www.iFourWinns.com

I changed to LED lights for the rear on my trailer. They worked initially just fine, now the right rear running light doesn't light, although the turn signal light works just fine, and all the other running lights function normally. No water in the housing, and the splices I did were top notch (solder, then heat shrink wire tubing). The ground seemed to be properly seated against bare metal. How can I test the actual light to see if it's the problem (as opposed to the wiring)? Can I somehow hook the connector up directly to a battery, or even the 5 pin setup? I understand it's the brown wire that is the one responsible for the running lights.

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2005 Horizon 250

One easy way would be to use a multimeter to check for 12V at the power wire before /after your splice. It could be a harness problem somewhere between the 5 pin connector and the splice. Or yes you could use a battery to supply 12V just to the connector of the light. Two pieces of wire with alligator clamps or something similar would let you do a temporary jumper to test just the light. Don't forget the ground to complete the circuit to the battery.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

It's also possible you got a "bad" LED. I had one on my brand new trailer from FW that worked great at first. They put a new LED on and everything worked as it should.

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2008 H210
Volvo 5.0 GXi
"Summer Sled"
Indianapolis

Well, tonight I connected the light to my battery charger (12V) and concluded that the both the running light and turn signal light are functional - it ain't the new LED system. Tomorrow I'll reconnect it (at the 2 pin flat connector) after brushing up the male & female portions of the connector, and ensuring, again that the ground is tight. If it isn't fixed I'll work backwards with my new $4.99 circuit test light. With the probe end of the test light do I push it thru the wire insulation to the bare wire? Or, worse, do I have to cut the wire? Do I have to solder and heat shrink protect all these test spots?

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2005 Horizon 250

You can poke it through the wire. I'd recommend re-sealing to prevent further corrosion of the wire in the future.

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Terry
Current: 07 Crownline 255 CCR cuddy - 350 Mag MPI/B3 "Casi Cielo"

Previous:97 245 Sundowner 5.7GI/SX

Tow vehicle: 1986 GMC 2500 Camper Special 454/TH400

First double check voltage from the vehicle's plug, and then in the trailer's plug. If everything's good there (I'm betting you'll find the problem there though) then you can probe through the wire insulation as you work back. When done, coat the probed areas with liquid electrical tape.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Trailer lights are enough to drive you crazy.

When my brake lights went out, I found some blown fuses in the truck itself that I discovered when I stuck my multi-meter in the connector on the truck's hitch, so there is a place to check.

Most of my trailer light issues were related to the ground on the trailer.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

I fixed the problem (it was just a bad ground connection from the light) - and had all the lights working properly. Then my elation went to deflation after I put dielectric grease on the prongs at the hitch connection and re-connected. Now - nothing. I thought - well I ve blown the fuse - but the 20 amp fuse in the durango fuse box marked tow package was fine. I get no light when I use the circuit light on the connector. What now? Damn trailer wiring problems!

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2005 Horizon 250

My Ford has like 4 fuses for the various towing lights.

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2010 Sea Hunt Triton 220 "Big Whiskey"
2003 FW Freedom 180 Volvo Penta 4.3GL/SX-M "It'll Do Four Now" (Sold)
2012 Avalanche LTZ 4X4

Hate to ask a stupid question, but are you sure the "battery saver" function on the truck didn't just kick in while you were applying the grease?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Um, I hate to actually BE stupid, but, what is this "battery saver" function on my truck? (I have a 2006 Dodge Durango). The problem seemed to occur with the addition of the dielectric grease. I did turn everything off, went inside, cursed a bit, and later, in disbelief, re-started the truck , hooked up the wiring and watched helplessly as nothing on the trailer worked (still).

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2005 Horizon 250

That kills that theory, then. My '98 F150 (and I assumed everything newer than that) has a function whereby if the computer sees any current draw without the engine running for more than ~30 minutes, it shuts everything off. I thought perhaps you had a truck door open (dome light) or something while you were working on it, causing the truck to kill power to the trailer. Dielectric grease in this application is a good thing, I don't think that's your problem.

Start again, checking for voltage at the truck's plug...

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

It is fixed, finally. Ultimately I had a rusted screw on the ground wire, which broke when I tried to unscrew it, which led to me having to drill a new hole to seat a new screw. Got that done, and expected success, but, alas, everything worked except running lights. Then I re-checked the adapter output with my circuit test light, and sure enough the brown lead (running lights) had no juice. Tried my spare adapter - same results. So, I scratched my head, cursed, and checked my 4 flat output (I have a separate 4 flat and 7 pin box on the back of the truck) which also had no juice in the running lights lead, with others working fine. I thought it had to be a simple fuse (though that had already been checked umpteen times). I re-checked, this time looking at all the 10 amp and 20 amp fuses, regardless of the listed funtion for each cavity, and, lo and behold.... a broken 10 amp fuse. Replaced in 10 seconds, and everything works normally.

Now, do I need to do anything else, given that I am still not sure why the fuse blew? I am going to assume there were problems caused by the bad ground, and that it fixed now.

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2005 Horizon 250

I would think you've done everything you can do. Since you've got LED's on the trailer now, you shouldn't have any issues with excessive current draw unless something else is wrong somewhere. What circuit was the blown fuse supposedly in?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Actually it just says "10 Amp" on the diagram

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2005 Horizon 250