joek
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Inside Out
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Post by joek on Apr 17, 2010 19:36:33 GMT -5
So I finally got around to installing my tailights on the rear, but when I came to the wiring, I found I had more filaments than wires. Maybe the Shastas were orginally wired with more than 4 pin connectors, but that's what I've got to work with on my truck.
I wired both filaments on the larger bulb to the turn/brake light circuit, and the single filament bulb to the running lights. Anybody know if this is the common way, or did I just re-invent the lightbulb (pun intended).
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Post by distant75 on Apr 17, 2010 21:06:08 GMT -5
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joek
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Inside Out
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Post by joek on Apr 18, 2010 1:52:16 GMT -5
Probably a typo, but the brown is for the running lights, not another ground.
I'll try to explain my question a little differently. At the Bargman 99 light fixtures, there are 3 wires in each fixture. One black, one red and one green. There are 2 bulbs, one has a single light filament, the other has 2 filaments. The green goes to the single filament bulb, and the red and black go to the double filament. The lights ground themselves to the body. So, you only have 2 wires from the harness coming into each light. Brown and Green into the right, yellow and green into left. I tied the red and black from the fixture into the turn/brake on each side. The green from the single filament bulb tied into the rest of the green from the trailer, that leads to the side running lights and licnese plate light, and was tied to the brown, for the running lights.
So at night with the headlights on, the running lights at the rear are at the dimmest, but the brake and turns should be really bright.
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Post by distant75 on Apr 18, 2010 19:34:01 GMT -5
Probably a typo, but the brown is for the running lights, not another ground. I'll try to explain my question a little differently. At the Bargman 99 light fixtures, there are 3 wires in each fixture. One black, one red and one green. There are 2 bulbs, one has a single light filament, the other has 2 filaments. The green goes to the single filament bulb, and the red and black go to the double filament. The lights ground themselves to the body. So, you only have 2 wires from the harness coming into each light. Brown and Green into the right, yellow and green into left. I tied the red and black from the fixture into the turn/brake on each side. The green from the single filament bulb tied into the rest of the green from the trailer, that leads to the side running lights and licnese plate light, and was tied to the brown, for the running lights. So at night with the headlights on, the running lights at the rear are at the dimmest, but the brake and turns should be really bright. Yes Brain just posted a wiring pic. That should help as well.
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Post by Atomic Addiction on Apr 18, 2010 22:58:01 GMT -5
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Post by familywagon on Jun 11, 2010 1:08:54 GMT -5
Wow my husband has been working on the lights all day. We are not familiar with electrical AT ALL. We've 4 wires coming off our harness plus a ground. One green, one yellow, two brown. The diagram showed yellow to left marker light, green to right marker light, brown into the brake light. Our problem is there are two wires coming out of the brake light fixture? We have gotten the side marker lights to work as blinkers. But the back brake light s will not work. What connects to the other wire coming out of the fixture on the rear brake lights? HELP we really want to do it ourselves.
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Post by 62astro on Jun 14, 2010 10:43:18 GMT -5
Familywagon, Did you get it figured out? The turn signals and brake lights work off the same filament in the bulb. The other filament is for tail lights.
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Post by familywagon on Jun 14, 2010 18:28:47 GMT -5
We have had zero luck with this:( We have taken all the old panels off to have all electrical exposed and so the option to taking it somewhere is out. I think it would fall apart riding down the street haha. Ok so where we are at this point.... We tried it ALL so we think. Grounding every light, running just to the tail lights and forgetting about the side running lights, we have bought all new lights, all new sockets, we r at our breaking point
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joek
250 Post Member
Inside Out
Posts: 324
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Post by joek on Jun 15, 2010 0:38:10 GMT -5
Don't throw in the towel. Sorry it hasn't worked out yet. I am not a wiring wizard by any means. But I have heard that the most common issue no ground. All of the lights are grounded through the body, so make sure you have a ground strap from the frame to the body.
Other problems I have had in the past: A blown fuse on the tow vehicle. A corroded conductor inside the 4-way plug also resulted in my voltage tester showing voltage, but the signals not working.
