New 2021 196 HRE - Weak Brakes

No problem. What gets me is that new owners are instructed to do this in the new brakes that come on their new trailers, you only find out about it when you're putting on new brake shoes later. I don't get that.

Glad to hear it worked for you.

Link corrected. Big fat fingers on teeny weeny phone keyboard...

Just a possibility Pod Geek. We have had several instances reported of open wiring to the brake magnets. The press on displacement connectors FR uses are crap. Maybe one of your brakes wasn't functioning at all?

Other than that I've seen significant variation in the brake magnet's impedance on mine, meaning one magnet is taking a lot more current (and activating more aggressively) than the other. Or it could be glazing on the brake shoes, that's where the proper burnishing procedure comes in. Did the dealer replace anything?

It's quite common to see what you are experiencing. My trailer brakes won't lock up the rig manually either, even at full controller voltage. As you say, weak brakes.

But mine will stop the rig. So suggest you perform the break in procedure, you can find it in this video.

I highly recommend getting an it thermometer as Lippert suggests, that way you can check that both brake drums are operating consistently. I also use mine to set the "boost" mode setting after descending a grade to obtain roughly similar braking action on the tow vehicle and trailer.

brake burnishing