trailer lights

[haggis]

coming back late sunday afternoon I noticed while driving that my taillight fuse in the car had blown , after inspection this afternoon I discovered that the wiring to the left hand side had shorted & melted together . I cant find any where the wiring has rubbed through & where the wiring is melted is plastic at the bottom of the light unit . The wiring was not overly tight & wiring was a fit out from the trailer company when new 18 months ago .
could leaving the plug plugged in when reversing the trailer down the boat ramp be the cause ? I didnt think that the water would cause this sort of problem as the brake light would only be on for a short time when in the water .
I now have to rewire the left hand light from front to back so will probably do both & fit water proof leds instead of the basic lights that came with trailer .
cheers haggis .....................

[tunaticer]

I think you will find that somewhere along the melted harness there will be a crush injury to the wiring most likely from a rock thrown up from the tyres while driving. Normally this creates a short circuit and starts the melting process. Unusual tho that a fuse did not blow during the melting. Do you have an auxilliary power power supply in your wiring harness for something like a reversing spotlight that is not fuse protected?

Jack.

[haggis]

No the wiring for the car was done from the dealers when i bought it around twelve months ago . I cant find any rock damage as the wiring was all inside the
chassi of the trailer . all the wiring looked good . I rewired the trailer from back to front & fitted new L E D lights on Saturday evrything is now working fine . time to get back to chasing fish .
cheers Jimmy .

[lonestar]

Suggest you regularly check your LEDs internally (at least once per month) if your covers are removable. My Leds have a twist-off style allowing access. I use silicon spray on the O-Rings to keep the rubber in good condition. After a year and a half I discovered that (regardless of claims that they are submersible and supposedly airtight) - corrosion can still occur inside the lights on the terminals housed under the lenses. In the long run I think a removable set of trailer lights is actually the way to go...

[skipalong]

good choice led's are the way to go

[haggis]

lonestar the leds that I fitted come complete with wiring , they are completely sealed , all I had had to do was run wiring inside the chassi rail then solder the
connections together & heat shrink them . I am not sure if they will stand the test of time but will wait & see .
cheers haggis ...........

[lonestar]

Haggis, I hope they work out for you. Mine were aftermarket fitted at a chandlery workshop. They looked excellent (all sealed & heat-shrinked) but one lamp still failed badly after 18 months - what looked like salt water corrosion had attacked the terminal fittings behind the circuit boards. No visible signs of water ingress anywhere. The other lamp also showed signs of early sw corrosion on the internal terminals - just not as advanced. It may be that some ultra fine leeching of salt water builds up over repeated dunkings and gets inside the housings or maybe it is electrolysis related - I haven't the faintest idea...