FIX YOUR TRAILER LIGHTS (5) - Fixing Ground Problems
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2019
- What is a ground problem? How do you fix it? Why does your trailer need to conduct electricity? Watch this video.
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Just like everyone else watching this, I was having grounding issues. A light bulb went off for me at the 9:50 mark; STOP using the frame for electrical continuity from the ground at the light to the coupler; there are too many places for there to be a problem. I stopped watching at this point and went out to run a wire from the white ground on my harness to the stud on my light and BAM, the light worked. Thank you so much for the explanation that led me to my fix.
You are very welcome Eric. Thanks for the feedback, KPO.
wish you could show how you did that I NEED TOO SEE /NOT TO SMART
Dude! You couldn't have explained it better! Thanks
God Bless You and yours! 🇺🇸
Glad to help
This helped me fix my lights on my tilt bed trailer. Saved me money as I was about to take it to a shop. Thanks a lot!
Glad it helped!
Just earned a new sub!
Best trailer wiring video(s) on UA-cam... Hands down! Keep up this type of stuff!!!
Victor, it's great to have you along. Thank you, KPO.
Thank you for this series. Very informative and well explained!
You're very welcome!
Great video man! Solved my issue, I would have never guessed most trailers aren't hard wired, ..... just through the frame, crazy.
Yes, a lot of people don't realize that, thanks for watching, KPO.
I want to thank you for this. My tilt trailer was losing ground, and now it doesn’t. I used your “jumper wire” idea and it works like a charm.
Great to hear!
Never thought of this. Going to try it out. Thanks
Thank you for the series of trailer light information! took me two nights, but I found my problem. Bad ground. I feel like I can solve any trailer light problems now!
Mike, thanks a lot for that comment. I have a few more trailer light vids rolling around in my head dealing with specific problems. I just need to put them to video. Thanks for the support, KPO.
Exceptional delivery on very critical educating information here. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELPFUL INFORMATIVE VIDEOS.
Thank you for your comment, I hope they help, KPO
Thanks. This is the 1st time I've understood this and I've watched a lot of videos. Bravo!
SUPER helpful! I have a dumping trailer and your solution to add the jumper ground was perfect.
Glad it helped!
You have a gift for easily explaining complex issues. This was a great video and I wanted to say thank you for making the whole series, too!
You're very welcome!
Helped me fix my trailer light issue. Thanks!!
You are very welcome, KPO.
Huge help. Thanks. Especially the tilting trailer info !
Glad to hear it, KPO.
Thank you very much! I had no idea that the whole trailer is supposed to carry the ground current continuously. Really appreciate this explanation. Now my lights work.
Glad I could help!
Your video got me thinking, I have a boat trailer with a swing away tongue and found that the pivot pins had gotten a bit of rust on them. I cleaned the pivot pins and the pin holes and I was back in business. Thanks for giving me Idea's of where to look for the ground problems. Maybe my fix will help someone else that has a swing away trailer tongue.
Awesome! Glad the video helped and yes the swing away tongue would be another point of concern. Thanks for adding in and thanks for watching, KPO.
SO F'en Cool! 50 years old, playing with trailer lights yesterday it finally broke me - I AM GOING TO LEARN whats going on. perfect, thanks man.
Awesome! Here is a whole playlist of my trailer light vids - ua-cam.com/video/-14kh2DYdOo/v-deo.html Should be something in there for most problems. Any questions feel free to ask.
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors I watched the whole series last night. I have not been back at yet and waiting on some replacement stuff and if i have problems I will ask thank you. one part I think your missing is attaching the wiring into the actual car. I had problems with my toyota, it didnt work as the instructions told me to do it. so i paid someone 50 bucks because i was ignorant and lazy.
Perfect!! Clear and concise. After watching many videos on this topic, You Fixed it!! Thanks!!!
Glad it helped!
