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Post by bucketheadmn on Jun 5, 2017 5:48:30 GMT -8
So I am running into a problem with the wiring on my 1966 Shasta Airflyte and the tow wiring. I have 2 of the new LED tear drop red marker lights and one new pancake light on the right side. I have it wired so the rear lights and brake lights work just fine - though they are the only things that work fine. However I am running into the following problems: - BOTH rear side markers go off with the right blinker
- Left rear pancake light does not work with the left blinker
While I had the skins off 2 summers ago (it did not get used last year at all and was in storage) I was able to look at the wiring and everything looked just fine and I thought worked fine. Adding in working marker lights this year is what threw me off. Anyways this is how the wiring is wired at each light:
- Green wire that is run to each marker light, rear tail lights the rear license plate light
- Red wire that is run to left tail light
- Brown wire to right tail light
I currently have the 4 wire setup as the following with the white from the 4-way grounded to the frame:
Trailer Wiring - > 4-way plug
Green -> Brown
Brown -> Green
Red -> Yellow
Any help or thoughts would be great here. I am at a loss would love to have correctly working lights. If you think it would help I have no problem ordering a new pancake light to replace the rear left one that is an older one (non-original though).
Thanks!!
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nccamper
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1962 Forester- 1956 Shasta
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Post by nccamper on Jun 5, 2017 19:37:01 GMT -8
From the Hopkins chart below you would think the 4-flat is just a matter of connecting the same colors together. But it's not really.  On my camper it was just as you hooked it up: Molded Connector Function Usual Trailer WireWhite Wire Ground White Wire Red Wire Left Turn and Brake Yellow Wire Brown Wire Right Turn and Brake Green Wire Green Wire Tail Lights Brown Wire So... BOTH rear side markers go off with the right blinker
Are the side markers on the line after the right blinker? For all of them to blink it seems like the problem is at the first splice in the brown line or at the plug.
Left rear pancake light does not work with the left blinkerThe side marker lights on the left work fine? I've only wired three campers so I'm not an expert. But I think either the plug wiring to the car is mixed up or the splice points got mixed up. |
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Ten
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70 Shasta 16SC + 1964 Airflyte
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Post by Ten on Jun 5, 2017 19:47:33 GMT -8
Ground everything twice, then ground again. It sounds like it is a matter of a ground problem.
The contacting surfaces of the pancake light backing plates must be clean and in good contact with the skin, and the skin has to be securely grounded as well. Run a wire from the backing plate to the frame directly and then try your light circuits. If they work then you know what you have to clean.
Chasing grounding problems is not fun, but generally it can be attributed to a rusted or bad contacting surface or a screw.
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Post by vikx on Jun 5, 2017 21:27:08 GMT -8
Thanks Ten and NC.
I agree, the ground sounds like the culprit to me. You have successfully wired the 4 way to 7 way, so that doesn't appear to be the problem.
To test, you can alligator clip a wire to the grounded back plate of the light to the frame. Do it any place you feel the ground might be suspect.
Also: do NOT use the vehicle as a test source. Use portable power to test. This eliminates 1/2 of the problem.
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Post by bigbill on Jun 6, 2017 13:11:23 GMT -8
When you are dealing with DC/battery current and a light goes out or flashes weird when another is turned on you have a bad ground. DC circuits require a complete loop between the positive an negative side of the battery if it isn't there then it will try to reroute itself through another light this is why you see the weird behavior. For instance if a light grounding across another and you turn that light on it becomes positive and breaks the ground circuit causing the first light to shut off or go dim. As vikx said use a separate power source not the tow vehicle when testing, making certain that source is properly connected to the trailer ground circuit which may be the trailer frame or a dedicated ground wire or both.
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bmoore
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Post by bmoore on Jun 7, 2017 3:15:01 GMT -8
Make sure you don't have a shorted tail light bulb. That makes for weird current paths too.
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Post by bucketheadmn on Jun 23, 2017 7:50:45 GMT -8
Woah - just realized I never came back to reply. Thanks for all of the help! I am pretty sure that it was a grounding issue as when I reconnected the pancake lights and make sure they had a good ground everything worked! Well except the pancake blinker light, but I think that is a fixture issue and not wiring. Going to order a new pancake light and everything should be all good.
Thanks again!!
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