The Automotive Blog

Brake Testers are an important health and safety procedure, and now aide automotive are pleased to announce the latest decelerometer from the BrakeCheck product range called “BrakeCheck TT “ BrakeCheck 4 Truck & Trailer.

 BrakeCheck has been proven to be an excellent inspection sheet brake tester for all commercial vehicles with over 11000 testers sold since 2002. With many commercial operators and repairers using the BrakeCheck to conduct a VOSA accepted brake test on every inspection, BrakeCheck is the number 1 decelerometer on the market today!

With this aide automotive have introduced a new version to help operators move forward with commercial trailers and to conduct a brake test upon inspection.

BrakeCheck TT will test tractor units, rigid trucks and also incorporates a 99 test memory on the service, hand and trailer brake test, a total of 297 tests. The trailer brake test feature enables repairers and internal maintenance workshops to conduct an inspection sheet brake test of a commercial trailer.

 Using a decelerometer to test trailer brakes is a positive method for any operator to achieve further regular testing that can be recorded and used as evidence if required. With “Duty Of Care” being top of the agenda for most managers, staff need to demonstrate what best they can do to achieve a safe working environment for employees and the general public.

 BrakeCheck TT will conduct a tractor unit and then tractor and trailer test, reporting both tests on one simple report. With the option to download the test to a PC or print out through a portable printer, hard copy evidence of trailer braking can be recorded with ease and at a cost effective solution.

 VOSA offered guidance on testing commercial trailers and advised, “The way to use a decelerometer is to first test the drawing vehicle on its own. Then connect the trailer and the deceleration rate should be similar i.e. the trailer is doing its fair share of work. This is not an exact science but would be enough to give you confidence the trailer brakes were working.”

Further more in the BrakeCheck TT kit aide automotive include an Infra Red Thermometer. The simple practice of checking disc or drum temperatures takes testing a step further to help indicate individual wheel performance on a trailer or truck, from a repairers perspective being able to indicate if an individual wheel is performing efficiently or not is ideal as a pre roller test check. VOSA often use infra red thermometers at road side checks as a way of testing individual brake performance.

 BrakeCheck TT can be purchased singularly or as a kit, with the option to download to a PC or print via a portable printer, BrakeCheck TT is supplied in a case with all required accessories such as chargers and spare paper rolls for the printer, with a designated space for the thermometer this kit is ideal for a workshop or mobile operation.

BrakeCheck TT With Printer, Case and accessories – £669.00

Add an Infra Red Thermometer to the kit for extra £69.00

Or

BrakeCheck TT with PC Download Kit – 584.00 

All the above prices exclude carriage & VAT.

Visit aide automotive to contact us for more details

Brake Testing becomes an essential part of vehicle maintenance as VOSA  gets tough new powers to seize vehicles in a bid to crack down on illegal bus and limousine operators.   This brings  the rules on public service vehicles into line with those for trucks, which take brake tests seriously.  “Illegal bus, coach and limousine operators put the safety of their passengers and other road users at risk as well as creating unfair competition for law abiding businesses,” said Paul Clark, road safety minister.  “These new powers show that we are determined to force cowboy operators off the road.”  By regularly checking the brakes on these vehicles  will enable operators to demonstrate these checks to VOSA. BrakeCheck enables a vehicle operator to check the vehicles brakes and demonstrate to VOSA that these Brake Checks have been done!

aide automotive has a number of automotive products

Brake Tester

Brake Testing should form part of vehicle maintenance routine, however VOSA are reporting that Van fleets are ignoring the need for regular maintenance checks and disregarding mechanical failures. They claim that this is a greater problem with vans than with heavy goods or PSV operators.

Over 50% of the 21,000 roadside checks VOSA conducted on vans throughout 2009 uncovered mechanical defects, compared to 24% of HGVs and 15% of PSVs. The most common issue was faulty brakes.

In addition, almost half (45%) of vans fail their MoT compared to 34% of HGVs and 24% of PSVs.

Graham Owen, VOSA area manager says fleets would be held criminally responsible for unroadworthy vehicles or drivers as VOSA has the authority and responsibility to remove them from the road. He insists that vans should follow the same good practice as HGVs, as laid out in the ‘O’ licence on preventative maintenance. In particular making it the driver’s responsibility to do a daily walk-round of the vehicle to ensure it is in a roadworthy condition, and keeping records to demonstrate this

Don’t rely on the MoT – it’s the worst standard you can apply,” Owen warned. “It is the minimum standard of a vehicle that has ticked the boxes at a moment in time. You want your standard to be higher so that over the period between inspection – whether that’s 12 weeks, six months or a year – you never fall below the compliance line.”

These checks could include regular brake testing with products such as Brake Check.

Visit aide automotive for a full list of automotive products

BrakeCheck. Make brake Testing part of your routine vehicle checks

The easiest way to prevent any prohibitions from VOSA however serious is to consider regular Brake Testing and Tyre Pressure Monitoring. By using a Brake Tester like BrakeCheck you can demonstrate that you’ve been testing on a regular basis. Similarly a Tyre Pressure Monitor such as PressurePro allows you to check you have the correct tyre pressure for your vehicle.

One Staffordshire firm recently discovered the consequences of not regularly maintaining their vehicles. Stoke-on-Trent firm, Dime Metal Services had its licence revoked from 7 August, and its boss disqualified from applying for a new licence for 15 months.

The operator has had its O-licence revoked after a Deputy Traffic Commissioner (DTC) described their vehicles as a “significant danger to other road users” due to lack of maintenance and regular testing of brakes and tyres. West Midlands Deputy Traffic Commissioner Roger Seymour said the company had shown an “almost total disregard of the law and obligations of operator licensing”.

