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Trailer Lighting!!....such a headache
tbrady	#1  Posted on 05/25/08 - 11:46 AM
Member Posts: 7 Comments: 0 Joined: 05/17/06	Hey everyone, I have been experiencing a problem with the lighting on my Tee Nee trailer for my 64 Whaler. I noticed a few months ago that my right turn signal seemed very dim too the point u could barely see it. The honks of people i got from behind me when i made a right turn made that apparent. I looked at it and noticed the problem was that the running light element of the bulb was so bright that it was actually drowning out the blinker. I have checked the ground at the toungue of the trailer, and checked the lights themselves. Everything seems fine from what i can see...wiring right, no corrotion, no kinks, etc. Everyone has told me ground ground ground, and maybe even that im putting the bulb in "backwards"? these are practically brand new lights and wiring from when i restored my whaler 2 years ago. Its not very safe to tow without people knowing im turning and on top of that i have a headache from trying to figure this one out. So any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks everyone
Barryg	#2  Posted on 05/25/08 - 12:22 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 242 Comments: 1 Joined: 04/01/08	TBrady, I would say 90% of my light problems came from the wires on the trailer(not the plug or the light) . Volt meter would be helpful however takeing the light off and checking direct to a battery would help narrow the search. BG Edited by Barryg on 05/25/08 - 1:58 PM
wrangler	#3  Posted on 05/26/08 - 9:01 AM
Member Posts: 264 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/14/08	Try the new led lights, they are sealed. No bulbs to worry about, use less power and are brighter. Supposed to last thousands of hours. They cost more but less problems.
Derwd24	#4  Posted on 05/26/08 - 9:40 AM
Member Posts: 1607 Comments: 9 Joined: 05/09/07	Start out by comparing the running light brightness and blinker function of the right (problem) side to the left side. If the left side is fine, the ground at the tongue is ok. Remember though that each light housing on the trailer also has a ground that goes to the trailer frame, and if one side is acting like yours, chances are the ground at the light may be having problems. That's the next place I'd look. Sometimes there's a separate ground wire that comes off the light and has a lug that gets screwed right to the frame, other times the mounting bolts on the back of the light housing are also the ground. Not sure which kind you have, pop the lens cover and look at the metal bracket that holds the bulb housing to find out how that's grounded. Clean up the contact point of the light ground on the trailer and you may find the problem is fixed.
freddieO	#5  Posted on 05/26/08 - 2:20 PM
Member Posts: 6 Comments: 2 Joined: 08/22/07	Try a new larger size flasher for your truck pulling the boat.I had a small truck and one side turn signal was slow and dimmer the other.A trucker told me to get a larger flasher for the signals.Flashers are inside under the dash,it worked for me
moose	#6  Posted on 05/27/08 - 12:37 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 543 Comments: 1 Joined: 03/07/07	You say that you put these lights on two years ago. Have they been working fine till recently? If so, ground problems almost always are the culprit. If you run a single wire from the ground post of you tow vehicle's harness to the ground post on your light you should easily find out if that's the problem. Mike
MW	#7  Posted on 05/27/08 - 6:48 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1827 Comments: 10 Joined: 01/08/06	We've all lost our mind working on trailer lights, their is a test led plug for the car $5 "Overton's" that is well worth the $5 for checking problems, The last problem I had was what "Derwd24" stated (the ground at the fixture was bad), the left side light was new looking, the right side light was corroded at the ground at the socket, "AH HAA", you have to check everything carefully, the socket ground looked o.k until I touched it (flickered off, then on). The next time these break I'm going to put the new light's on a 2x4 and hang it off the stern, it keep's them out of the water and places the lights at eye level (easier for the car behind you to see them). mw
Derwd24	#8  Posted on 05/27/08 - 8:32 PM
Member Posts: 1607 Comments: 9 Joined: 05/09/07	MW, that brings up an excellent point. If you eventually mount your lights on a 2x4, you'll have to run a ground wire from the white (ground) on the trailer connector to each light housing ground for it to work. This is the best way for it to be done when rewiring/installing new lights no matter where they're mounted, for trouble free operation!
PaulTarwater	#9  Posted on 05/27/08 - 9:59 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 140 Comments: 1 Joined: 08/25/07	Get some LED's and a new wiring harness. Cost...about $50 for all. It takes about 2 hours to run new wires and hook up the lights and then you need not worry about it anymore. Both lights have a ground wire to the light bracket nut as does the front plug (to the trailer or vehicle harness depending on your setup). I have never had a problem with this setup. IMO, LED's are as foolproof as it gets. Paul P.S. Use the existing wire harness to pull your new one through the trailer neck. I use heat shrink tubing & liquid electrical tape on my connections. Unplug it from the tow vehicle when launching.
