Trailer light problems
 

I've got one of those little testers too but it only checks the vehicle
wires, not the trailer.
Changing to LEDs doesn't resolve the problem most of us trailer boaters have
with wiring, which is almost always the ground.
I also mounted my lights on a 2x2. That was after spending several hours
trying to get the trailer mounted lights to work reliably. I think one of
the problems with trailer wires is corrosion getting inside the wire.


"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:36:41 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

I believe it is common for both light assemblies to have a ground, ie.
right
and left side grounds.

On other trailers I've owned, there was always a single ground wire
which ran to the frame - the lights were gorunded through the frame.
On the trailers I have now, each light is connected to a ground wire
and there is a bundle where they join at the connector.

Seems a little complicated to me.

I just replaced my expensive Wesbar (?) incandesant tail lights with
relatively cheap WalMart LED tail lights. During the process I found that
each lamp had a ground wire with a ring connector for the ground. The old
lamps were the same. When removing the old lamps I found that the ring
connector was attached to the trailer rail by the lamp's mounting screws.
There was a large amount of white powder all around the drilled holes for
the lamp mounting screws where the ground wires were connected. I used
some
sandpaper to clean up the area before mounting the new lamps.

I've been thinking about changing the Wesbar lights over to LED
lights, but I can't find the style I need for the Ranger trailer. I
might just change the mounts, but that would look kind of kludgey.

I'll take another look in a week or so.

The OP could easily check this on his/her trailer.

A continuity tester (ohmeter) would be my choice of test equipment to
isolate any possible trailer wiring fault. BTW, WalMart sells an
inexpensive trailer wiring harness tester. WM and BW have one for a bit
more $.

I have one of those - they are pretty handy.

Trailer light problems
 

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:36:41 GMT, "Butch Davis"
wrote:

I believe it is common for both light assemblies to have a ground, ie.
right
and left side grounds.

On other trailers I've owned, there was always a single ground wire
which ran to the frame - the lights were gorunded through the frame.
On the trailers I have now, each light is connected to a ground wire
and there is a bundle where they join at the connector.

Seems a little complicated to me.

I just replaced my expensive Wesbar (?) incandesant tail lights with
relatively cheap WalMart LED tail lights. During the process I found that
each lamp had a ground wire with a ring connector for the ground. The old
lamps were the same. When removing the old lamps I found that the ring
connector was attached to the trailer rail by the lamp's mounting screws.
There was a large amount of white powder all around the drilled holes for
the lamp mounting screws where the ground wires were connected. I used
some
sandpaper to clean up the area before mounting the new lamps.

I've been thinking about changing the Wesbar lights over to LED
lights, but I can't find the style I need for the Ranger trailer. I
might just change the mounts, but that would look kind of kludgey.

I'll take another look in a week or so.

The OP could easily check this on his/her trailer.

A continuity tester (ohmeter) would be my choice of test equipment to
isolate any possible trailer wiring fault. BTW, WalMart sells an
inexpensive trailer wiring harness tester. WM and BW have one for a bit
more $.

I have one of those - they are pretty handy.

Try Bass Pro Shops. They have a couple of resonable LED packages. Both
oval and round. I have had 2 of my LED lights go bad over the years. Not
sealed well, would be my guess. But a lot less problems than the
incandesant lights.