trailer light problems.

[brackish]

Disregard the below request, upon further inspection there is some additional splitting in the wiring harness after it goes into the tongue tube.  Think I understand the wiring now.  Now the new question, has anyone completely rewired with so called submersible sealed LED fixtures and how did that work out for you.




A bit confused, my trailer lights did not work the last time I hooked them up (when I towed the trailer to get new tires) so I'm about to embark on that repair.  It will be several weeks before I can get my truck back there, it is currently a swamp, so I'm going to drive my mower over there and use that battery as source.  The confusion is with my plug.  It is a flat five wire however the red has been cut off, so all DC must be coming from the truck by function.  But the wiring colors don't seem to match any diagrams I've found.  I have a green (assume this is right turn signal), a yellow (left turn signal), a green/black and a yellow/black and I'm making the assumption since they share a terminal in the molded flat plug that they are combo tail and brake, just going to different fixtures, right and left. All the diagrams I've seen show brown and blue for tail and brake?  And of course white which is ground.

Does this sound right? my plan is to jump each terminal to the battery  one at a time to see if I can find voltage at the fixture.  Will the turn signal light go without the flasher?  Just stay on continuously?

May be time to just chunk it all and completely rewire.

[HeaveToo]

I haven't wired with these new submersible lights, but I would suggest unplugging the wire harness when you back the trailer into the water.  You can only seal the lights so much and getting water on the light bulbs will eventually cause problems.

Hell, trailer lights are always a pain in the butt...Now trailer lights on a trailer that gets submerged in water.....Forget about it (Properly said using a Northern Accent).

[BruceW]

In 25 years of trailer sailing, I have had all kinds of light problems. My solution is a light bar out of the water that I made from the set of lights you can get at Uhaul. These are two lights, with magnet mounts, and a long thick cord that you put the correct end on to plug to your car. Easy peasy.  I strapped mine to a 2 x 4 and cut a half circle so the thing fits just on the transom of the boat and sets against the pulpit. You can use stainless steel hose clamps to put the lights onto the board, and something similar to hold the board on, but if it fits, you just put it in there and it stays. Then, drape the long cord down the side and over the bow and vee-ola! It just comes back off when you get to the ramp, and I put it into the back of the Explorer.

This may have been written up in another thread; I have done this with several boats because when I have sold the boats, the light bar went along with.

That's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Bruce

[Vipersdad]

Mike Greene installed guide bars with raised lights when he owned my boat. They work very well.





V.

[Tom L.]

I agree with Bruce the Light Bar is the only way to go. Bass boaters take it one step further they permanently mount the lights with licence plate bracket and all on the guide poles mounted to the trailer. The lights are up high and never see the salt water.

On a 4 pole wiring harness the white is the ground the yellow is  a turn signal/ stop the green is the other turn signal/stop, I forget which is right and left but there is a universal method and the brown is all the other running lights including the rear lights and side marker lights.

If you have a five pin plug the blue wire is for a lockout solenoid that is used for trailers that have surge brakes. The solenoid is mounted to brake unit and the blue wire is only activated when the vehicle is put in revers.

Tom L.

[HeaveToo]

Those lights on poles look like a great fix.  You will still have to worry about the  lights on the side of the trailer for the Compac 23.

I hate the system where the grounds ground to the trailer.  Those always cause issues and are usually the first place to check to see if they are causing issues.  The next place is the light bulbs because they get corrosion on where the touch the socket.

[rogerschwake]

  I used 14 gauge drop cord to rewire the trailer under my Sun-Cat long with LED lights. Have been using the trailer for five years with no problems and I never unplug them when backing the boat in or pulling it out. It would be a good idea to unplug the trailer lights if I could only remember to plug them back in. With the drop cord it's a lot easier to find a place were the insulation has been damaged than with the stuff they sell to wire trailers. This works for me hope it helps you.

ROGER