Trailer Light Grounding

[theburren]

2 sugestions I have for you.

1, a seperate aux ground NEVER hurts, and cures many DIM lamp problems, and pulseing or blinking lmap problems.

2, they make a brake / turn signal adapter for units that have combined hooked to non combined units.. etc.

here's a bonus: 3, if the wireing is bad at the back of the buss... rewire. bad wirees, insuficient size, and bad conenctions make for dim lamps.. especially since you are making a train with extra connections..

soundguy

Thanks for the reply soundguy--
I considered getting the converter, and I may in the future since I personally like amber turn signals. I may also run some additional grounds. I checked the lights out last night and they aren't THAT dull I guess... I was just expecting them to be as bright as they normally are..

I am concerned though that the passenger side is a little duller than the driver's side. Not by a lot, but still. Also, the brake lights are not too bright and the spill-over into the opposite side when signalling is a concern. For now I think I need a break to let the grease work ts way out of my skin..

The wiring is pretty robust at the rear of the bus, so I don't need to replace it, but I will definitely re-do any connections with fresh crimps and grease...

 

[MinnesotaGuy84]

Well I finally got it figured out. A couple of you mentioned running ground wire from the tongue all the way to each of the fixtures. This ended up being the solution. As this was my first wiring project it took me a fair bit of figuring. I appreciate the help from all of you.

 

[Soundguy]

most trailer lamp and e-brake problems I see are ground related.

glad you found it.

 

[Willl]

I do a LOT of container chassi repair. The ones that carry the sea going containers.

Every single light on that chassi has it's own GROUND wire. Everyone.
Well, except the the license plate light. But that's my fight.

Ground 'em. Everyone of them SOB's.

 

[BobRip]

Grounding is a problem, but those blue splicing devices (insulation displacement) are also a big problem.

 

[Soundguy]

taps and scotch locks.. yuck!

I hate em on trailer applications..

soundguy

 

[BobRip]

taps and scotch locks.. yuck!

I hate em on trailer applications..

soundguy

Are they good anywhere? I guess low vibration. I have not had problems on my trailer yet, but it does not get used much.

 

[Soundguy]

my 16' big tex was wired all with them tap stile deals.

after 1 yer when I was replacing the untreated wood deck, I went and removed all taps that were already failing and soldered and heatshrunk all connections and added grommets thru metal panels, as the brake wire had actually chaffed thru where it went into the dexter axle. use fuel hase as grommets..e tc. 10ys later.. and none of the solder and shrunk wire conenctions or grommeted areas have failed again..

I use taps sparingly. I have used them in tractor headlamp applications where I am scabbing a left side line off a right side feeder.. but otherwise.. it's a non sealed connection and I would normallu only use them perhaps in an enclosure box or something else out of the weather..

soundguy

 

[dstig1]

When I rewired mine a year ago, I used a combination of the scotchlocks that had the silicone sealant in them and heat shrink butt joints where I could. When I upgraded the brake wires this year to 12 ga I attempted to solder, based on what many here said, but frankly soldering big wires like this size has never worked well for me. I used electrical solder, but even my large soldering gun (~200W Weller pistol grip style) doesn't generate enough heat to melt the solder in my lifetime. I tried a plumbers torch which generated plenty of heat, but still did not work well and damaged plenty of insulation. Is there some sort of electrical flux I should be using or what is the deal? I know plumbers flux is corrosive and not a good choice for wires.

 

[Soundguy]

rosin past flux for electrical joints is available from many places..

hit harbor freight.. get a real soldering gun.. will melt 16-18ga solder like a hot knife thru butter..

soundguy