Hey! Am writing to request boat trailer wiring recommendations. I have an 11 year old Wesco aluminum trailer and use it about once every 12 to 18 months to pull the boat from dock. Lights have always been an issue. Have had the lights replaced twice - once by Wesco and another time at marina on Edisto.
Pulled the boat this weekend to take to Isaac Taylor for new cover and lights are dead - nothing. Fuse in car is OK.
When it comes to electrical stuff I am good for plugging in a lamp and changing bulbs .
Any suggestions on who to take the trailer to are appreciated! Am considering having lights mounted high on trailer guide posts to keep them out of the water.
When you say you’ve “had the lights replaced twice”, was that just the lights only or complete wiring from plug to lights? Sounds like you may have an issue with wiring.
Bob Van Gundy
803-727-4069
Custom Aluminum Fabrication
Hey! Am writing to request boat trailer wiring recommendations. I have an 11 year old Wesco aluminum trailer and use it about once every 12 to 18 months to pull the boat from dock. Lights have always been an issue. Have had the lights replaced twice - once by Wesco and another time at marina on Edisto.
Pulled the boat this weekend to take to Isaac Taylor for new cover and lights are dead - nothing. Fuse in car is OK.
When it comes to electrical stuff I am good for plugging in a lamp and changing bulbs .
Any suggestions on who to take the trailer to are appreciated! Am considering having lights mounted high on trailer guide posts to keep them out of the water.
Dano, I would check the connector coming from the car first. It’s definitely more likely to be a problem with the trailer, but only takes a few minutes to check the output at the car just to make sure before assuming it’s the trailer.
A quick test is to turn on your headlights and emergency flashers on the vehicle. Any cheap voltmeter will work (< $10 at Harbor Freight). Set to DC Volts and put the black lead on the exposed pin of the connector or just hold it against somewhere metal on the frame or bumper. You should then see a steady 12v on one of the other pins and on the other 2, you will see the meter constantly varying. The solid 12V shows your tail lights are working and the 2 that will vary are each of your blinkers.
Of course, you could always just hook up to someone else’s trailer for a minute also just to confirm you’re at least good at the vehicle side.
Presuming your vehicle is good to go, then you need to look at your main ground wire on the trailer …
Each light has a different color power wire but if ALL of your lights are out, then it is usually one of two (power from the vehicle or ground to the trailer) …
Pull off all the old wires and rewire the whole thing using LED and heat seal all ties! If you keep out of the salt it will last for 10 years in salt maybe 4, good luck
Thanks for the advice guys! Trailer in storage is covered front to back with tarp to keep weather and sun off. Still have had to replace wiring from trailer tongue through the tail lights twice.
I bought a $5 tester as Rick suggested to check plug at vehicle. Momentary glow when plugging in and then dead - nothing . Now I have to decide if I want to burn a weekend with wiring on 12 year old tow vehicle . I am not real strong with electrical stuff and it takes me a LONG time to work through it. I once wired a flat four plug from tail light through trunk of a sedan for a small camper - but I would much rather work on a spreadsheet !
Thanks for the advice guys! Trailer in storage is covered front to back with tarp to keep weather and sun off. Still have had to replace wiring from trailer tongue through the tail lights twice.
I bought a $5 tester as Rick suggested to check plug at vehicle. Momentary glow when plugging in and then dead - nothing . Now I have to decide if I want to burn a weekend with wiring on 12 year old tow vehicle . I am not real strong with electrical stuff and it takes me a LONG time to work through it. I once wired a flat four plug from tail light through trunk of a sedan for a small camper - but I would much rather work on a spreadsheet !
Give the connector on the vehicle a shot of electrical contact cleaner and then retry with the tester. The fact that you saw a momentary glow sounds like it’s possible you may have some corrosion on the connector keeping you from getting a good connection.
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. Now I have to decide if I want to burn a weekend with wiring on 12 year old tow vehicle 
. I am not real strong with electrical stuff and it takes me a LONG time to work through it. I once wired a flat four plug from tail light through trunk of a sedan for a small camper - but I would much rather work on a spreadsheet 
!