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.
Thanks for keeping your information basic enough for someone who has never worked on trailer wiring before. I have learned what the all colors mean so now am going to replace all the wiring.
Along with the many other commenters sir, I’d like to truly thank you for helping a young man learn something new. It’s all on me to learn now, no one to ask. I appreciate the dad types of videos. ❤gained a sub.
Awesome! Here is a whole playlist of my trailer light vids - ruclips.net/video/-14kh2DYdOo/видео.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.
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.
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 RUclips. Thanks again!
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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. 👍
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 RUclips! I’ll subscribe!
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.
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?
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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!!!!!
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
Fender bolts to the body can get loose or fender gets bent away from trailer body. Fender mounted lights need that strong fender to trailer connection. Run a wire from the bottom of light body (ground) to the trailer frame, or fender to frame bolt. Stay gold.
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. ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.html It really sounds like your trailer isn't grounded properly. This video may help also ruclips.net/video/-14kh2DYdOo/видео.html Let me know how it goes
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
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.
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.
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?
@@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!
Thanks, you’re a good instructor. 1 ? If one ground is bad will it affect all lights or just the one fixture. I have power through the hitch and into the trailer harness but no lights work.
If the entire trailer isn't grounded right it will effect all lights. But if one fixture isn't ground and the others are grounded only the one fixture should be effected.
I followed one of your videos to school me on installing my trailer lights. Thank you. I did have some issue with grounding my painted trailer. I ran the ground further back and after grinding the paint off in a spot at the rear of the tongue and drove a stainless screw in with the grounding wire. Trailer lighted right up. Well, except the right maker light. Everything else is up and running. Could you suggest what my problem is with the right marking light?
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
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.
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.
Have a tiltbed and can’t get new lights to work. I’m wondering if I need a jumper wire like you showed? Could I just splice another white ground to the harness and run 2 dedicated grounds back to the lights? I think it’s definitely a grounding issue
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.
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.
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.
Home made trailer bought- lights worked when bought- found corroded wires. Bought new lights for trailer- have em all set up, and no lights. Was wondering about trailer itself- it’s painted- does that matter for the ground on the 2bolt lights (no ground) as long as all the ground points are all cleaned down to bare metal? Going to get a fuse checker and a light hookup tester (from vehicle).
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.
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.
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.
It cost more, but it is neater and more effective to use wiring junction boxes. Use a junction box at the front of the frame and another at the rear of the frame. Run your wiring from the plug and down the draw bar of the hitch and then cut the wiring cable and put loops on the wires and place them on the bolt studs inside the junction box. Then the cable going to the rear junction box can be attached as well. You can run wires to the front and middle lights and one wire from the ground in the box to the frame to create a ground there. Then you just repeat the process at the rear junction box. Running wires to the rear lights and a ground wire to the frame. That way you have two grounding points on the trailer frame and no exposed and loose wires or connections at the hitch. And it will not matter how good or bad the ground is through the ball at the hitch as it bounces around going down the road because all of the grounding is going through the grounding wire. Neater, less prone to failure and you have two convenient places to do trouble shooting because you can just remove the cover lid and have the bolt studs in the box to connect test lights or multi-meters to. And if a wire going to a light fixture is damaged you have a convenient and protected place to remove the wire and reinstall the new one.
Triton aluminum trailer. Ground comes from the truck thru 4-prong trailer connector and then runs to all 11 lights. It is not connected to the trailer at all. I know I have a ground issue. Triton says a bad ground at any light won’t affect the whole trailer. Truck lighting works fine with other trailers. Where would the ground problem be on this trailer? Been chasing this for years. Every time I go to debug it works fine.
You may have an issue with the wiring somewhere inside the channels of the trailer. If you have been trying to find the problem for years, I would rewire the trailer. I wouldn't be surprised if you find a broken or loose wire/connection in the process, KPO.
If your truck is off and you have a tail light flickering still, you may have a wiring problem on the truck. One wire shorted to another something like that.
I’ve bought a few dump trailers from this certain manufacturer and I noticed they don’t have a wire from the frame of the trailer to the negative terminal of the battery. I’ve never really had any problems with the trailer but I’m gonna run a wire from the battery to the chassis Question, what kinds of things could happen if you don’t have your frame wired to the negative terminal? I’m wondering why I’ve never had any problems. Thank you
If you don't have a white wire grounded to the trailer, thru the plug and then to the vehicle frame, the lights can still work. The trailer is dependent on grounding thru the hitch in this case. Most times it's not a problem, but as the coupler and/or ball hitch rust you may experience lights that flicker or don't work. I touched on this subject a little in this video ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.html
Does the trailer tongue need to be on the ball hitch for the lights to work properly? As in, if I am testing my lights by connecting the truck side harness to the trailer harness, will the test fail if I don’t also connect the trailer tongue to the truck ball hitch?
