Trailer Lights Issue

DirtyMike

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So, I have a few lights out on the trailer but they're just side marker lights. Not real worried about it as I will get to them this winter. Tail lights and reverse lights work. I took for granted that brake lights and turn signal lights were working. Well, they aren't. I took a peek at my pins coming from the trailer. It looks like one got dragged on some pavement at one point and I suspect it's not making contact anymore. In my search for a 7 wire to 5 pin connector, I'm coming up empty handed. Can any of you electrical guru's point me in the direction of how to tie a 5 pin connector?

Here's a picture of what I'm working with.
IMG_2863.jpg
 


Duckslayer100

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I'm no electrician, but I'd go white-to-white, black-to-black, black-to-black, yellow-to-yellow, green-to-green, red-to-red and red-to-red. See how that works.

Uh, and you might have to troubleshoot the blacks and reds. Those look tricky.

:::
 
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Tikka280ai

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Go buy a 7 pin connector at a auto parts store. They come with a diagram of what color where and makes the plug more resistant to damage. Also eliminates the need for an adapter

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200127974_200127974

something like this. I have converted all of my 4 and 5 blade plugs to one of these so im not constantly chasing adapters around

faq043-trailer7waydia-ver2_2_800.jpg

this should get you close. i would still use a test light to check what function each pin performs
 
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wildeyes

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use a test light and find out what the plugin off the truck controls on the trailer then wire the plugin the same. make sure you have a good ground. when you wire a new one in soldier the wires and use shrink wrap.
 

Jigaman

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There is nothing in this world that frustrates me more than trailer lights and small gas engines.
 


Duckslayer100

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There is nothing in this world that frustrates me more than trailer lights and small gas engines.

Agreed. Although it would seem 90 percent of the issues with trailer lights stems from grounding. I circumvented that with my boat trailer by running the ground wire all the way from the lights to the tongue. Now all three points ground in the same spot.
 

dust in the wind

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comparing this to yours

https://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Wesbar/W002290.html

I'm guessing on a couple here but here it goes




on yours
White - ground
brown (or black) - tail light, license, side marker and clearance - guessing a wire for each side of the trailer
yellow - left turn/stop light
green - right turn/stop light
pink - auxillary - possibly one wire for each side of the trailer
 

Ericb

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I'd assume they are currently in the correct order. Buy a new plug and put them back the same way. Any auto store will have them.
 

DirtyMike

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Very good duck, I have never thought about connecting like colors to each other.

There are only 5 pin connectors with 5 wires connecting to them. So, the pink wires that are coming off my trailer, don't exactly match up.
 


guywhofishes

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Lots of times on old school crappy trailers the trailer itself is used for "ground" to save $0.10 of wire... caused me to emit lots of sprinkles over the years until I understood that.
 

Ericb

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Your connector just has the split for the reverse lights and tail lights at the connector. A new one will probably not have this and you will have to connect both where you splice the wires. Usually the wires split somewhere in the trailer frame.
 

SDMF

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Wire on a round 7. They're considerably less likely to ever pop out and be dragged down the road too.
 

Duckslayer100

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Very good duck, I have never thought about connecting like colors to each other.

There are only 5 pin connectors with 5 wires connecting to them. So, the pink wires that are coming off my trailer, don't exactly match up.

Just trying to help a brother out!

In all seriousness, that sort of complexity scares me. I think in a similar situation I'd be relegated to ripping out all the wiring and rewiring the entire trailer.
 


DirtyMike

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Lots of times on old school crappy trailers the trailer itself is used for "ground" to save $0.10 of wire... caused me to emit lots of sprinkles over the years until I understood that.

You can see the background of the picture, the white ground is coming out of the sheath and attached to the trailer. Anything wrong with that?

- - - Updated - - -

Wire on a round 7. They're considerably less likely to ever pop out and be dragged down the road too.

I think that's what I'll do instead of trying to appease the amount of adapters that are already on there.

- - - Updated - - -

IMG_2864.jpg
Generally, I'd just pair color to color but this is what has me confused. Anyone that I've talked to in the past knows that I'd rather barefoot walk across a field of legos than work on electrical. I'll try to grab a 7 pin plug over lunch.
 

guywhofishes

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You can see the background of the picture, the white ground is coming out of the sheath and attached to the trailer. Anything wrong with that?

no - as long as you realize that you then have to make sure that all the other lights also have their ground attached to the trailer or you can suffer crappy connections.

I had a "folding" trailer that pivoted on the main frame - and the pin/pivot point of the trailer itself would get rusty and not properly conduct - so even my old trailer frame itself occasionally had bad conductivity. It was maddening. So I ran ground wires around the boat so each light had its own ground wire.

I'm no expert - just sharing my trailer light woes.

If you install a 7 pin just route "backup light" wire on trailer to "backup light pin" on 7 pin, etc. Forget colors - just go with pin positions using the chart I posted.

- - - Updated - - -

keeping "vehicle side" and "trailer side" in mind. Easy peasy.
 

DirtyMike

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Perfect. Thanks everyone. Not everything they say is true about you fellas...
 

guywhofishes

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dirtytrailersketch.jpg

- - - Updated - - -

if you thank me with jigs/lures please, for the love of all that is holy, don't rely on wags as the delivery dude
 

Norske

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NAPA seems to have a contract with Hopkins, a maker of all those different connectors. (If you want an external fuel filter/water separator, go to O'Reilly's.) I changed my pickup's rear socket to one with both the multi-point round connector to one with a round and a flat socket. It took only a few minutes.
 


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