ATC and Speed Humps
Has anyone ever found their ATC affected by Speed Humps?
We were on a slopped site recently and when driving up the hill to our pitch we had to go over 2 speed humps. After I crossed them and started to apply power the caravan brakes applied. Wasn't sure if it was the ATC or the brake away cable too taught.
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I have heard that it is possible for speed humps to trigger the ATC in certain conditions, to name one; If for instance the speed humps are in pairs i.e. two square ones side by side with a gap in the middle of them and then they each have another gap between themselves and the kerb if you know what I mean. If one of the caravans' wheels goes over one of the humps and the other wheel goes through one of the gaps, this then rocks the caravan from side to side which can trigger the ATC. Don't think it will be your break-away cable being too taught, as in theory, it would ratchet your caravans' brakes on!
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Thanks Snowy, the speed bumps in question were full width ones like a squashed half sausage if you see what I mean.
When we were coming home this afternoon again uphill on a bend I had the brakes come on, the caravan had hit a pothole/rut.
If its the ATC I've now had 4 activations, since we got it in April. One on a slip road and 3 on hills, with 2 at 5-10 mph! It was checked out the last time it was at the dealership and no fault was found.
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Thanks Snowy, the speed bumps in question were full width ones like a squashed half sausage if you see what I mean.
When we were coming home this afternoon again uphill on a bend I had the brakes come on, the caravan had hit a pothole/rut.
Again, if one of the caravans' wheels falls into a pot-hole and the other doe's not, this COULD allow the van to rock from side to side in the same way I have discribed above. If driving over said sausage type speed-hump; if the speed hump is on a bend or the hump is slightly diagonal across the road, it's possible that one wheel could start to cross the hump slightly before the other does and then come off the hump slightly before the other wheel does due to the hump being off-set, this COULD cause the caravan to rock from side to side, again it COULD trigger the ATC. It does seem like your ATC maybe adjusted to sensitive at the factory.
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Thanks again Snowy, I'll ask them when it goes back next month for warranty work if they can look at adjusting it slightly.
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The efficiency of the ATC is dependant on mass and speed ie momentum and it is quite normal to activate when the van is in negative G....ie going light over a sharp rise so no cause for concern. It's the only time I really notice ours working to be honest.
Tj
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AL-KO ATC Factory Video;
Showing the effects of sideways movement.
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Some great ATC video's on youtube aren't there
There's a good one from Alko Australia. I'm currently watching a comparison between ATC and the BPW version.
It's a shame we can't get a download from the ATC system of how many activations it's had.
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Have had a few activations with ATC. Always at low speed just after speed bumps or mini roundabouts on two different caravans. It's reassuring knowing that it's working. ATC is a bit like insurance, you buy it but hope that it's never needed
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Have had a few activations with ATC. Always at low speed just after speed bumps or mini roundabouts on two different caravans. It's reassuring knowing that it's working. ATC is a bit like insurance, you buy it but hope that it's never needed
Catherinef;
Having read this post, it appears that your ATC's sensitivity maybe adjusted correctly after all, happy days eh?
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Thanks Snowy. If we assume all 4 incidences were ATC activations, funnily enough non of them were shall we say when the caravan appeared to be in trouble.
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Thanks Snowy, the speed bumps in question were full width ones like a squashed half sausage if you see what I mean.
When we were coming home this afternoon again uphill on a bend I had the brakes come on, the caravan had hit a pothole/rut.
Again, if one of the caravans' wheels falls into a pot-hole and the other doe's not, this COULD allow the van to rock from side to side in the same way I have discribed above. If driving over said sausage type speed-hump; if the speed hump is on a bend or
the hump is slightly diagonal across the road, it's possible that one wheel could start to cross the hump slightly before the other does and then come off the hump slightly before the other wheel does due to the hump being off-set, this COULD cause the caravan
to rock from side to side, again it COULD trigger the ATC. It does seem like your ATC maybe adjusted to sensitive at the factory.We have BPW chassis (Elddis ) and their ITC . It has operated at times on rough ground and on a wollowy hill , I thought at the time that there was nothing wrong with it , just the motion sensor kicking off, thinking the caravan was getting precariously
close to being unstale and applied brakes slightly . If it happens at 10mph as ours did on a rough road it slows it down almost to a stop , ..... Ultimately quite satisfying that it is going to work ,"when the going gets tuff" ...... I shouldn't worry !0