VOSA inspectors carried out maintenance investigations into the company and identified eight prohibitions – three of which were S-marked – were imposed on the firm. They are related to “very serious” brake and tyre issues.

The DTC summarised “Looking at the evidence overall, I find that this operator has failed to discharge his responsibilities and undertakings to maintain his vehicles in a roadworthy condition to the point where the continued use of his vehicles constituted a significant danger to other road users.”

Check out aide automotive for our full product range.

Brake Tester

The EBS/ABS Sensor Master is the ideal workshop tool for detecting and clearing EBS or ABS Faults.

Since the start of 2010 aide automotive have seen a major increase in sales, Matthew Burke Stated “This product is simple and cost effective, sometimes you just need to easier tools than the more expensive techincal diagnostic tools. I beleive the increase in sales is down to the products word of mouth and customers looking for more cost effective ways to solve brake faults.”

The ABS Sensor Master is an easy to use device which will confirm each EBS/ABS sensor is operational and effective. By connecting to the sensor socket on each wheel, individual sensor faults can easily be identified. The Master also tests the exciter ring and the distance between the ring and sensor.

Contact aide automotive ltd for further information.

Sensor Master EBS ABS

BrakeCheck is probably the number one decelerometer for MOT garages as back up to the roller brake tester.

It is by a legal requirement for all MOT garages to have a back up to the roller brake tester and to have facility to test brakes of vehicles that cannot be tested on the roller brake tester. Such vehicles are 4 wheeled drives and vehicles with low suspension.

BrakeCheck is also approved for Class 1 & 2, quad and tri bike MOT testing.

BrakeCheck replaces the old traditional mechanical meter such as Tapley.

With over 10,000 brake testers sold, BrakeCheck is the number 1 decelerometer for an MOT Garage.

aide automotive market the BrakeCheck.

BrakeCheck the MOT Garages Number 1 Decelerometer

Ford & Slater the well known midlands DAF dealer, recently purchased 13 ISOCheck Test Leads for use in all depots.

ISOCheck is the ideal first step to check the electrical information that runs between a tractor unit and trailer. Whether the trailer is EBS or ABS the ISOCheck will check all voltages and earths on the ISO 7638 socket, if any pins are the ISO socket are incorrect the ISOCheck will light up RED, if all pins are correct the ISOCheck will light up GREEN.

ISOCheck is the ideal tool to save time and confusion by directing the user to the tractor unit or trailer.

The ISOCheck also checks the trailer and existing suzie, once the tractor unit is tested, turn the ISOCheck around so the indicator plugs into the trailer, again RED equals fault but with the trailer! Two greens and a ABS warning light on in the cab would suggest the existing suzie lead is at fault.

The ISOCheck is ideal for Ford & Slater as they can confirm tractor units are producing the correct information when under service or inspection, a quick and simple test rather than the confusion of using multimeters!

Contact aide automotive ltd for further information.

WH Malcom Group a leading provider of logistics and construction services, employing assets of over 1,600 people, 450 trucks, 1,000 trailers has chosen the EBS/ABS Sensor Tester for many of its workshops.

The EBS/ABS Sensor Master is an easy to use device which will confirm each  EBS/ABS sensor is operational and effective. By connecting to the sensor socket on each wheel, individual sensor faults can easily be identified. The Master also tests the exciter ring and the distance between the ring and sensor.

Many workshops use a multimeter to tests sensors but with this only a third of the problem is tested, the Sensor Tester will also test the gap and indicate if the Exciter Ring is damaged or mis aligned, a multimeter cannot do that!

aide automotive offer great products and go the EBS/ABS Sensor Tester to read more and download the product PDF.

BrakeCheck is the device to conduct regular brake tests.  Brake testing on a regular basis is crucial to running a safe, efficient and cost effective organisation. Failure to do so can results in severe penalties from fines to imprisonment.

BrakeCheck gives drivers and operators the back up to report promptly any defects or symptoms of defects that could adversely affect the safe operation of their vehicles. A portable battery-powered device that can be used by vehicle workshops, government traffic authorities, testing and inspection stations to test and report on vehicle brake efficiency. BrakeCheck is VOSA & MOT approved. VOSA are continually advising operators, commercial repairers and in house workshops to complete regular inspection sheet brake test. BrakeCheck will conduct a service, secondary & parking brake test with ease and store in its memory for later printing via PC or portable printer.

Find out more about BrakeCheck or more of aide automotive products

Tyre Pressure Monitoring and Brake Testing are important considerations for any company that operates company vehicles especially now that new sentencing guidelines have been introduced. At the beginning of February the Sentencing Guideline Council published it’s recommended sentencing charges for corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences causing death. These are the first guidelines for sentencing organisations not individuals.  The council uses these guidelines to help courts make decisions on sentencing organisations that have caused death through a serious breach of care of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Tyre Pressure Monitoring and Brake Testing are two ways that organisations with a driving workforce can be vigilant in avoiding accidents at work. Even in the case of an incident some of these products can assist in demonstrating a company has done everything in it’s care to protect its driving workforce. 

New guidelines, which took effect from Monday (February 15), have set out the precise financial risk that organisations face if they have not done everything possible to minimise health and safety hazards with their vehicles.  Such as monitoring their tyre pressure or ensuring brakes are tested on a regular basis

Under these new guidelines, if a work-related road death leads to a prosecution for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the fine will be ‘…seldom less than £100,000 and may be measured in hundreds of thousands of pounds or more’.

And if conviction of corporate manslaughter is proven, the fine imposed will be ‘…seldom less than £500,000 and may be measured in millions of pounds’.

Tyre Pressure Monitoring and Brake Testing are two ways that organisations with a driving workforce can be vigilant in avoiding accidents at work. Even in the case of an incident some of these products can assist in demonstrating a company has done everything in it’s care to protect its driving workforce.