Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by ElMorro on 08/19/17 - 7:01 PM

I upgraded to LED lights. I think I did not install correctly. It has a white Ground wire coming out of it. I have connected everything yellow to yellow, brown to brown, white to white. I am confused on how to ground these. The one lights that came with this brand new trailer had the white going into the light and attached to some metal inside the plastic. They wont come on at all now. If anyone has any advice that would be amazing. Thanks.

Posted by gchuba on 08/19/17 - 9:44 PM

White should be positive. Yellow is being used for dc negative/ground. They have trailer wiring guides that are color coded. Black was being phased out as negative because of confusion with ac wiring. Black being replaced with yellow. For trailers sometimes the negative is the chassis. The chassis then has to be connected to the ground (or negative battery terminal) of the vehicle.

Posted by Finnegan on 08/19/17 - 11:09 PM

Trailer wiring color codes are different from marine/boat wiring. White is always the ground (neg), and for fixtures is simply attached to the metal of the trailer frame, usually within the fixture. Green and yellow are the brake/turning circuits for each side, and brown are the running lights (tail lights).

The white ground comes out of the vehicle, through the plug, and the short white wire is connected to the trailer frame. Then the trailer frame grounds all light fixtures.

Posted by gchuba on 08/20/17 - 7:39 AM

Finnean.....thanks for the clarification. I slept on it last night and thought the color coding was probably different. I remembered that the yellow wire was part of the standard trailer wire cluster. One thing with trailers is they have several plugs available. I use the RV style and their wiring guide on all my trailers. Very important to follow installation guidelines so you can get over the counter adapters if you are borrowing or renting a trailer not your own.

Posted by ElMorro on 08/20/17 - 9:03 AM

Thanks guys. I have the wires attached color to color and no lights at all. Its brand new. The new led lights came with a white wire that had a circle fixture at the end to ground apperantley. Then I didn't know what to do w the white coming from the trailer. So I connected both white together. Nothing. Going back oriellys

Posted by Finnegan on 08/20/17 - 9:49 AM

The white ground wire goes on the screw that attaches the light to the trailer, automatically grounding it. One tail light is connected to a yellow and a brown wire, the other to a green and a brown wire.

Posted by steelhead55 on 08/21/17 - 1:38 PM

Finnegan wrote:
The white ground wire goes on the screw that attaches the light to the trailer, automatically grounding it. One tail light is connected to a yellow and a brown wire, the other to a green and a brown wire.

There is a 99% chance you have a grounding problem. To avoid grounding problems on my trailers, I actually always run a grounding wire to the front of the trailer that does not typically get submerged, and ground there, with all circuits coming back to that point . I also got rid of all that ridiculously brittle #16 and #18 wire that typically comes with the kits and used outdoor rated romex, with all circuits connections made at a wiring block at the front of the trailer, located below the winch assembly (but forward of the assembly, so it wont be stepped on).

First trailer lasted 15 years without replacement lights. Current trailer is pushing 3 years without a problem.

A simple test for you to do would be connect a voltmeter and check for the presence of voltage relative to the trailer frame. You can also check the plug in the back of your truck for voltage relative to the truck frame.