MW	#10  Posted on 05/28/08 - 3:16 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1827 Comments: 10 Joined: 01/08/06	Another member (can't remember who) had a good tip of using a 12v Battery charger hooked up to the trailer plug when working on the lights. This saves the car battery/ignition from a work out. When getting involved in trailer light work it is easy to forget the key is "on" in the tow vehicle (battery drain's down), then you have to jump start the "tow vehicle" too (like I did). When I bought my boat I used an 88 Chevy celebrity as the "tow car", then in the early 90's they switched over to using "Amber" turn signal's on all cars (an extra wire needed), I switched over to a '96 Grand Am, I had to buy a converter for the hook up (something I did'nt "know" to add to the wiring frustration). Check a "truck shop", or "Northern tool", they have all new cool "hardware/converter's/adapter's" on the market now to make "trailering" and "Wiring" easier. mw
jorders	#11  Posted on 09/24/08 - 2:40 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 125 Comments: 3 Joined: 07/06/06	seabob is right. its all about the ground. simply find where the ground is attached to your trailer and reattach it. it rusts and does not make a good contact. if you have an alluminum trailer, its is even more imparative to do this regularly.
jorders	#12  Posted on 09/24/08 - 2:41 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 125 Comments: 3 Joined: 07/06/06	seabob is right. its all about the ground. simply find where the ground is attached to your trailer and reattach it. it rusts and does not make a good contact. if you have an alluminum trailer, its is even more imparative to do this regularly.
Tono	#13  Posted on 09/25/08 - 5:31 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 5 Comments: 0 Joined: 09/10/08	IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GROUND. Edited by Tono on 09/25/08 - 6:30 PM
ioptfm	#14  Posted on 09/25/08 - 5:48 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1533 Comments: 3 Joined: 10/28/06	You can purchase a circuit tester which looks sort of like an ice pick with a light on the end of the handle at any auto parts house for less than $10. Start at one end and work your way to the other, doing one side at a time. Be sure to seal the tiny punctures in the wires with something like liquid 'lectric tape. As everyone has noted.............MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD GROUND FIRST! Edited by ioptfm on 09/25/08 - 5:49 PM Tom 1979 Sport 15'
Binkie	#15  Posted on 09/25/08 - 6:01 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 2012 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/19/05	Yes it is the ground, but where, could even be in the plug. Last month I sold my Bass boat on E-Bay. The day before the new owner was supposed to pick it up, I decided to check the trailer light as I knew he had a long way to go on the interstate, and the boat was sitting for a while. Well, the taillights worked but the turn signals and brake lights didn`t. I checked all the obvious things, nothing helped. I figured it was a bad ground, somewhere. I checked on the Internet, same thing, bad ground. I spent two hours looking but no results. Finally in near desperation, I tore out all of the trailer lights and wiring, went down to Walmart, bought a new wiring kit with lights, spent no more than an hour hooking everything up, and to my great relief, everything worked. End of stress filled morning. Just go get new lights, they`re cheap and easy to hook up. I think my problem might have been a broken ground wire in the trailer plug, but who cares they are now working for an hours work and $29. rich Rich
Binkie	#16  Posted on 09/25/08 - 7:27 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 2012 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/19/05	Bob, I`m just assuming the thread originator is a dumb as I am when it comes to electrical stuff. Guess I shouldn`t, and don`t usually give advice on electrical stuff, but in my case I just needed to see the lights work, and didn`t want to buy and learn how to use a continuity tester. Although I have one that I use for testing AC circuits in a house to see if the circuit is hot, before I tear the wall out. Its called a lamp. LOL If it is I just flip the appropriate breaker, and call an electrician. Hard to be a master of all trades. rich Rich
CES	#17  Posted on 09/26/08 - 6:54 AM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	When I replaced my trailer lights not to long ago, I ran into a similiar problem. My lights were dim and when the turn signals were on, you could barely see them blinking on the trailer. Come to find out, I did not have the lights properly mounted on the trailer itself because the electrical ground was designed to use the trailer itself. The lights ground is through the mounting bolts on the light assemblies themselves. Once I fixed that, I still had another issue and it was also ground related. My trailer plug had the white wire dangling and I had to splice a wire to it and then attached the other end of it to the trailer itself. Once all that was complete, my trailer lights have worked well. I did have a light bulb issue not to long ago and unless you get those bulbs (1057's) seated correctly, you'll have problems which will drive you batty. One precautionary thing I do is always disconnect the trailer light assembly from the truck so I am not buring my trailer lights in the water. Hot glass does not interact well with cool water. Premature light bulb failure usually results if you do not unplug them before submersing. Hope my experience helps. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
Binkie	#18  Posted on 09/26/08 - 7:29 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 2012 Comments: 0 Joined: 12/19/05	Cliff, I like your idea of disconnecting the lights before backing into the water. However, for myself, I would have to put a note on my dash to reconnect them. rich Rich
Bob Younger	#19  Posted on 09/26/08 - 11:05 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 136 Comments: 2 Joined: 06/22/07	To rid myself of the cold water/hot light bulb issue and trying to remember to disconnect/reconnect lights I switched to the LED's. A bit more expensive but now I don't have to tax my brain or get a ticket.