Quillback Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 I'd break out the volt meter and start working back from the truck. Focus on one light, disconnect the others, find a good ground for one lead of the voltmeter and see if you have voltage on the one trailer light you have hooked up.
Wayne SW/MO Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 Be careful relying on an ohmmeter for continuity, it can come back to bite you. A better way to check trailer grounds is with a jumper. Jump across the connection making sure you have good contact on both sides. Today's release is tomorrows gift to another fisherman.
Guest Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 a self grounding trailer light system, theres an idea for innovation
Wayne SW/MO Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 If you have 12V at the back of the trailer on both sides I would start jumping the grounds, starting truck to trailer. A stiff piece of wire and some to scrape to bare metal and you should find the problem. Be sure and remove all the lenses and go from bulb ground to trailer metal. On anything corroded just bridge it. Today's release is tomorrows gift to another fisherman.
Quillback Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 Be careful relying on an ohmmeter for continuity, it can come back to bite you. A better way to check trailer grounds is with a jumper. Jump across the connection making sure you have good contact on both sides. If you know how to properly use a voltmeter it won't come back to bite you. You'll be chasing your tail on the recommendations about grounding that I've seen so far - identify the problem using the right tools and go from there.
Wayne SW/MO Posted June 21, 2014 Posted June 21, 2014 If you know how to properly use a voltmeter it won't come back to bite you. You'll be chasing your tail on the recommendations about grounding that I've seen so far - identify the problem using the right tools and go from there. The problem with a voltohm is that it will read if there is a sliver of continuity even if it won't carry the load. If it doesn't show the problem it's time to go low tech. It's pretty easy to check voltage at the rear of the trailer, but a ground is a different animal and harder to check. It's pretty easy to check a ground with a jumper. More often than not if you have voltage in the lights you don't have enough ground continuity. Trailers are often grounded where the wires exit the tubing at the front and that's a common place for corrosion. Today's release is tomorrows gift to another fisherman.
Guest Posted June 21, 2014 Posted June 21, 2014 It was the rusty grounding bolt up front. I took a grinder to the trailer frame & installed a brand new bolt. Bammmm! It works!!!
Quillback Posted June 21, 2014 Posted June 21, 2014 I knew it was a ground problem (not) - glad to see you got it fixed.
Guest Posted June 21, 2014 Posted June 21, 2014 At least I know it wasn't the truck after all. In hindsight, I should've replaced the bolt right away. Instead I tried to clean it up which didn't work.
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