Trailer Wiring

[Stache]

Just finished wiring the beast for a trailer using a Reese Towpower tail light converter. Bike lights behave normally after completion. When I connect the trailer and turn the key the headlight fuse blows.

 

I see two possibilities: 1. There's a short in the running lights on the trailer or 2. The trailer running lights are too much draw for the circuit.

 

Any helpful thoughts appreciated...

[Rick Haywood]

Just finished wiring the beast for a trailer using a Reese Towpower tail light converter. Bike lights behave normally after completion. When I connect the trailer and turn the key the headlight fuse blows.

 

I see two possibilities: 1. There's a short in the running lights on the trailer or 2. The trailer running lights are too much draw for the circuit.

 

Any helpful thoughts appreciated...

 

I would say it is a short in the trailer. Unless you have 25 lights or so on it.

[Barry.B]

If you unplug trailer does the fuse still blow . if not check that you don't have one of the running light hocked to ground .

[dacheedah]

I always run a ground to each trailer light, just an extra white wire. I don't like just grounding to the frame. Did you run the wire through a grommet or some cover at the point where it runs through the frame?? perhaps pulling the wire stripped back some insulation.

 

Are you running LED's ??

[Stache]

I always run a ground to each trailer light, just an extra white wire. I don't like just grounding to the frame. Did you run the wire through a grommet or some cover at the point where it runs through the frame?? perhaps pulling the wire stripped back some insulation.

 

Are you running LED's ??

 

No LED's. Standard bulbs. Wasn't much choice on the grounding method as the light pods supplied with the kit ground through the mounting bolt.

[Flyinfool]

I would put a ring terminal on that frame grounding stud and still run separate ground wires.

In order to have a good frame ground you must scrape off all of the paint to get a good solid metal to metal contact. Of course that bare metal will quickly rust and you will have ground issues down the road.

 

But then a bad trailer ground should never cause a fuse to blow. You need to figure out what wire is connected to the wrong place first.

 

Double check your wiring, it is common for the converter wire colors to not match the bike wire colors.

 

On a RSV bike;

Black - Ground

Yellow - Brake

Blue - Running

Brown - Left turn

Green - Right turn

 

Standard colors for a trailer hookup are. These are most likely the colors coming out of your converter on the bike side, but check your instructions to verify.

White - Ground

Blue - Brake

Brown - Running

Yellow - Left turn

Green - Right turn

Some converters have another fused wire that goes to bikes battery. Sometimes Black and sometimes Red, depending on brand and model.

 

The output of the converter to the trailer and the trailer wiring should be;

White - Ground

Brown - Running

Yellow - Left turn/brake

green - Right turn/brake

Edited May 10, 2012 by Flyinfool

[dacheedah]

I would pull extra white wire and I am a firm beleiver of solder and heat shrink. Run the wire to each fixture and the small expense and time will save you lots of wiring headaches. I would toss any of those quick n easy blue splice connectors, failure point #1. When you use heat shrink I put a dab over the solder connection and slide the heat shrink over it, then shrink one end, the other and middle last. I use a heat gun and not a lighter but we have boat trailers, jet ski trailers, utility trailers and rarely do we have an issue with lights.

[Stache]

I would pull extra white wire and I am a firm beleiver of solder and heat shrink. Run the wire to each fixture and the small expense and time will save you lots of wiring headaches. I would toss any of those quick n easy blue splice connectors, failure point #1. When you use heat shrink I put a dab over the solder connection and slide the heat shrink over it, then shrink one end, the other and middle last. I use a heat gun and not a lighter but we have boat trailers, jet ski trailers, utility trailers and rarely do we have an issue with lights.

 

Good advice - thanks

[Flyinfool]

So did you find what was blowing the fuses?

[Stache]

So did you find what was blowing the fuses?

 

Haven't had time to work on it yet. Looks like Sunday evening will be the next opportunity. My plan is to pull all the lights off except one tail light, verify that works, then add back one at a time. I'll use a spare battery with an inline fuse in some tester wire to test the lights.