mel
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1964 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by mel on May 17, 2018 15:49:40 GMT -8
So I need to test my 12V, It didnt work when I plugged into the tow vehicle. I read on here always start with the ground, But I saw 3 grounds on the trailer so that kind of confuses me. There is one on the front skin then one on the front of the tongue then one on water tank which looks like multiple wires run to it, but I think that one is for the 110. Also there is not a ground wire on a screw to each light. So im just a little confused since that is how I wired my compact. Any advise would be appreciated  |
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Ten
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70 Shasta 16SC + 1964 Airflyte
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Post by Ten on May 17, 2018 17:00:43 GMT -8
Hitch up the coupler. You need to ground back to the tow vehicle in order to complete the circuit for the tow lights. You might need to brush the inside of the coupler out a bit in order to get a good ground between the two.
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mel
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1964 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by mel on May 18, 2018 3:08:30 GMT -8
I was hooked up to the truck when I tried. The 4 way adapter looked in pretty bad condition, im going to snip it off and test with a battery. There are also some other wires running up to the tongue I think it used to be a 7 way and they converted it to 4 way maybe. I know one of the wires is from the 12V light so im not really sure.
Ill get some pics up this weekend
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charliemyers
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Post by charliemyers on May 18, 2018 4:34:56 GMT -8
mel Are you dealing with the Compact or the Airflyte? Considering that you've been using the Compact (assuming its lights have worked in the past), this might change the line of thought. You need the camper to get the ground through the connection in the wiring harness. If it needs the coupler hitched to get a ground, then it's not getting it the right way. Get it work without the coupler hitched, and you should be OK. Your ground in the wiring harness should be well attached to the trailer's chassis. The other wires that you see from the chassis to the skin make the skin a part of the ground as well. The whole chassis & skin should be considered "ground". The light fixtures usually attach the bulb's ground to the fixture itself. The fixture is attached to the skin, which is connected to the chassis, which is connected to the ground pin in the wiring harness. It's all one big path that the electrons follow to get back to the power source. If NONE of your lights are working, I would start with the wiring harness and work your way back to the lights. First thing I would do is use a multimeter to see if the ground wire in the harness has continuity with the chassis. You can probably find a million YouTube videos on check continuity. If the ground wire in the harness does not have continuity with the chassis...fix it and re-test the lights (the ground pin in the harness should be physically attached to chassis somewhere). Once the ground pin has continuity with the chassis, check to make sure that the ground wire has continuity with the skin. If it doesn't, fix it and re-test the lights (check those wires from the chassis to the skin). Once the ground pin has continuity with the skin, re-test your lights. If they still don't work, check to make sure that the ground pin has continuity with the base of the light fixtures. Also using a separate 12V power source (12V batter, battery charger, etc) to run the tests while the camper is entirely disconnected from a tow vehicle will help to isolate the problem. If you get this far and still don't have lights, come back for more suggestions. This is the way I'd approach it. Someone else with more experience might chime in with a better way though.
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mel
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1964 Shasta Airflyte
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Post by mel on May 18, 2018 8:05:04 GMT -8
charliemyers im working on the Airflyte right now. Thanks for the suggestions, im going to dig in tonight to see if I can figure it anything out.
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Post by vikx on May 18, 2018 21:45:57 GMT -8
Make sure the ground is cleanly attached to the frame. Clean the tail lights and be sure they have a good ground. One way to do that is run a jumper wire from the light plate to the frame. (be sure to sand a bare place)
Old lighting generally doesn't work but you probably don't have to replace all of it. The wiring itself may be fine, it's the grounds and the fixtures that need cleaning and work.
I agree with cutting off the old connector. It will need to be replaced with a 7 way anyway.
Let us know how the testing goes.
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