karl
New Member
"Elida"
Posts: 27
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Post by karl on Jun 10, 2012 20:23:40 GMT -5
I've been woking on getting my lights properly connected all day. I've been using the 4 wire trailer wiring diagram that i imagine we are all familiar with. W - ground, Br - to each tail light, green and yellow to their respective turn signal. I'm a carpenter and have never had this much difficulty with wiring. The diagram shows the brown lines splitting back near the tongue. Am I making a mistake in thinking I can jump from one light (R)to the other(L). Please help! At this point I'm not concerned about clearance or side lights, although would accept any input. If this is helpful, the new lights being installing each have red and black leads. Thanks! Karl
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boandsusan
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Christmas parade 2012
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Post by boandsusan on Jun 10, 2012 22:21:50 GMT -5
We jumped ours from one to the other. Ours also gave us fits for several days(all new wire and new lights) until we discovered a wired had been nicked with a screw at the rear roadside corner while reattaching the rear skin. Good luck!
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embee
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by embee on Jun 10, 2012 22:35:28 GMT -5
Absolutely, you can jump those wires. I'm not even sure how else one would do it. That brown wire is power for both running tail lights.
On our last Shasta compact, all the clearance and side lights were jumpered from the same wire, sort of a daisy chain.
Btw, for test purposes, while you are wiring and don't have a tow vehicle hooked up, you can use a 9 volt battery to test things. The bulbs are 12V, but 9V is enough to light them up--just look closely, they won't be bright. I test every connection as I go, and ALWAYS before I button anything up.
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embee
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by embee on Jun 10, 2012 22:37:58 GMT -5
Oh, I forgot to add something....if you are doing the 9V test-as-you-go method, don't have too many bulbs in their sockets at once. That will load that little battery down and you won't get enough current to light them all. Two or three at a time. Good luck.
I wish plumbing were as easy as wiring lights....
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boandsusan
2K Post Member
Christmas parade 2012
Posts: 2,000
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Post by boandsusan on Jun 10, 2012 23:07:09 GMT -5
I`m happy plumbing all day. I`m miserable wiring for an hour..........always does my head in, no matter how simple a job it may be lol.
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vikx
3K Post Member
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Post by vikx on Jun 11, 2012 2:03:54 GMT -5
OK, this is going to sound crazy...
GREEN is normally used for tail and running lights in the trailer. (not brown) RED is Left Turn and BROWN is Right Turn. White is ground.
So... if you are going to re-wire with a modern 4 way, the colors are not correct!
Trailer: Green to 4 way Brown
Trailer: Brown to 4 way Green
Trailer: Red to 4 way Yellow
I agree with the above, check before trusting color.
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karl
New Member
"Elida"
Posts: 27
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Post by karl on Jun 11, 2012 14:57:27 GMT -5
Just to be clear, I expect to eliminate all wiring and include a new flat four. So.. when I connect the vehicle harness to the new flat four connector (camper), I have a brown lead which has been tested to be the powered line. This brown wire is being connected directly to the red lead exiting the new rear light fixture. I then jump to the red lead on the other new rear light fixture. The yellow and green leads on the new flat four connector are connected to the black leads on the new rear lights. The white lead is my ground to the frame. In my mind, this should work as I have excluded all the original wiring. New harness, new flat four to the new lights! what's goin' on here? Left light works, left turn signal works, left "four" way works. Right side does not light or is very faint. I have also switched right and left lights to confirm both are working. Thanks Karl
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Post by Bow_Tied on Jun 11, 2012 17:16:14 GMT -5
Quite often grounding can be the issue and can do weird things. These old trailers were body-grounds at the light fixtures and rusty mounting hardware or too much paint can insulate the fixtures. I had this issue with my side markers. First rule is good, clean grounds. Second rule as mentioned is don't trust wire colours as they go into the harnesses, previous owners do strange things (I found five splices in the wire to my starter on my car once!). Good luck!
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cowcharge
1K Post Member
I suffer from Shastasomiasis.
Posts: 1,471
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Post by cowcharge on Jun 12, 2012 4:27:57 GMT -5
So, are the new lights grounded to the skin then?
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karl
New Member
"Elida"
Posts: 27
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Post by karl on Jun 12, 2012 18:02:08 GMT -5
Yes, loosely screwed. I'll be looking into whether I have a good enough purchase on that skin and give it another go.
Consider this if you will.
When I first drove off with this thing, the right light, right turn and right brake lights didn't work. I drove it home nonetheless. I assumed a bad bulb at the time. Since the lights were so rusty, I couldn't separate the back from the lens to check the bulb. I chose to replace both lights, each has a black and red lead. I also purchased a new 15' length of flat four cable, with the male and female flat four connectors on either end. In addition, prior to pick up, Uhaul installed a new hitch and harness. With my new lights screwed to the camper shell I plugged the new flat four cable to the harness. Removed the connector from the other end and connected them as instructed on a wiring diagram ... brown, which was tested at the new harness as being "hot"to the right light. I jumped from there to the left light, connecting both to the red leads on each new light. The the green and yellow (turn) leads to the remaining black leads. The white of course to the frame as my ground. Appreciate any input you may have. Karl
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cowcharge
1K Post Member
I suffer from Shastasomiasis.
Posts: 1,471
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Post by cowcharge on Jun 12, 2012 19:31:39 GMT -5
So now, you have replaced everything, right? New lights, new wires, new connectors and new harness in the car?
Have you verified that there's power on the blinker/brake wires as well as the main hot wire?
If so, it can really only be a grounding issue, there's nothing else left. I would consider adding ground wires directly from the light plates to the trailer frame and bypass the skin altogether. And make sure the tongue connection point is a good clean one.
No doubt a silly question, but are you sure that the particular lights you bought are meant to be skin-grounded? A two-wire light could also be a plain taillight with no double-filament bulb in it, with one wire being the ground...
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karl
New Member
"Elida"
Posts: 27
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Post by karl on Jun 13, 2012 18:17:15 GMT -5
Yes, everything has been replaced, and the lights were purchased as tail/blinker/brake lights. I will confirm power to blinker/brake wires. Sounds like your on to something with the grounding, and will bypass the skin as you suggest. I will also open up the light to investigate the double filament as you suggest. Will be unable to proceed with electric for a few days. Thanks for all your suggestions. Karl
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embee
New Member
Posts: 37
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Post by embee on Jun 13, 2012 22:22:59 GMT -5
Karl, I agree with everything said above. I assume you have a volt-ohmmeter? Use it to check continuity from the frame to the skin. Our first Shasta compact had a ground wire attached to the frame, but somehow it didn't connect to the skin. I made sure it did. I measure continuity of every wire I install WHEN I install it. Check for power and for ground.
We had our Compact stripped down, no connector to a tow vehicle while I worked on it. But, I was totally confident when I finally spliced on the tow veh connector. They all worked perfectly.
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karl
New Member
"Elida"
Posts: 27
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Post by karl on Jul 8, 2012 12:37:36 GMT -5
Thanks for all your help, as it turned out, the harness was defective. The frustration I experienced! Thanks again to all so willing to help!
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vikx
3K Post Member
Posts: 3,556
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Post by vikx on Jul 9, 2012 1:28:00 GMT -5
Karl, so unhappy that you had a defective harness! What a frustrating situation...
One thing to keep in mind: the skin is metal, a good ground. Attach a ground wire from skin to frame and the whole thing becomes a ground. If your screws are clean and tight, there should be no need to rewire.
WHEN IN DOUBT, GROUND IT AGAIN.
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