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Post by 62astro on Jun 17, 2010 13:59:44 GMT -5
Familywagon,
Do you have a ground jumper wire or the trailer hooked to your vehicle? Joe K is right, bad grounds can really make things miserable. The first time I tried mine on my old pickup the clearance lights were blinking with the turn signals on. I didn't have the pickup hooked up to the camper and the camper must have a bad ground wire. Once I hooked the two together the problem was gone. Make sure wherever the ground wire connects to the camper frame that it's clean and not rusted/corroded. Ditto for the trailer plug ground wire that's connected to your vehicle.
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Post by 62astro on Jun 17, 2010 14:52:32 GMT -5
Familywagon, Going back to your 6/11 post, assuming that the ground is good, when the clearance lights were acting as blinkers - my guess is that you have one of the turn signal wires hooked up to the clearance lights. With the trailer hitch attached to the vehicle. Unhook the each wire (one at a time, if it doesn't change anything hook it back up) at the trailer plug that makes the clearance lights blink. When you find the wire that makes the clearance lights stop blinking, that wire (going into your trailer) is the tail light/clearance wire light, mark it with tape as TL. Next, using a test light find which pin on the vehicle side lights up when your lights are on, mark that as TL. Hook the TL wire from the camper into the plug-in that would match up with TL pin on the vehicle. Now all you have are the two turn signal/brake light wires (assuming that you know for sure that the ground wire on the trailer side is hooked into the correct spot of the plug-in). Hook the two remaining trailer wires to the two remaining spots on the trailer plug-in. If they work opposite of the vehicle, switch them around. The color of the wire on the trailer harness might not match what new wiring diagrams for trailer plug-ins say they are. Hopefully this makes sense.
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Post by tbkillen on Jun 29, 2010 23:36:12 GMT -5
I put a jumper wire from the aluminum skin to the frame of my trailer. My lights are grounded to the trailer skin through the mounting screws, the skin to the frame, the frame to vehicle through the harness. Took me forever to realize my ground problem was because the skin wasn't attached to the frame enough for a good ground.
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Post by familywagon on Jul 2, 2010 15:38:35 GMT -5
We finally figured it out.
1st my 2006 jeep has a bad connection so we plugged it into my husbands truck.
2nd ground ground ground jeez
3rd all new everything
then it worked. After many days and almost tears we got it! Im scared to even tackle the interior lights. haha thanks for all the responses!
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Post by familywagon on Jul 3, 2010 1:00:31 GMT -5
One end of a ground attached to whatever your light is mounted on. (husbands advice)
Then attach the other end of that wire to a screw going thru the trailer frame underneath. He found the screw found the best conductor.
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Gone Kayaking
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Post by Gone Kayaking on Jun 20, 2011 11:35:49 GMT -5
Okay I am having a similar problem. I have the blinkers working correctly, but can't for the life of me get the running/brake light (double filament), marker and licence plate light to go. These are all attached to the brown wire. My tow vehicle is brand new and have new plug in 4 way flat connector. Ran new 4 way wire from front to back of trailer. Grounded to frame in front, and to each tail light (not to marker lights or licence light). Do I need to create a ground from the frame to the skin too? Here's some pics. I can't put the skin on til I figure this out...so please help.
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vikx
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Post by vikx on Jun 21, 2011 2:28:21 GMT -5
Hi GK,
Grounds are important, so ground the metal of the light to the frame via a wire with alligator clips. If it works, all is well.
That being said, all of my Shastas use the green wire for running and tail lights. Brown is Right Turn. Red is Left Turn.
Your butt splices look fine. I would test the wires and then go to the tails and license light wires . The color code posted above is a 4 way code that might (or might not) be used in your trailer. Trusting color without testing can cause confusion and problems.
Hope this helps.
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Gone Kayaking
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long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
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Post by Gone Kayaking on Jun 21, 2011 8:42:35 GMT -5
Well, blinkers and brakes are working now but still not the tail and brake light. I did all new wires, I went ahead and used brown to the tail lights cause I had a ton of it, and then the red and green for same reason. And oops there are so many new posts these days, I didn't see that you had responded. I always start by just checking new posts and then scrolling down....this didn't make it onto the first page of new posts.