I lost the vehicle ground pin. Have the part but a bigger to replace where located. Still have good continuity thru ball and chain. Where I find those weird glitches is at the bolts that hold the lights on. I added a wire that goes thru the frame, white. Connects up front and to the bolt and nut on the light mount. Sometimes when loading you can easily hit the light with your leg or something and that can loosen the light a bit, or even enlarge the hole of the plastic box. By adding a toothed washer inside and toothed wire tip to the white wire I added. I can kick that sucker and it stays working. Also I use a grounding strap vs the white wire. The wire is secured to the strap but the strap is more robust and can withstand the bending, weathering, stepping on it, etc ..I see many trailers where the white wire is barely holding on with a few strands left. Sure overkill but it works.
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 - ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.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.
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.
1st thing i would do before getting all workedup and playing master electrician is to check the trailer ball itself for rust. sand the rust off with a wire b rush and squirt some wd 40 on it and you now have a good ground no special tools required or testers or meters i had that problem the other day all my fuses were good lights were new new trailer but my trailer ball on both cars were rusty all cleanedup and working as it should
Grounding through the ball will often work, but it's not ideal. It really should ground through the plug. Chances are even when your lights work, they are probably flickering as you go down the road. Coupler to ball isn't a solid electrical connection. Not a huge deal, but I thought I would mention it. Might save you from being pulled over sometime.
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 the ground at the plug is connected near the hitch and the trailer frame doesn't have continuity back to the fixtures, then all the other stuff does matter. Unless you are describing a ground wire hardwired all the way front to back to each fixture.
Ok, I am a 74 year old female, just bought a pop up camper, I have watched your videos, unless a missed something, I didn’t find my problem, so here it is. When we hook up my car to the trailer all the running lights came on blinkers and brake light the guy said that the trailer lights were working the last time he used it, I am more inclined to think that it is from my car it was pull in travel trailer but hasn’t been used for five years as far as plugging something into it and it does have a seven point hook up I just ordered a multi meter because I don’t have one I did you check my fuses under the hood, none are blown,
TO PURCHASE A MULTIMETER - amzn.to/3VmWcfM
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
Thanks for keeping your information basic enough for someone who has never worked on trailer wiring before. I have learned what the all colors mean so now am going to replace all the wiring.
Glad to help
Along with the many other commenters sir, I’d like to truly thank you for helping a young man learn something new. It’s all on me to learn now, no one to ask. I appreciate the dad types of videos. ❤gained a sub.
Welcome to the channel and thanks!
Thanks. This is the 1st time I've understood this and I've watched a lot of videos. Bravo!
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 - ruclips.net/video/-14kh2DYdOo/видео.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.
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!
Dude! You couldn't have explained it better! Thanks
God Bless You and yours! 🇺🇸
Glad to help
Just earned a new sub!
Best trailer wiring video(s) on RUclips... Hands down! Keep up this type of stuff!!!
Victor, it's great to have you along. Thank you, KPO.
Perfect!! Clear and concise. After watching many videos on this topic, You Fixed it!! Thanks!!!
Glad it helped!
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.
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 RUclips. Thanks again!
Thanks for that comment.
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!
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
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
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 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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
SUPER helpful! I have a dumping trailer and your solution to add the jumper ground was perfect.
Glad it helped!
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.
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 RUclips! I’ll subscribe!
Glad to hear the video helped! Thanks for watching, KPO.
Thank you for this series. Very informative and well explained!
You're very welcome!
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.
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!
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!
Huge help. Thanks. Especially the tilting trailer info !
Glad to hear it, KPO.
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.
Thank you for your trailer wiring descriptions.
No problem 👍
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!
Very well explained especially for a newbie to electrical stuff. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
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
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.
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!
Sir you actually solved my problem in literally the first sentence of this video.
Awesome!
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
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.
Nice. Im in hot humid florida. Now i understand the white wire grounding thing. 🇺🇸
Thanks stay cool.
Helped me fix my trailer light issue. Thanks!!
You are very welcome, 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 video was completely oblivious to something so simple being wrong! Earned a sunscriber!