Very well explained especially for a newbie to electrical stuff. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
The jumper wire was perfect! I redid a trailer and soldered all of the connections and was lost as to why my lights would flicker! Two quick eyelets and a quick connection and they’re steady! Great video thanks a lot!
Awesome! So glad I could help!
Thanks for your help ... had a boat trailer with a bad ground...saved a lot money cleaning up the ground on the trailer with sand paper and wire brush to make proper ground again. 👍
Great to hear!
Edit: after watching the your video, I realized my trailer isa tilt trailer, I ground another bare metal spot on the tilting frame part of the trailer, jump the ground to it, and voila! IT WORKS! So tomoro I’ll make a more permanent and prettier fix, and when I go get it welded, I’ll have my buddy weld the tilt closed with some good bare contact.
Man I love UA-cam! I’ll subscribe!
Glad to hear the video helped! Thanks for watching, KPO.
Thank you! My tilt trailer lights have been an issue since day one. This helped me fix it with the jumper wire setup.
You're welcome!
I think you just helped me understand my trailer light issue. thanks!
You are welcome, KPO.
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors my issue was totaly grounding issues. the studs on 3/4 lights were totally corroded out. i had to dremel off 3 bolts just to get all of the lights off. i threw out the old lights, bought new, ground down the metal at the attachment points and sprayed everything down with anti-seize spray before assembling. i also went to the insane extreme of running a ground wire from every light stud to the main grounding lug under the trailer! it should be trouble-free for years!
Thank you for your trailer wiring descriptions.
No problem 👍
Sidebar about trailers; from experience I never store my trailers with the coupler latch in the upright position. I did that one time a few decades back. We had a foster daughter learning to drive a stick shift. She put it in reverse and backed over the trailer tongue, realized her mistake, put it in first gear and pulled forward tearing the latch right off the trailer. Since then I have always put the latch in the locked position and haven't had to buy any more new latches.
Glad to see you are using a safety clip pin. I will have to go now and watch your trailer series since this one cropped up in my suggestions, I watched it and it is good, especially about jumping the gap on tilt trailers.
Thanks for adding in and thanks for the support!
Awesome video, this solved my issue with the tilt trailer!
Glad it helped, KPO.
Your the man! Jumper ground on my tilt trailer worked perfect! Thanks
Plus I learned how to clean northern pike from you! Great videos!
Dude, thanks for those comments! Glad to share!
Well i did it the hard way, I connected all the white cables together with a white cable and now I don’t have to worry at all 😂😂, thank you for the help
You are welcome, KPO.
Your video series helped me troubleshoot my trailer. Found out that the ground wire couldn't be on the tilting tongue rather I had to mount it to the deck portion of the trailer. The same deck portion that the other lights are grounded to.
Yes! It's really a design flaw with trailer manufacturers. Glad the videos helped. Thanks for the comment, KPO.
Great stuff...well done!
Glad you liked it!
Great set of videos thank you.
Glad you like them!
Thanks for this very informative and well explained video. Really helpful for me and much appreciated.
Welcome
Incredible! We've got a fixed up painted tilt-up trailer and couldn't get new lights to respond no matter what, and this answered all my questions. Gonna run a ground wire tomorrow from from the lights to the connector, like a another comment said.
Awesome! So glad this video helped out. Trailer lights can be a pain if your not too familiar with them.
Thank you, just fixed side markers on boat trailer. Poor ground. Thanks for explaining continuity using the voltmeter, that’s how I fixed it.
Great to hear. Thanks for letting me know that.
I think it’s worth mentioning that you check the bulb (non LED) where it mounts into the socket. A little light sanding and cleaning of the bulb and socket . These areas are not water tight and can create corrosion.
Yes, great point, KPO.
great video, I learned something. After watching, I decided to not worry about all those trailer contacts problems, and just ran wires from each light to the ground at the plug and connected those ground wires to the trailer in three different places. Results, bright lights on my trailer. thanks
Great to hear!
Helped out alot thanks!!!
