Trailer lights.. HELP

[idelkslayer]

I got tired of fixing trailer lights/wires. I use these magnetic lights now.

 

[Marble]

Old boat trailer. Working on it anyway. I would replace the entire wiring system, not just the plug.

I agree.

I also wonder if a wire has been chafed and is causing an issue. A rusty trailer is pretty hard on wire.

For the ground I would make sure of good metal to metal connections.

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[Caseknife]

4 wire harness all the way back to the lights, pull out the green at the right light, tie into the white and brown with waterproof connectors and continue to left light with white, brown and yellow wire. DO NOT use U-Haul/Come-back connectors, https://www.ebay.com/itm/3763791651...9993b6&gclid=d87a5c86825c1b9f64a93401109993b6

 

[IDElkmagnet]

Im going to agreed with the consensus your current issue is likely with the ground.
I would like to add that your next issue is likely to be where you are probing the wiring. Dab a little sealant on them before dipping it in the water and try to avoid that in the future.

 

[Rich M]

So you have new lights, new wires (come w light kit) and they wont work?

Redo the 3 grounds. Wire wheel the ground spots, use self tapping bolt. There will be a ground at each tail light and the tongue. Anyway, then paint them or put jb weld on there to keep it from rusting.

If your ball is rusty spray some wd40 on it.

I gave up messing w old wires a long long time ago. If trailer lights start acting up, will buy a kit and replace the lights and wires. Life is too short to mess around w stuff like that when you should be fishing.

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

So you have new lights, new wires (come w light kit) and they wont work?

Redo the 3 grounds. Wire wheel the ground spots, use self tapping bolt. There will be a ground at each tail light and the tongue. Anyway, then paint them or put jb weld on there to keep it from rusting.

If your ball is rusty spray some wd40 on it.

I gave up messing w old wires a long long time ago. If trailer lights start acting up, will buy a kit and replace the lights and wires. Life is too short to mess around w stuff like that when you should be fishing.

Yes, all brand new wires and new kit. Some guys on here made good points about the bolted trailer frame and rust and I tend to agree with them that I’m not getting good connectivity between the bolted sections. I’m going to run the ground all the way from the plug to each light instead of having three separate small ground wires.


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[Dave Thomas]

Others have said that you have a bad ground. That is your problem. Your test light is lit when you are clamped to the trailer and probing your ground wire. That's showing you you have a voltage drop on the ground side. I'm an auto mechanic and deal with electrical issues on vehicles every day. On trailers i always run all my grounds back up to the trailer plug that way you are using the truck ground and not relying on a rusty crusty trailer frame.

 

[Rich M]

Yes, all brand new wires and new kit. Some guys on here made good points about the bolted trailer frame and rust and I tend to agree with them that I’m not getting good connectivity between the bolted sections. I’m going to run the ground all the way from the plug to each light instead of having three separate small ground wires.


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Frustration city. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

Others have said that you have a bad ground. That is your problem. Your test light is lit when you are clamped to the trailer and probing your ground wire. That's showing you you have a voltage drop on the ground side. I'm an auto mechanic and deal with electrical issues on vehicles every day. On trailers i always run all my grounds back up to the trailer plug that way you are using the truck ground and not relying on a rusty crusty trailer frame.

Yes, I understand I have a bad ground. I suppose I gave up at the end and hoped that the newly tapped threads in the newly tapped hole from the self tapping screws would get it. Each light has a couple wire wheeled spots randomly around on the frame where I was initially grounding too and wasn’t getting it. As I said in my initial post, I was assuming it was a ground issue. In the end, When I was clamped to the front of the trailer with my test light it work. When I jumped over the bolted connection to a new member on the frame, I was losing it on my test light. It is a bad ground.


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[doc holiday13]

Yes, all brand new wires and new kit. Some guys on here made good points about the bolted trailer frame and rust and I tend to agree with them that I’m not getting good connectivity between the bolted sections. I’m going to run the ground all the way from the plug to each light instead of having three separate small ground wires.


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you could also run a jumper ground wire from the sections of trailer the lights are on and connect all them all with some self tapping screws, crimp ring terminals, and 5ish inches of 18 gauge copper per connection. At the end of the day your lights all need to share a common ground.

Another option would be to run a ground wire from light to light and connect them to the ground wire off the pig tail wire

 

[Fatcamp]

#boatlife

 

[Dakota_Rookie]

#boatlife

lBreak Out Another Thousand and “and there are only two good days when owning a boat, the day you buy it and the day you sell it.” I just keep telling myself it’s for the kids


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[Dakota_Rookie]

#boatlife

lBreak Out Another Thousand and “and there are only two good days when owning a boat, the day you buy it and the day you sell it.” I just keep telling myself it’s for the kids


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[Fatcamp]

lBreak Out Another Thousand and “and there are only two good days when owning a boat, the day you buy it and the day you sell it.” I just keep telling myself it’s for the kids


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I love my boat and totally disagree with that mindset, but they take work for sure. My wife wires our trailers and seems to have pretty good luck with it.

Never fails the problems show up at light check when the truck, camper, and boat are all hooked up and ready to go.