trailer wiring

[Scott Smith]

A question I forgot to ask in my last post. I know nothing about wiring and noticed today that when I hit the brakes, all of my trailer lights activate....whats going on/wrong..? How do I fix it...? I know its the trailer, because my pontoon trailer does'nt do it, nor my buddy's boat trailer when I tow them....

 

[Bill McElroy]

you've got a short somewhere in your trailer harness...it's a tedious process to find it,..could be anywhere,...might as well start at the tongue and work your way back,..going down both sides of the trailer...(man that sounds kinky when ya read it for the first time!!..LOL),..anyway,..Murphy's law will tell you it'll be in the last foot of the harness in the last place you check!! LOL....it's deffinetely a short,..but who knows where!!! (Check the obvious spots first...by the tongue where the harness meets the trailer and by the rear lights..where ever the wires make hard turns or come in contact with brackets, etc...rub thru's to bare wire are the main culprit!!) Good luck man,...I feel for ya,..been there!! It's a drag!!

Mac

PS,...try looking for it with the trailer plugged in and your engine running,...jiggle the wires as your looking for it....when you see them flicker,..you're very close to the source of the short!!

 

[Scott Smith]

Why thank you Mac..I can't say you brightened my day, but I appreciate the help...



By the way Mac, if you get a chance, you should head over to Cass..the smallies were all over the place today..I posted about it earlier...oh and by the way, I got my Master Angler award back from the state already, My toad Walleye is currently #2 in the state...

 

[Bill McElroy]

Sweet!!!....I want to see that mount when it comes back!! Post a pix!! I was at Cass sunday with Mini...we saw a lot of fish,..but couldn't get them to bite,...they spooked easy!! I'm planning on going back tomorrow with Marke...I want him to drive my boat,..he's going to freak...I will surely get a pix of his expressions!! LOL!!! We'll do some fishing too if it doesn't end up pouring on us!! How deep were the smallies??..What did you get them on?? Any info would be appreciated!! We'll post our results thursday!

Good luck with the wiring....hopefully you'll find the short early in your search...you should be able to find it easy enough though,15-20mins...1/2hr max!! (hopefully sooner!!) Good luck dude!

Mac

 

[Bob G.]

smitty,



Not sure if you have sealed lights or not, but a bad bulb can cause strange things on trailers. Mainly the ones with two filaments in them for lights and brakes. They will have two contacts at the base and an electrical short there can cause a problem like yours. If they are sealed and have a connector near the light assembly, try disconnecting one of the assemblies at a time and try it out. If that is not it, you'll have to take Mac's advice and check the harness and all connections. Good luck.



Bob G.

 

[Scott Smith]

Mac,

They were holding in about 10 feet of water just off the drops and around the humps. After tossing vast quantities of lures, I finally started connecting with a 4" BPS Squirmin Worm, brown, texposed, 1/8 oz worm weight, cut the curly tail off the worm. I held the boat in the shallow or on top of the humps, threw past where the fish were holding, slowly worked it back and then killed it on the edge of the drop. Usually have a small group follow the bait up and gather around it, sometimes they would swipe at it but mostly just turn and swim off. Around 11:00 - 11:30 everything just shut down, they would'nt even follow any of my offerings, they were still there, I could see em, but they wanted nothin to do with my offerings. Spoke to a couple of other bassers and they were sharing in my frustrations..Good luck bud, hope you knock em dead.

 

[Donnie Matney]

A buddy of mine was pulling a trailer last week and it done the same. Spray some battery terminal cleaner or WD-40 in the conecters of your tow vehicle and the boat. He had to do this several times to get it clean. To find the dirty one he keeped wiggling them until he found the right foot in the harness to really clean. Hope this helps.



Donnie