Glad it helped! KPO
Awesome explanation. Thank you
You are welcome!
Nice video . I will definitely check out the trailer wiring series that you mentioned. Thanks for making them and I just subscribed.
Thanks for the sub!
Thank you. That fixed my problem!
Glad it helped!
Another learning moment for me
Glad to help Richard, KPO.
Very informative! I think you jist resolved an issue I've been having.
Great!
THANK YOU so much for this!
You are welcome!
Thanks Dave!
You bet!
Great video was completely oblivious to something so simple being wrong! Earned a sunscriber!
Welcome aboard!
Simple but good point to check grounds major problems with trailers,!!!!
It seems like grounds account for half the problems. Thanks for the comment, KPO.
12:13 awesome knowledge and a great help on my exact situation! Thanks So Much!!!
Very welcome!
You are an excellent teacher. Very simple a yet point on. Now here’s one for ya. What makes my RV lights go OFF when I plug the connectors together from the vehicle I pull?
Something is wired wrong, RV side or pulled vehicle side or both, KPO.
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors Thanks so much for responding but I reviewed ALL your vid’s and finally figured it out. I had two ground wires attached and when I disconnected one the problem was solved. Love your channel.
Sir you actually solved my problem in literally the first sentence of this video.
Awesome!
Parts 2 & 3 are a definite must see.
Thank you for that comment, KPO.
Nice. Im in hot humid florida. Now i understand the white wire grounding thing. 🇺🇸
Thanks stay cool.
Nice info, thanks
Welcome
Got it, thank you.
This guy who ever wired it up cut off the white wire on the four pin. My driver side trailer light was dim. I’m pretty sure this will fix the issue.
Let me know how it went.
I have to say a big THANK YOU! My boat trailer lights recently started barely lighting up. There was a white ground wire running to each light from the front 4 prong connector but the lights were directly grounded to the trailer frame. I ended up soldering / splicing in another white ground wire and connecting it directly to the frame. Now I have very bright lights again. Guys like you are why I watch UA-cam. Thanks again!
Thanks for that comment.
you saved my ass, I bought a used trailer and for the life of me couldn't diagnose what was wrong with the lights. Turns out the white wire disconnected from the ground and was hidden underneath electrical tape. Thanks!
You are welcome my friend, KPO.
Bro what I’ve been watching your videos for months and I’m fixing the taillights on my trailer and you happened to comment that’s awesome
@@rookysparta0443 did u fix it? lol
I saw elsewhere it's best to ground every device on the trailer to a copper wire that's grounded to the vehicle in several spots and also to the front connection where the plug connects.
true
I have a tilling trailer so thanks for the tips
Welcome!
I was pulling my hair out, I lost 6 volts from front of trailer to back even though I ground plenty of space for contact still bad. Crappy frame ground so I ran from lights to front and problem solved. Thank you!!!!!
You are welcome! Thanks for the comment.
GREAT video. I owe you a beer.
Awesome! I'm pretty flexible, but if you can get Spotted Cow from Wisconsin, that's my favorite, KPO.
Thank you and thank you! I ended up using some 10" insulated copper wire pieces to "jump" trailer structural part to trailer structural part to get continuity. Rusty trailer connections were not doing the job.
You are welcome!
Awesome thanks much !
No problem!
A very good explanation of how to check the continuity
Thank you.
Thank you for explaining why my boat trailer lights never work correctly. I don't have proper ground.
So glad to hear this helped! Thanks for watching, KPO.
THANK YOU!!
You're welcome!
Thanks !
Welcome, KPO.
Tks very much.problem solved
Awesome! KPO
Yup very good video all videos should be this good.you know the score
Thanks for the comment, KPO.
Nice 👍.
Thanks, KPO
Well done. You should do voice-overs. Ty
I know, I have done some in other videos, KPO.
Thank you - I successfully fixed my utility trailer wiring issue due to bad ground.
You are welcome! Thanks for letting me know that!