Welcome aboard!
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.
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.
Fender bolts to the body can get loose or fender gets bent away from trailer body. Fender mounted lights need that strong fender to trailer connection. Run a wire from the bottom of light body (ground) to the trailer frame, or fender to frame bolt. Stay gold.
Good stuff
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. ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.html It really sounds like your trailer isn't grounded properly. This video may help also ruclips.net/video/-14kh2DYdOo/видео.html Let me know how it goes
A very good explanation of how to check the continuity
Thank you.
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.
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.
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.
Parts 2 & 3 are a definite must see.
Thank you for that comment, KPO.
Very informative! I think you jist resolved an issue I've been having.
Great!
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.
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!
Thanks for this very informative and well explained video. Really helpful for me and much appreciated.
Welcome
12:13 awesome knowledge and a great help on my exact situation! Thanks So Much!!!
Very welcome!
Thanks, you’re a good instructor. 1 ? If one ground is bad will it affect all lights or just the one fixture. I have power through the hitch and into the trailer harness but no lights work.
If the entire trailer isn't grounded right it will effect all lights. But if one fixture isn't ground and the others are grounded only the one fixture should be effected.
I followed one of your videos to school me on installing my trailer lights. Thank you. I did have some issue with grounding my painted trailer. I ran the ground further back and after grinding the paint off in a spot at the rear of the tongue and drove a stainless screw in with the grounding wire. Trailer lighted right up. Well, except the right maker light. Everything else is up and running. Could you suggest what my problem is with the right marking light?
Well, again make sure that fixture is grounded properly. Then bulbs if it has them. Broken wire, see if you have power at fixture with the markers on.
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
Thank you - I successfully fixed my utility trailer wiring issue due to bad ground.
You are welcome! Thanks for letting me know that!
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.
Awesome video, this solved my issue with the tilt trailer!
Glad it helped, KPO.
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 ruclips.net/video/-14kh2DYdOo/видео.html
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors Just reporting back, ground issue fixed with your help. Those self tappers worked. Thank you!
Yup very good video all videos should be this good.you know the score
Thanks for the comment, KPO.
Great set of videos thank you.
Glad you like them!
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.
Play speed 1.25 you'll tank me later
I get it RusVito. That made me laugh. But won't more soak in if you watch at .5 speed? LOL! Thanks, always trying to improve my vids, KPO.
@@KnettersPracticalOutdoors haha good info tho
Tank you.
Thanks. "Uhhh, uhhh, uhhh"
Awesome explanation. Thank you
You are welcome!
Have a tiltbed and can’t get new lights to work. I’m wondering if I need a jumper wire like you showed? Could I just splice another white ground to the harness and run 2 dedicated grounds back to the lights? I think it’s definitely a grounding issue
Yes, running a dedicated white wire to all fixtures will cure many problems.
Well done. You should do voice-overs. Ty
I know, I have done some in other videos, KPO.
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.
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.
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.
Home made trailer bought- lights worked when bought- found corroded wires. Bought new lights for trailer- have em all set up, and no lights. Was wondering about trailer itself- it’s painted- does that matter for the ground on the 2bolt lights (no ground) as long as all the ground points are all cleaned down to bare metal?
Going to get a fuse checker and a light hookup tester (from vehicle).
Hahah so with all that mess- the painted trailer shouldn’t matter, as long as all the grounding points are cleaned to bare metal, right?
Yes down to bare metal and the trailer needs to have continuity also, KPO
Thank you. That fixed my problem!
Glad it helped!
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.
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.
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.
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 so much for this!
You are welcome!
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!
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.
It cost more, but it is neater and more effective to use wiring junction boxes. Use a junction box at the front of the frame and another at the rear of the frame.
Run your wiring from the plug and down the draw bar of the hitch and then cut the wiring cable and put loops on the wires and place them on the bolt studs inside the junction box. Then the cable going to the rear junction box can be attached as well. You can run wires to the front and middle lights and one wire from the ground in the box to the frame to create a ground there. Then you just repeat the process at the rear junction box. Running wires to the rear lights and a ground wire to the frame. That way you have two grounding points on the trailer frame and no exposed and loose wires or connections at the hitch. And it will not matter how good or bad the ground is through the ball at the hitch as it bounces around going down the road because all of the grounding is going through the grounding wire.
Neater, less prone to failure and you have two convenient places to do trouble shooting because you can just remove the cover lid and have the bolt studs in the box to connect test lights or multi-meters to. And if a wire going to a light fixture is damaged you have a convenient and protected place to remove the wire and reinstall the new one.
