Trailer lights?

[Damned67]

Hi All,
Wasn't sure whether to post this in this section or in the electronics section (which appears to be more for GPS/sounders etc?)...
I need to replace my trailer lights (trailer was bought new at Easter!)
I had to replace the plug the other night, and have been fighting it to get the brake and tail lights to work (same lights, different feed wires)... screwing with different earth points etc. They're sealed LED units, so I can't find a way to open them up to test for 12V at the lights themselves.
Anyway, tonight I finally wired them directly to the battery. Nothing, nada, zilch. Wired the turn signal into the same battery feed. The turn signal lights, but not the brake/tail.
So, two questions:
A) Any recommendations on brand/source of replacement lights?
I don't want to buy junk.

B) How on earth did I manage to blow out/ruin BOTH pairs (left and right) of lights?
It's not making a whole lot of sense to me at the moment.

Cheers!

[Angla]

With the current LED sets, do they have a plug and socket close to the light set or is there a single cable all the way to the plug? is there a junction box somewhere in the wiring loom?

If the lights were new at Easter they should be under a warranty. Possibly ring the trailer manufacturer for a contact with the wiring technician

DO NOT OPEN up the led assembly as this will void any warranty.

Cheers
Chris

[Damned67]

Single wire loom all the way through.
I have 12V (actually around 11V) on each side of the plug.
Stripped a spot to bare metal for an earth point on the car.
I'd be tempted to think that there's something that I'm missing, but when I bypassed the plug and wired directly to the battery, and still got no lighting???
I just have trouble comprehending how I managed to 'blow' both pairs of lights!
They're apparently rated as 12/24V, and I can't see how I would have got more than 12V to them at any one stage....

[Angla]

There should be 4 wires to each light set. What are the colours?

Black (or white maybe)-----Earth
Brown--------------------------Tail lights
Red-----------------------------Brake lights
Green or yellow--------------Indicator

Just try hooking up the black to -ve and the three others to +ve, one at a time to check

Cheers
Chris

[Mad-One]

The lights should be covered for atleast 12 mths under warranty. Take it back to the dealer and get them to fix it

Cheers Mad

[Damned67]

Colours are/;

White--------------------------Earth
Brown--------------------------Tail lights
Red-----------------------------Brake lights
Green or yellow----------------Indicator

Used crimped spade connectors between the wire loom and an extension to the battery. Used crimped on terminals that were then bolted to battery terminals.

Yellow to + illuminated the signal light
Brown to +, nothing
Red to +, nothing.
This tells me they are toast, but how did I blow out both pairs of lights at the same time? Is it even possible, or a 1/1,000,000 coincidence?

[Is Don Is GOOD]

With the led's sealed includes unbroken wire armour right to the plug. If you cut through the plastic between the plug and the lights you will have voided the warranty anyway. I just bought some for mine a couple of months ago HELLA duraled combi, bit expensive but well worth it. If the led's you have are the LED brand then they are a fairly cheap brand and i wouldnt expect them to last too long( THEY DONT ON TRUCKS ANY WAY) Hella or Narva are good choice but as said you are looking arond 300 dollars for a pair of them. Just make sure the wiring runs straight to the plug or the connections are siliconed then shrink wrapped.

Hope some of that helped
Cheers Don

[bennyboy]

I'm not an expert at this so don't quote my figures but LED's will run for a huge amount of time if they run at about 80% of their capicity. With the cheaper ones there is no regulators on them and they run at 100% capacity which enormously reduces their life span. You are better off with old style bulb lights than the cheap LES's as you are lucky to get 6 months out of the cheep ones

[ozscott]

Mate if they are stuffed, I would get Submersalite - bulb type - about $50-60 from the major wharehouses. I used them 10 years ago for about 5 years on my Haines and never blew a bulb or had ingress and it was dunked. On my drive on/off Seafarer's trailer I have had them for about 3 years and love them again...seriously bright, top quality hd poly lenses that not only make them bright with good reflectors, but are extremely tough. Mine are dunked every time I go out and they never even look like causing a problem - again never had to replace the bulb (standard festoon). Changing a bulb wouldnt be hard and when I got the first set I took them apart to see how to do it. Easy enough to fit up although bit of mucking around paring back wires to go through seals etc but not at all hard.

Most people are on the LED wagon these days mate and they can be very good (although if they drop led's out of the pack you cannot obviously replace it, and you are up for at least a new light and usually two new lights as a pack) but if I got another boat that needed underwater lights, I would use these type again. You can use your existing wiring loom too.

Cheers

[finga]

Just make sure you've put the right battery polarity on the corresponding wires for the lights.
They are not like normal bulbs and are polarity sensitive and if connected incorrectly will not work.
ie positive has to go to positive and negative has to go to negative.
And don't feel like a bit of a goose if that's what's happened because I've done it before and I've had to fix others that have done it.

[SeaHunt]

Colours are/;

White--------------------------Earth
Brown--------------------------Tail lights
Red-----------------------------Brake lights
Green or yellow----------------Indicator

Used crimped spade connectors between the wire loom and an extension to the battery. Used crimped on terminals that were then bolted to battery terminals.

Yellow to + illuminated the signal light
Brown to +, nothing
Red to +, nothing.
This tells me they are toast, but how did I blow out both pairs of lights at the same time? Is it even possible, or a 1/1,000,000 coincidence?

So you had the White connected to the Negative terminal on the battery? Trailers are not earthed.

What brand lights are they? Whatever they are they should have 12 months warranty and whoever sold you the trailer should work it out for you...

If that doesn't work out and you want to replace them yourself, go for LED Autolamps brand.. Lifetime warranty..
I replaced mine about 2 years ago, no problems since, I used the long thin ones.
I did a friends trailer last weekend.

They are not that cheap, but he got lucky because BCF have a members special on a pair for $60 at the moment.. They are usually about $60 a side but if you solder connect, heat shrink , and seal around the heat shrink with silicon the only thing you will ever have to worry about is backing into something with them.

[SeaHunt]

They are not like normal bulbs and are polarity sensitive and if connected incorrectly will not work.

Yes and depending on the quality of the lights it could damage them...
They are also not like normal bulbs in that if the battery is low a bulb will just glow less brightly, leds can not work at all , or some in a bank may work and others not, they do wierd things and you think the lights are stuffed when they are not..

[Damned67]

So you had the White connected to the Negative terminal on the battery? Trailers are not earthed.

Hi SeaHunt,
Excuse my ignorance, but what do you mean 'trailers are not earthed'?
The 'so-called' instructions for the plug give: 'white' wire, earth, pin #3.
I'm certianly not an expert (otherwise my lights would be working), but I can't think of any auto/12V system that I've worked on that hasn't required an earth. Indeed, almost any electrical issues in my old Plymouth (in avatar) can usually be traced to a bad earth.

In the test where I was bypassing the trailer plug, yes, I connected the white wire to the negative terminal of the battery.

[Damned67]

Yes and depending on the quality of the lights it could damage them...
They are also not like normal bulbs in that if the battery is low a bulb will just glow less brightly, leds can not work at all , or some in a bank may work and others not, they do wierd things and you think the lights are stuffed when they are not..

Oh, I also tested the back side of the trailer plug with the engine running. Had my 12.x Volts on both the 'pins' for the stop and tail lights, yet still no light.

I'd love for this to be something really stupid that I've missed, so that I don't need to replace the lights....
I just don't know how else I can test the lights?

[Damned67]

Oh, and I should add that my license plate light (which is on the same circuit as the 'tail lamps', I believe), illuminates when the lights are switched on... but still no 'red'..
That would suggest that I'm getting current/voltage down there....