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I am going to assume that the wire used in standard trailer wiring kits is 18 gauge? Any down side to running 16 gauge? I seem to only get 2 seasons out of the trailer wires before they give it up. Looking to upgrade the wiring and hope that by using some jacketed marine wire I can get more life out of the wiring.

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Kamie -

I think dropping a wire size is fine but will not solve your problem. What is the exact failure and where does it occur?

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I'm not sure what kind of problems you are having, but with mine I could only get a few seasons before I had to replace them and then I switched to the LED lights and have had no problem since. They are submersable and almost maintainance free.

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L.E.D. seems to eliminate a lot of problems, those "Diving Bell" style lights always crack, and you lose the air bubble protecting the lamp. You might want to run the wires through some "Poly" tubing from "Homey-Depot", and just attach to the trailer using "Cable ties". You might also want to try mounting the lights on a piece of wood (2x4) and hanging them off the back of the boat when trailering. This keeps the wires out of the water and sun (uv), and drivers behind you can see the lights better because, they are mounted higher up (you have to run a wire to ground the lights if you go with the wood mount).

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As mentioned above you do not mention your. I think everyone knows that the old 1157 bulb set up is very problematic. The wire on the trailer should not need to be replaced as often. One thing I do is use connectors with heat shrink on them. Long ago before I knew there was such a thing, I would put silicone in the end of the connectors. If you seal the wire at the connections you should not have wire problems and it would be your choice to upgrade to led lights.

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Thanks folks.
I have LED's and the lights are already at the top of the guide posts. The issue is in the wires and the salt air and sunlight. Every thing down here corrodes just sitting in the yard no matter how well you seal the connections. My place has a constant breeze off the water, today it's blowing about 40MPH driving all that moist salt air everywhere. Also, since I don't trailer the boat, the trailer sits exposed to sun all summer while the boat is on the lift. My plan was to rewire the trailer including a dedicated ground wire for each set of lights. I figure if I run tinned marine wire, in a jacket thru flexible tubing it just might last.

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After replacing the entire setup on my Montauk's trailer twice, I realized where my problem was. In my experience any wire that is exposed will corrode.

I used heat shrink butt connectors for the connections, dipped in liquid electrical tape. Where the ground wires attached, I coated the bolts with liquid tape as well. For the connector, I bought a spare female and filled the holes with dielectric grease. When stored, i plugged the connectors together. Long story short, nothing exposed.

If the wire jacket is deteriorating, have you considered covering it with wire loom?

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Everyone has their own tricks that work. I am surprised that your wires fail after two years. Over the years I've done quite a bit of trailering and launching over 100 times a year in saltwater. On one of my trailers I ran sections of old garden hose through the trailer frame, ran the trailer wires though the hose and then filled the hose ends with marine caulk. I greased the light sockets and plugs and heat sealed all wire connections. Most importantly I maintained a good ground. It seems to me that perfect grounding is one the the key items.

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Gary, it;s not the launching in salt water that is the issue. I launch exactly 5 maybe 6 times a year.

The new set of wires will be run in wire loom. I had coated every connection with liquid tape and used heat shrink but it's the unjacked wires that are breaking down. I could purchase another trailer kit and run that thru wire loom but I would still need to run a dedicated ground wire. Seems simpler to just get triplex wire in a jacket, run that thru wire loom and zip tie the wire loom to the trailer. Still working on the connectors, I have an extension connector, I might just bolt the trailer connector to the trailer and use the extension. That way the traier connector won't be moving. The coiled extension I have has a good cover on it to protect it.

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Best Boat Wire will have just about anything you would want in a multiconductor marine wire at an excellent price. However, SO cable from Home Depot might have a better cover for exposure to UV.

www.bestboatwire.com

No problem with going to a larger gauge wire.

Tom

Just saw this looking for something else, Ancor makes a sheathed trailer wire:
http://www.marinco.com/files/media/pr...g%2025.pdf

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The use of tinted marine wire and no crimping! solder the connection and use heat shrink tubing. Do not use those heat shrink connectors, make your own.Bare terminals and solder with heat shrink tubing. All my gages and fuse blocks are done this way, any where there is a connector.I have even taken fuse connectors a part (taken the metal ends off the lights also)and ran new tinted wire, so I do not have a splice in the wire.The use of split wrap will help when exposed, or when chafing might be a issue.I know the boaters bible says do not solder, it might heat up the solder and fail. Give me a break. if that happens you have a bigger problem than a solder connection. Kamie I also used a jacked three wire.

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I do the same, solder only (solder will only corrode on the outside, not the inside) the problem is that the solder lasts but, the wire corrodes where it goes into the solder, so like "Guts" said, I use the heat shrink tubing, liquid letric tape, and "Die-lectric" grease where ever I can. I have found that running the wires through "Hose" or "Poly tubing" (that is U.V. Resistant) is easily secured with "Cable ties", my boat is very exposed and I run as much wiring as I can through these types of tubing, it really extend's the life of the wires, I'm pretty sure the problem is "U.V." exposure, that sun beats up anything. You can seal the tubes up but, "sometimes" on a boat it is not a good idea to seal things up (moisture trap), so where I can, I just secure the conduit pointed downward (or a drip loop) to drain if any water gets in. Romex (homey-depot) works very well, I've had an exposed piece on my boat for 20 years, no problem, as mentioned "Check the ground", for some stupid reason it's always a bad "Ground" wire on trailer work.

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There is a company that eliminates the trailer wires completely!
Go to www.wirelesstowlights.com
It is a Texas company that sells lights for trailers or towed vehicles that you hook up with 2 magnetic lights and a transmitter at the vehicle.
The lights are LED. It would work great for a temp. situation like Kamie that does not use the trailer every time they launch.
It has left and right directional, running and brake lights by wireless, No wires to the lights at all.
1 800 687 4940

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Wrangler,
Thanks for the tip. That would work great, I have three trailers so I could use it on all of them with no wires to worry about.

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Great trailer lights.

I have added that link to the Vendors Web Links on our site.
http://www.whalercentral.com/weblinks...owstart=15

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I like the wireless lights. They would work for me but I see that in Michigan trailers with a gross weight (trailer and load) over 3,000 lbs require side lights. This can be an issue on larger trailers/boats and may vary by state.

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I was thinking the same thing. We are also required to have a white light on the plate at night. These would be great if you only towed during the day and short distances.

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Have you ever thought of removable lights that attach to the boat?
1 wire, 2 lights and a pig tail. Attach to the boat (C clamps, wood working clamps etc) when trailering and place in closet when not in use. If you only use 5 times a year this could be a possible solution.