Does it make sense if I have a bad / no ground (white) wire connected, that I would have turn and brake lights, but no running lights? Thank you. My white wire is like it's crushed or something. As I strip more back the wire just crumbles out.
Sometimes lights can do some weird things when they aren't grounded. They can use the other circuits as grounds sometimes. It's been my experience that if you're not grounded properly just about anything can happen. Get that ground fixed and go from there. Thanks for watching John, KPO.
Great advice thank you sor
welcome!
Great video, can you tell me what level of continuity should I be looking for when conducting my test? Watching the video the numbers were shown at multiple levels so just need assistance with an acceptable range to ensure continuity. Thanks for your assistance in helping me understand this issue that shut me down at the end of hunting season.
Elliott, well the closer to zero ohms the better. A good wire measured over 20 ft or so should be very close to zero, so your trailer frame should be the same. Now less than 2 or 3 ohms would probably be fine, but less is better. KPO
Dave. How do I test continuity when I have an enclosed trailer and I can't get access to the connections to my lights?
I don't have much experience with enclosed trailers, but there must be a way. The fixtures must come off somehow right? What if you had to change one? Sorry I don't have a specific answer but they must come off some way. If you take the lens cover off is there some screws that hold the fixture in place or do they snap out like some car fixtures? There's a way. Let me know what you find, KPO.
Thank YOU!
Captain Carpman
You are welcome, KPO.
Thanks for the video! Do you happen to know if its normal to get an electirical shock (from the trailer frame) when changing the tire. It was only happening when the lights were plugged in, and I touched the trailer frame with the tire iron.
No, shouldn't happen. Could it have been static? Unless you are really wet you shouldn't even feel 12 volts, KPO.
Not sure how quickly you check these. I have a Harbor Freight utility trailer I just put together. No luck with the lights. Your video makes sense. I’m wondering if I sanded the area the two side lights are grounded to and where I put the ground toward the trailer tongue should those work if all is well? I still have nothing. I still have to properly ground the back lights so I’m wondering if that’s the issue still but I thought the circuit would be closed for the sides lights to work…? Not sure this makes sense. Thanks for what you’re doing! Chris
Make sure every fixture is grounded properly. Also any bolt together parts need continuity. Let me know how it turns out, KPO.
Glad I found this ! Suspect this may be my trouble?? Have a 2018 Colorado and a 1972 trailer lol. Lights will fail in odd way. Replace with new kit every 2-3 years. Current failure left works great, try right, and both lights flash slightly dim ?? What's odd is I hook the trailer up to my 95 S10 and the lights work fine ? Hook the Colorado up to a 2017 utility trailer and those lights work fine with the Colorado. Was advised that electronics on the new truck are less forgiving than the ancient S-10 ??
Is the older trailer have regular bulbs or LEDs? Regular bulbs can draw more than newer cars are designed for. So some newer cars may need a converter to handle the trailer requirements.
Great series! Quick question: Seems with the trailer acting as the conduit for the white/ground wire = about 90% of trailer wiring issues. Why not just extend the white wire from the harness to both light fixtures and skip the problematic trailer as ground in the first place? I'm wondering why the manufacturers depend on the trailer being sound in the first place...
You are on the right track. I think it's just a cheaper way to do things. I'm working on another trailer light video right now where I talk about that very idea. If you run white to all fixtures just be sure to still ground the white to frame. That way any short circuits will still blow fuses and let you know there is a problem, KPO.
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors it seems logical and the (problematic) LED trailer lights I am trying to fix at the moment have a sealed single earth throughout the wiring loom. The problem is that resistance increases over long distances. So you want short earth wires when you can. Those short individual ones for each light are the best option. A big steel trailer is a better conductor than a tiny copper wire.
BTW your explanations are fanstastic.
Very helpful. Any recommendations for those jumper wires and screws one can install which improve ground contact across bolted/clamped trailer frame members? My 1998 shorelandr trailer’s grounding point is several bolted and clamped joints away from each light and the trailer is painted white. Ground continuity is in the mega ohm range between that trailer grounding point and the side light mounting bolts. Car is sending power but none of the lights are working.