Good stuff, thanks for adding in.
Triton aluminum trailer. Ground comes from the truck thru 4-prong trailer connector and then runs to all 11 lights. It is not connected to the trailer at all. I know I have a ground issue. Triton says a bad ground at any light won’t affect the whole trailer. Truck lighting works fine with other trailers. Where would the ground problem be on this trailer? Been chasing this for years. Every time I go to debug it works fine.
You may have an issue with the wiring somewhere inside the channels of the trailer. If you have been trying to find the problem for years, I would rewire the trailer. I wouldn't be surprised if you find a broken or loose wire/connection in the process, KPO.
Nice video; Y do you think on my trailer light IN the back I have one LED light Flickering; Y my truck is completely OFF Thank you
If your truck is off and you have a tail light flickering still, you may have a wiring problem on the truck. One wire shorted to another something like that.
I have a tilling trailer so thanks for the tips
Welcome!
I’ve bought a few dump trailers from this certain manufacturer and I noticed they don’t have a wire from the frame of the trailer to the negative terminal of the battery.
I’ve never really had any problems with the trailer but I’m gonna run a wire from the battery to the chassis
Question, what kinds of things could happen if you don’t have your frame wired to the negative terminal? I’m wondering why I’ve never had any problems. Thank you
If you don't have a white wire grounded to the trailer, thru the plug and then to the vehicle frame, the lights can still work. The trailer is dependent on grounding thru the hitch in this case. Most times it's not a problem, but as the coupler and/or ball hitch rust you may experience lights that flicker or don't work. I touched on this subject a little in this video ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.html
Does the trailer tongue need to be on the ball hitch for the lights to work properly? As in, if I am testing my lights by connecting the truck side harness to the trailer harness, will the test fail if I don’t also connect the trailer tongue to the truck ball hitch?
I have a video that explains it all ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.html
I lost the vehicle ground pin. Have the part but a bigger to replace where located. Still have good continuity thru ball and chain. Where I find those weird glitches is at the bolts that hold the lights on. I added a wire that goes thru the frame, white. Connects up front and to the bolt and nut on the light mount. Sometimes when loading you can easily hit the light with your leg or something and that can loosen the light a bit, or even enlarge the hole of the plastic box. By adding a toothed washer inside and toothed wire tip to the white wire I added. I can kick that sucker and it stays working. Also I use a grounding strap vs the white wire. The wire is secured to the strap but the strap is more robust and can withstand the bending, weathering, stepping on it, etc ..I see many trailers where the white wire is barely holding on with a few strands left. Sure overkill but it works.
Those are great ideas
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 - ruclips.net/video/LaUj7ZIrwAk/видео.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.
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.
1st thing i would do before getting all workedup and playing master electrician is to check the trailer ball itself for rust. sand the rust off with a wire b rush and squirt some wd 40 on it and you now have a good ground no special tools required or testers or meters i had that problem the other day all my fuses were good lights were new new trailer but my trailer ball on both cars were rusty all cleanedup and working as it should
Grounding through the ball will often work, but it's not ideal. It really should ground through the plug. Chances are even when your lights work, they are probably flickering as you go down the road. Coupler to ball isn't a solid electrical connection. Not a huge deal, but I thought I would mention it. Might save you from being pulled over sometime.
Nice info, thanks
Welcome
If there is a concern can you just run the white wire from front to back and ground it sporadically back to the trailer?
Yes you can run a white wire to each fixture.
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 - ruclips.net/video/Iz1jN3KApns/видео.html It may help.
There is a ground wire in the connctor, if you connect that correct then the other stuff at the tow point does not matter?
If the ground at the plug is connected near the hitch and the trailer frame doesn't have continuity back to the fixtures, then all the other stuff does matter. Unless you are describing a ground wire hardwired all the way front to back to each fixture.
Ok, I am a 74 year old female, just bought a pop up camper, I have watched your videos, unless a missed something, I didn’t find my problem, so here it is. When we hook up my car to the trailer all the running lights came on blinkers and brake light the guy said that the trailer lights were working the last time he used it, I am more inclined to think that it is from my car it was pull in travel trailer but hasn’t been used for five years as far as plugging something into it and it does have a seven point hook up I just ordered a multi meter because I don’t have one I did you check my fuses under the hood, none are blown,
see other
Thanks Dave!
You bet!