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vikx
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Post by vikx on Jun 21, 2011 10:44:20 GMT -5
My two bulb tail lights are wired differently than above...
I'm not sure, but it looks to me that the two wires coming from one bulb are hooked to the running light wire? Only ONE of those wires is the tail light. The other is a brake light. The 2nd bulb (single wire) is also a running light.
Test the light, and the brightest glow is the turn/brake. Connect the other two wires to the running light wire (brown in your trailer).
Also, triple check the grounds at every clearance light and ground the skin to the frame.
The single wire bulb is usually smaller than the two wire bulb. Not sure why yours isn't. Check both bulb connections: single wire should have a brass nub in the middle, double wired should have two nubs on the bottom...and also orient correctly when seated. (nubs touch the two connections in the socket)
Good Luck!
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Post by mikekusa on Sept 9, 2011 14:01:28 GMT -5
I'm going to try everything moentioned here. Giving me fits.
Mike
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Gone Kayaking
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long live the Vintage Shasta Trailer Forum....we're gone but you are not forgotten!
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Post by Gone Kayaking on Sept 9, 2011 15:46:51 GMT -5
oh geez mike....have felt your pain. Also make sure to check your vehicles fuses. It may be that you blew one while messing with the lights if there wasn't a good ground. Ground is the most important thing. At the end of the day, I got brand new tailights gave them each a solid ground to the frame and I was good to go. No need to fuss with those frustrating nubs etc...!!!
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Post by mikekusa on Sept 20, 2012 22:01:58 GMT -5
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Post by hurley on Oct 16, 2012 8:45:41 GMT -5
The discussion here has been very helpful as I rewired the brake lights on my 68 shasta loflyte. Thanks! Got the lights working but...the previous owner had run the wires under the trailer. Then he bent back the corner pieces of trim underneath to run the wires into the cabin and then to the lights. This has allowed water to get in at both corners. So, where should the wiring enter the interior of the Loflyte? And what kind of rubber ring, sealant, etc. is recommended to run the wires through and keep water out? Thanks!
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vikx
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Post by vikx on Oct 17, 2012 2:25:19 GMT -5
Both of my LoFlytes (68 and 69) ran the tow wiring from under the trailer into the door side closet floor. (rear dinette/front kitchen configuration) Even the brake wiring was junctioned there. The hole was closed with silicone in mine, but sometimes can be electrical putty.
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Post by fishingnut on Dec 16, 2012 23:09:36 GMT -5
I am about to tackle my tail lights and clearance lights on my 71 Shasta Compact..I have opened up some of the inside to get to most of the wiring, and now I have labeled the wires according to the Shasta wire color chart..But I have found a yellow wire that is running next to the brown wire coming from the front clearance lights wire hole..I am not sure what this is for..I have tried to follow it but unfortunately that part of the wall did not need replacing and I did not remove it..I am wondering what this yellow wire is for..could it be the wire from the front right side clearance light. I found the one from the front left side and it is brown.. also found the wire for the lights across the front .. it is brown..any ideas
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Post by universalexports on Dec 17, 2012 0:30:45 GMT -5
well if it is a clearance marker it can only be a hot wire, the ground is to the aluminum siding right? hat year is your camper? it may jump over to the other clearance marker, either way they only have a hot and a ground. maybe it jumps off to the door handle light? is it on the curb side (door side)?
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vikx
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Post by vikx on Dec 17, 2012 1:33:02 GMT -5
My Shastas have all used green for running and tail lights. That being said, don't trust color. Test the wiring instead. (brown is right turn and red is left turn)
Clean your light sockets and be sure your grounds are firm and clean.
If you have a four way plug at the front of the trailer, put 12 volts to the brown wire. (ground the negative to the frame) Your tail and clearance lights should glow. Label and put power to the green wire, the Right Turn should glow. Again to the Yellow wire, Left Turn should glow.
A 7 way is wired totally differently color wise: Green is Running Lights, Brown is Right Turn and Red is Left turn...
If there's only "wires" at the front, determine which is the ground. Then, put 12 volts to the other wires to figure out what they run.
Hope this helps.
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