I have often used stainless steel self tapers. I use some in this video ua-cam.com/video/-14kh2DYdOo/v-deo.html
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors Just reporting back, ground issue fixed with your help. Those self tappers worked. Thank you!
Thank you
You are welcome my friend.
Dave, my trailer lights are flickering as I travel down the road. I checked the ground with a volt meter (without the trailer on the ball) and it's grounded correctly. Even tried jiggling all the wires around on the truck and trailer side, and I can't make them flicker in the driveway. Any idea what might be going on? Thanks!
Did you check the ground on the vehicle side too. Wiggle the wires way up under the vehicle. Something has to be loose. Also remember to check for any separations in the trailer itself. You may have a spot that takes the bumps of the road to show itself (tilt bed, bolt on fixture ext.) Let me know what you find, KPO.
Hello! We are restoring our 1977 Airstream Argosy and we are having some issues with the 7 pin connector. We plan on buying a multimeter tomorrow, but wanted to see if you had any thoughts about our issue. We have the 7 pin connected to the truck plug, but haven't connected the ball on the hitch yet. When we plug everything up the clearance lights turn on just fine; however, when we turn on the blinkers ALL of the lights (including clearance lights) blink in unison. We've read that it could be a grounding issue, as well as possible a bulb issue with the 1157 bulb. We have all of the white wires grounded on the inside of the trailer to the aluminum wall (this is how it was originally). We've tried cleaning corrosion with some 99.9% electronics alcohol to no avail, still unsure of what the issue might be. We are novices at this. Thanks for the vids!
This absolutely sounds like a ground problem. The circuit is back feeding through the bulbs because it doesn't have a good ground path. That's why they all blink. When you clean the connection point make sure and disconnect the wires and clean the connection point real good. You may even have to use sand paper to get through the corrosion. Maybe even run a temporary wire from your grounds to the front of the trailer and ground them there just to see if that's the problem. Also make sure the vehicle and the trailer are grounded together, KPO.
Mike, on a painted aluminum utility trailer should I run a white wire for each tail light or will a painted aluminum be a conductor for ground?
Aluminum is a great conductor. Wire is made from aluminum sometimes when lighter weights are needed. You can run a white wire to each fixture, but if you get through the paint, grounding at the fixture shouldn't be an issue, KPO.
Hi Dave. A great series and very helpful. We have a snowmobile trailer that we store outside in the summers here in Ontario. In addition to finding the jack and wheel assembly completely rusted, the running lights and left light aren't working. I got a multimeter and am going to test everything, but given that the left lift works then I'm assuming the grounding through the trailer is fine. Wondering if there is actual damage to the yellow and brown wires through the trailer (perhaps rodents). Thanks, Andrew
Well the trailer can have continuity, but each fixture needs to be grounded properly too. And yes, mice love to eat wires for some reason. So anything is possible.
My take on avoiding all these trailer frame interface issues is to extend my white ground wire all the way back to my two trailer lights. On my way now to ACE hardware for wire and connectors.
Yes this will cure many problems. Just be sure to ground the white to the trailer also. That way shorts to the trailer will blow fuses as they should, KPO.
You are ahead of the curve bud.
Not many people would do that. I personally always use wire the whole length of the run for the ground plus jumping over on the frame from any junction boxes.
So, my camper has the Peterson 457 taillight fixtures. One broke from being kid and brittle so I replaced them both with new Peterson 457. Hooked green to green, brown to brown, and the white to one of the four mounting screws (metal plate was provided inside the fixture). Buttoned it all up and all I get are turns and brakes, however the thin filament is lit instead of the thick one. Pulled everything off and double checked...all colors are joined as should be. Could the fixtures be miswired from the factory?
I would double check the white. Make sure it is truly grounded to the frame.
