shastajeff
Active Member
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1965 Shasta Compact - "Stu"
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Post by shastajeff on Sept 20, 2014 5:20:27 GMT -8
Well, the warden, I mean wife, wanted to go camping last weekend. Got everything ready but when I hitched up the camper...no trailer lights. It's probably the plug, I thought. It looks like it's the original plug and I recall having to wiggle it a few times for the lights to work. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. No luck. Time for a new plug. I carefully wired in a new plug making sure the wires were connected correctly as the colors of the wires on the new plug didn't match the colors of the wires on the camper. No lights. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle...maybe its the plug on the tow vehicle. Got a light tester and the plug on the vehicle is good. Gave up on the camping idea, will work on it tomorrow, I thought. Went out at 5:30 am the next morning and low and behold I have trailer lights! A few hours later...no trailer lights. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. Must be a short, I thought. After hours of searching I gave up. I'll work on it some more tomorrow. Went out at 4:00 am and guess what? I have trailer lights! Checked them again a few hours later...no trailer lights. WIGGLE, WIGGLE, WIGGLE. Nothing. Maybe the ground is bad. Checked the ground...it seems ok. Worked some more tracing the wiring back looking for a short. Everything looks good. I'm getting tired of doing this...will work some more on it tomorrow. I go out at 6:00 am the next morning and low and behold the lights are working. A few hours later they aren't. WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE. Nothing! Checked all the bulbs and light sockets. Everything looks good. Let's look in the cargo area and look for wires. I empty the cargo area and I don't see any wires. But what do I see when I remove my head from the cargo area? TRAILER LIGHTS! And they seem to be WORKING! Can't figure it out other than the camper is possessed. I swear I heard it laughing at me.
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Post by universalexports on Sept 20, 2014 6:27:43 GMT -8
a lot of the old campers have the ground from the light to the aluminum siding, and steel and aluminum dont get along, over time the screw that goes through the aluminum will corrode or rust making the ground not work. also make sure you have good clean screws from the aluminum siding to the frame.
try running a jumper wire from the lights ground wire to the frame to see if this is an issue.
I rewired all my lights (switched out to LED) and ran an actual ground wire to the frame for every light so I dont have the older issue.
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Hamlet
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Post by Hamlet on Sept 20, 2014 7:45:36 GMT -8
Shastajeff, we hate to tell you, but the camper IS laughing at you. Why do you think we give them names? It's so when they do things like this, we can talk back to them and not sound completely nuts. So just laugh back. I don't think you'll hurt its feelings.  |
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John Palmer
Senior Member
Hi, From a vintage trailer guy located in Santa Ana, CA. It's good to see lots of activity here.
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Post by John Palmer on Sept 20, 2014 7:47:13 GMT -8
a lot of the old campers have the ground from the light to the aluminum siding, and steel and aluminum dont get along, over time the screw that goes through the aluminum will corrode or rust making the ground not work. also make sure you have good clean screws from the aluminum siding to the frame. try running a jumper wire from the lights ground wire to the frame to see if this is an issue. I rewired all my lights (switched out to LED) and ran an actual ground wire to the frame for every light so I dont have the older issue. X2, well stated. |
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Bow_Tied
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Post by Bow_Tied on Sept 20, 2014 8:13:00 GMT -8
To trouble shoot you may be able to use a long length of small gauge wire as a jumper to verify a good ground.
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Ten
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70 Shasta 16SC + 1964 Airflyte
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Post by Ten on Sept 20, 2014 12:01:51 GMT -8
I had a problem with lights on my hauler trailer once...they have never given me problems before. Found it was the ground at the plugin on the pickup. The ground was lost there, and the use of the test light didn't indicate it, because I had clipped the test light to the frame. Just another random thought....
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