A Pfeiffer and Komet we owned for years were troublefree. I can't recall whether the Komet had the automatic feature that allowed you to back up without locking out the surge brake but the Pfeiffer did not. Maybe the added complication makes the system a bit sensitive.

When the system works, as it normally does, it works well. But when it doesn't, the failure mode can be catastrophic: failed bearings and cooked brake lining crumbling off the brake shoes (I've never had a tire fail because of it). It's probably something simple. But it's not because of neglect, lack of knowledge of conventional brake systems, or motivation.

Chip Bearden