Thanks for your helpful advice
Happy to help, KPO.
Thanks for the video. What do you do when there is no white wire on the trailer bolted to the tongue?
I have a utility trailer whose lights worked in the past but aren't coming on at all (blinkers or brakes) now. I tested the output of the vehicle harness and it's working. I replaced the old, beat up fixtures with new LEDs that have the white wire ring connector. But still no light. So my problem is that there is no white wire at the trailer's harness bolted to the tongue or anything. The wiring harness disappears into the tongue tube and reappears at the back of the trailer, with two wires - brown and green/yellow going out to each light fixture.
So if there is no white wire bolted to the tongue how does the continuity get from the bolts on the fixture back into the harness?
If there was never a white wire on the trailer plug to the frame of the trailer, the trailer may have been grounded through the hitch to the car frame. But over time the continuity of your hitch might have diminished. Maybe this is why it used to work. Try this trick, take a wire and touch it to the frame of the trailer with one end and then the car frame with the other. If you get good continuity between the two your lights might start working. I did another video addressing this issue, LINK - ua-cam.com/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/v-deo.html If this helps you may want to add a plug that has the white wire on the trailer side. Let me know how it turns out, KPO.
I have to do this, and also figure out why I turn my lights on the 2005 Yukon, and it's in Park, my RV brakes turn on also.
Checking all fixtures for good grounds is a great place to start.
Great video! Thank you for sharing. This might be overkill but if I have a ground wire from my connector to my lights do I still need to ground my trailer? Thank you
Its good to have the trailer grounded also. Any short circuits will then blow fuses as they should.
Thank you sir
Welcome
Thank you for this video, very informative. I just bought a boat trailer and I am seeing a strange problem, the lights work when I stand on the trailer, as soon as I get off the trailer the lights go out, what should I look for, please help me troubleshoot this. Each fixture has a ground wire connected to the trailer.
It is the continuity of the trailer or grounding of the trailer. Check out this other video I did. This will explain it better. ua-cam.com/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/v-deo.html It really sounds like your trailer isn't grounded properly. This video may help also ua-cam.com/video/-14kh2DYdOo/v-deo.html Let me know how it goes
I tried using a trailer light tester on my sprinter and it gave weird signals. I plugged the same tester into my friend's Chevy truck and it worked fine. I dis this because my Kenway wireless towing light kit didn't work on my sprinter. After seeing the tester work on the Chevy truck, we tried the wireless light kit on the truck and it worked great. My friend says the Mercedes expects a certain amount of load from the trailer lights that it isn't seeing on either the tester or the wireless transmitter. A y advice?
Does the sprinter work with a known good trailer? Do you have a history of the sprinter trailer lights working with the way they are wired now? Plug a known good trailer into the sprinter or even a tail light package. That should tell you a lot.
09 Tacoma, I keep blowing 1g1 10 amp backup fuse when I put boat trailer in reverse. Trailer shop tested trailer with another tow vehicle, then used a tester with 10 amp fuse and the fuses didn't blow. Therefore he concluded short is on the truck side and he only works on trailer side. Not sure if true or where I should go for diagnose repair a trailer shop or auto electric repair.
Thnks any advice
Any truck side problems are usually near where the harness branches out from trucks wiring, so check there. Also check out this video ua-cam.com/video/MqrpMcjGiTM/v-deo.html
I just fixed some cuties trailer lights for her thanks to this video.
I am ALWAYS happy to help a guy out with impressing the cuties!
I have an all aluminum trailer. My fuses are tripping on my pull vehicle. How does an Aluminum trailer get grounded? White wire is connected to the front steel jack assembly. Am I getting continuity at the back of the trailer if I attach it to the light mounting bolt? I'm replacing my lights b/c I don't know if they are bad or if I have a bad connection.
If you are blowing fuses you have a short circuit somewhere. Check out this video - ua-cam.com/video/Iz1jN3KApns/v-deo.html It may help.
awesome intro
Thanks