

I think he is saying that his rig is facing
downhill before he gets to put it in reverse.
Therefor the pressure is already applied by the time the reverse lite gets power.

Could you wire up a switch instead of relying
on the power from the reverse light?
That way you could dis-able the brake manually
from inside the truck. Use a switch with a light
so you can easily see when the system is engaged of not. It could still work automatic when the reverse light comes on, but also have the manual
over-ride.

Thanks for all the reply's. My big issue is finding either a new master cylinder with the second hole already there to put the return line into or finding out if someone has actually installed one of these & how much difficulty, risk or danger there is in drilling a second hole into the master cylinder. There is extra material (boss) cast into the master where they drill for the ports. Mine wont have this extra material so I would be drilling & taping into the casting where it may only be 1/4"? worth of material.

Remember, I am asking about installing a "Bleed solenoid" not a "Reversing Solenoid".

Troy, I have been on the Champion web site. That is where I will get the solenoid from but I need to find a master cylinder with 2 ports already made in the casting. Anyone know where to get one for an Attwood Tongue?

Thanks,

I don't think drilling a hole in it will hurt. It doesn't need to be anything special, it won't be holding pressue, just dumping fluid back into the cylinder.

i think it is safe to drill a hole in it. Think of how many cast items are in boats, care, personal watercrafts with similar applications. If you dont feel capable of it, you could probably have a machine shop do it for less than the price of a new master cylinder and feel assured that they should be able to get it perfect.

I think two differnt issues were brought up. The original question was how to have a reverse solenoid dump back to the master cylinder. Attwood makes one with the hole already there if you want to spend the money ($120). If not, any shop will be able to tap it for you for around $30. I think Troy was refering to the internal seal that needs to be puctured on a drum brake actuator before it can be used for disk brakes (drum brakes maintain a small amount of pressure in the lines at all times that will cause disk brakes to drag). There are blocking solenoids that don't require any more holes to be drilled but they really don't perform all that well and are a little hard on the master cylinder if you back up up hills.