I don't trailer my boat very often however this week I'm taking my boat on a camping/trailer sailing vacation to Lake George NY.
The problem I have is the lights (including the turn signals, everything) go blank after getting on the road. Last night everything went out after about a mile or two of driving. It was a short trip back to my house and it was still daylight so it was not too dangerous. As usual the power supply fuse from the battery (15 amp) to the wiring harness inside the vehicle was blown.
This problem has been ongoing for a few seasons. I retrieve the boat, upstep the mast, retract the trailer tongue(s) apply the straps and I'm ready to go. All this takes about 30 to 45 minutes. Then I plug in the lights, and everything works fine. Flawless. Then after few minutes on the road - all goes out. The next day, replace the fuse, plug in the lights, all good!
Just some additional information:
- when not in the water there is NEVER a problem. I will plug my lights in this morning and I believe everything will work fine. (once I replace the fuse)
- I have trailered a camper and car carrier recently and have no problem at all with the lights so the vehicle (V6 Dodge Durango) is not the issue.
- I replaced all the wiring and lights with LED fixtures on the trailer about 2 years ago and ran marine grade wire to wire each light for grounding instead of the using the trailer frame. I used waterproof soder/shrinking tube for connections and sealed other wire connections (three wire) with nuts and silicone.
An idea I had was perhaps the light fixtures were filling up with water (supposed to be submersible?) and once I started driving, the bouncing around moved accumulated water inside one or more of the fixtures to short out the circuit. This season I drilled holes in the bottom of each light to drain out any excess water. - Little or no change in the problem.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
The problem I have is the lights (including the turn signals, everything) go blank after getting on the road. Last night everything went out after about a mile or two of driving. It was a short trip back to my house and it was still daylight so it was not too dangerous. As usual the power supply fuse from the battery (15 amp) to the wiring harness inside the vehicle was blown.
This problem has been ongoing for a few seasons. I retrieve the boat, upstep the mast, retract the trailer tongue(s) apply the straps and I'm ready to go. All this takes about 30 to 45 minutes. Then I plug in the lights, and everything works fine. Flawless. Then after few minutes on the road - all goes out. The next day, replace the fuse, plug in the lights, all good!
Just some additional information:
- when not in the water there is NEVER a problem. I will plug my lights in this morning and I believe everything will work fine. (once I replace the fuse)
- I have trailered a camper and car carrier recently and have no problem at all with the lights so the vehicle (V6 Dodge Durango) is not the issue.
- I replaced all the wiring and lights with LED fixtures on the trailer about 2 years ago and ran marine grade wire to wire each light for grounding instead of the using the trailer frame. I used waterproof soder/shrinking tube for connections and sealed other wire connections (three wire) with nuts and silicone.
An idea I had was perhaps the light fixtures were filling up with water (supposed to be submersible?) and once I started driving, the bouncing around moved accumulated water inside one or more of the fixtures to short out the circuit. This season I drilled holes in the bottom of each light to drain out any excess water. - Little or no change in the problem.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.