Problem about lights on a Malone Sport Trailer

[Michael Meyer]

I have a problem with my trailer lights. It started with the left side lights not working. Now, none of the lights are wiring. i have tried to check out the wiring and this is the summary. It appears I have continuity through the automobile/trailer harness.

My trailer has a retractable tongue. There is a second harness at the rear of the tongue. I have good voltage at this harness. I have no voltage at any of the light connections.

I believe I must have a ground issue. The ground wire is mounted to a bolt in the front of the trailer neck. The rest of the lighting is grounded through the trailer frame.

I checked the ground on all the light assemblies by placing one alligator clip on the assembly's mounting bolt and the other clip on the frame. I got good grounds on all the assemblies although I did have to reposition the clips to get good grounds and some of the meter readings were erratic (I would get a zero reading and then the reading would creep up.) I also noticed that some of the light assemblies' mounting bolts and nuts are heavily corroded.

My next steps are going to be to (1) clean the corrosion from the mounting bolts and nuts, and (2) run ground wires to each light assembly's mounting bolt.

Anybody have any better or different ideas?

[kickingback]

Your last line is what I was thinking when you started writing. The damn salt water causes corrosion and makes contact between metal parts vanish with rust. I would get a ground on each light and the tongue.
Good luck.

[Tallgrass07]

Clean off the rust, you need good metal-to-metal contact.

[Puck]

Your last line is what I was thinking when you started writing. The damn salt water causes corrosion and makes contact between metal parts vanish with rust. I would get a ground on each light and the tongue.
Good luck.

I agree with you, but I would add one additional step when attaching a wire to the base of a bolt, even if not using bare wire. Place a couple of wraps of solder, lead or lead-free, at the threads of the bolt at the connection. The soft metal will expand during tightening causing it to spread out and actually make more surface area for the connection.

I actually pulled every wire off of my Micro-Sports trailer, and rewired it using this technique. 4 years later, and I've only had to replace a couple of side marker bulbs. The tail-lights are LED.

Puck

[Tallgrass07]

I had to work on my Malone lights a few weeks ago. There was a bad connection in one taillight, which was flickering, and found there was barely enough solder holding the electric wire to the copper strip that makes contact with the base of the bulb inside the light unit. I added a bit more solder to both taillights. I also used some bulb grease on the ground nut and bolt for a good ground connection.

[Michael Meyer]

I want to thank everyone for their help. Puck, I want to thank you for your service. Also, I cannot wait to try the tip about wrapping solder around the threads on the post. I am new to this whole trailer wiring/lighting issue and it can be frustrating. It is nice to know I can go somewhere and get help.

Having said that, I spent yesterday cleaning the corrosion off the mounting posts on the lights. When I was done I was getting good grounds at every light. I checked through the mounting bolt and I checked the light assemblies at the place where the light contacts the base. I got a "0" on my multimeter every time. When I was done, no lights. I checked the voltage I was getting on the copper strip for my left turn signal and good voltage, but no light. I checked the voltage for the left side running light in the same assembly and no voltage.

After four hours of saying things that I know will come up again in confession, I decided to rewire my trailer. I have a couple of questions. First, what is your recommendation about the use of wire connectors? My trailer had Scotchlok connectors, but I am leaning towards soldering and heat shrink tubing with liquid electrical tape over the heat shrink tubing. Second, the light assemblies. Can I test them by hooking them up directly to the vehicle battery? If I do replace the light assemblies, submersible or non-submersible? LED or incandescent? (and why)

Once again, thanks to everybody.

[pitontheprowl]

Soldering is the way to go, PERIOD.

That being said, you already told us your harness is good if you are getting power to all the lights.
So replacing the harness will most likely change nothing.

Where are you loosing the ground?
Trailers are easy but everyone wants to overcomplicate them.

A test light will help you a lot more than a multimeter here but a Power Probe is well spent money if you do enough automotive to justify the cost. (I have 2 but don't tell my wife )

[Tallgrass07]

"I checked the voltage I was getting on the copper strip for my left turn signal and good voltage, but no light."

Make sure your bulb is ok. The thin copper strips may also be pressed down too far and not making contact with the base of the bulb. I carefully pried mine upwards a bit for better contact with the base of the bulb.

I didn't trust the quick connects that came with the trailer and soldered all my connections, covered those with heat shrink tubing, then wrapped with electrical tape and enclosed all wiring in a loom.