Trailer lights

[E-Fishin-C]

I find that the rear lights are a bit dim... How can I make them brighter?

[eusa1]

a dedicated ground wire, rather than a ground through the hitch!

i use a flat 5 wire connection.

mike

[SilvrT]

replace them with LED's

[bongobobny]

Couple of things, Charlie. First make sure that the wires are in the correct location. If they wired it wrong, the tail lights will be dim, and when you do the brake/turn signal test, they won't work right. My brand new trailer came from the factory with one of the taillight assemblies having the 2 wires switched! This is unfortunately very common with new trailers. Second, as was mentioned you could have a bad ground on the socket. Whoever mentioned that the ground comes thru the hitch is wrong, on a 4 wire plug the white wire is ground. The brake and turn are common and the left and right turn signal interupt ground for the brake light. the 4th wire is runing lights. Now, if one of the sockets was wired wrong, now you may understand why the running lights are dim, the 12 volts is going thru both filiments in a series configuration resulting in the bulb eing half as bright...

 

A 5 wire system is separate lines for brake, left turn and right turn, and running lights with a common ground. Most foreign cars arre a 5 wire system and require a 5 to 4 wire adapter to work right. A lot of US cars are also now 5 wire systems, and require the 5 to 4 wire system adapter. Our motorcycles require these adapters.

[bongobobny]

Edit to above. If the wires are switched, when you put the turn signal on, the runing light will go out...

[eusa1]

saying someone is wrong ...is rude and ignorant.

 

my 2003 rsv does not have an adaptor, nor does it need one. it is a 5 wire system and is all run through 12v relays.

most of these trailers are made of fiberglass or plastic and uses a common ground to the frame or tongue rather than an individual ground to each light. make a better ground or

wire it any way you want, but don't ASSUME what you don't know. I built my trailer, i didn't buy it.

mike

[bryan52577]

I have not seen anything about how many lights you have on the back of your trailer. Separate turn signals ect. Trailers from a factory will typically be wired as follows. How many wires you have and if you need a converter will depend on how many lights. A lot of small trailers are grounded through the hitch as was said before. I have two factory built trailers that way that I haul the mower and things on.

 

Hope you can find this helpful?

Bryan

At the back of the RSV the colors are as follows:

Dark green is the right turn signal.

Dark brown is the left turn signal.

Blue is the tail light.

Yellow is the brake light.(Well yellow doesn't show up well but you get the picture)

Black is ground.

 

(You will need to change a wire here or there to get the proper lights to work but this will give you an idea as to what is where NOW and make the change easier. As you can see green is the only wire that is for the correct light "right turn").

US trailer wiring specs as follows:

4 way flat molded connectors allow basic hookup for three lighting functions; right turn signal / stop light (green), left turn signal / stop light (yellow), taillight / license / side marker (brown) and a ground (white).

 

5 Way Systems

 

Same as 4 way system listed above but adds a extra blue wire for brake signal or auxiliary power. Used on pop up camper trailers or utility / boat trailers.

[bongobobny]

OK the ground may be common to the hitch thru the tongue and frame or vice versa but someone could misinterpret that statement and think that you mean the ground is coming from the car or bike battery ground thru the hitch and to the trailer lights. By your own description ground is thru the white wire and not thru the hitch. OK my new Carry On is thru the frame, but my little behind the bike Piggy-Backer trailer is thru wires if I remember correctly. Most manufactured trailers I've run across are 4 wire system, not to say there are a few 5 wire trailers out there but mostly large commercial versions.

 

Bottom line, if the wires to one of the tail light assembly is wired backwards, the symptom is dim running lights. There is usually a brown dot for the tail light filiment. After you have seen a few of these you just look for that and switch the wires to fix it. My new Carry On had exactly that problem. When doing a safety inspection it is routine to check the "headlights on" function first as it shows up right away...

[eusa1]

some folks should quit while they are ahead...

 

when a member ask a question, they are looking for facts, not a guess or an assumption.

 

when a another member offers a fact or possible sollution for their concern and is shot

 

down with disrespect and uneducated assumption in an open forum, that shooter

 

paves the way to keep people from offering advice in the future, thus making a site such

 

this one , nothing more than a chat room.

 

If you have remarks worth the reading, then post them here in the same place where you

 

made your assumptions, not in the darkness of a pm.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

my 2003 rsv does not have an adaptor, nor does it need one. it is a 5 wire system and is all run through 12v relays.

.............. I built my trailer, i didn't buy it.

mike

 

That set of relays COULD be considered an 'adaptor'...it depends on your definition. I think in this case anything that provides the functions of 'adapting' the vehicle wiring to the trailer wiring can be considered an adaptor, no matter where its mounted. Even if you made it yourself.

 

And BTW, thats a fine looking trailer, young man....

 

Edited April 5, 2010 by tx2sturgis

[short-haul]

Hey where did you guys pick up the wiring on your RSV behind the license plate?

or under the seat ?

I have a small converter( need to go to 3 wire: LT Turn-Stop, Rt Turn-Stop and Tail Lights) to wire in on mine ( all LED) and I think there is room behind the license plate but have not looked yet.

[Squidley]

Hey where did you guys pick up the wiring on your RSV behind the license plate?

or under the seat ?

I have a small converter( need to go to 3 wire: LT Turn-Stop, Rt Turn-Stop and Tail Lights) to wire in on mine ( all LED) and I think there is room behind the license plate but have not looked yet.

 

I have done it in both places, it's tight behind the plate, but doable.

[short-haul]

I am going to try behind the plateit is just easery to get to the wiring Thanks:fingers-crossed-emo

[Guest tx2sturgis]

I am going to try behind the plateit is just easery to get to the wiring Thanks:fingers-crossed-emo

 

In my opinion, its actually easier to get to the wiring in front of the rear fender, right behind the battery. The wiring harness for the rear lighting terminates in an off-white connector just behind the battery. All the same color codes are used there. And there is room to tuck in your splices and a module if you use one down behind the battery. Of course you will need a longer trailer wiring harness and will need to run it back to your hitch area. See the writeup in the tech library.

 

[eusa1]

That set of relays COULD be considered an 'adaptor'...it depends on your definition. I think in this case anything that provides the functions of 'adapting' the vehicle wiring to the trailer wiring can be considered an adaptor, no matter where its mounted. Even if you made it yourself.

 

And BTW, thats a fine looking trailer, young man....

 

 

Brian,

the only reason that i installed the relays in my setup, was to alow my auto cancell turn signals to still "auto cancell" this also alows the lights not to flicker or wink when other lamps are being used and protects any shorts from the bike or the trailer to travel and damage other equiptment.

thanks for your kind remarks.

mike.

[a1bummer]

I've also seen lights act weird when someone sticks an 1156 bulb in an 1157 socket.

[Marcarl]

just can't figure out why somebody hasn't told him to plug it into the kitchen socket yet,,, it'll be real bright then,,,,,,,,, don't do it Charlie,,,,you might blow a fuse.

[saddlebum]

just can't figure out why somebody hasn't told him to plug it into the kitchen socket yet,,, it'll be real bright then,,,,,,,,, don't do it Charlie,,,,you might blow a fuse.

Tooo Late you already put the idea in his head

[E-Fishin-C]

Tooo Late you already put the idea in his head

 

Oh Thats where I got my suntan:doh:

[a1bummer]

Maybe you should try that switch next to the garbage disposal switch that doesn't seem to do anything.