RV trailer running lights wiring issue
I have a camping trailer from 1978, and while getting ready to go on the road again I noticed the running lights are acting wonky. I think it must be a wiring issue but don't know much about electrica...
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Thanks for that, BFL13!
I have several new questions :/ Should've known this wouldn't be as easy as all that!
So what I thought was the ground wire was attached to a bolt on the underside of a trailer rail, and that whole assembly was just a mess of rust. I started cleaning it up but it was too far gone, so I thought I'd take it off, get a replacement bolt/nut, replace the ring connector, and possibly grind down the area around the hole in the frame (is that necessary? wire brush doesn't do much good). But I can't get the nut all the way off...
It would be no problem if I could get better leverage on top; the head of that bolt is a flathead and it's rusted away enough that the edges are a bit rounded, and I only have space to use one of those little horizontal ratchet drivers...
So, is it a bad idea for any reason to extend the wire a bit and connect that ground to my battery? The other option sounds like hard work, esp without access to a lift... I don't even know if I'd want to use a grinder in a space that constricted/position that awkward.
Oh, also, everything (incl. everything inside the trailer) is still working exactly how it had been before I started loosening that connection - could it still be acting like a poor ground even in that position (and coated with WD40)? Or does that mean this isn't even the ground wire for the running lights? I mean, clearly it needs to be fixed regardless.
Would there be a ground for the running lights on the truck as well as the trailer, or only on one or the other?
A few years back when I had the hitch wiring installed on my truck, they replaced the trailer cord as well, so that wiring is also newer.
I have several new questions :/ Should've known this wouldn't be as easy as all that!
So what I thought was the ground wire was attached to a bolt on the underside of a trailer rail, and that whole assembly was just a mess of rust. I started cleaning it up but it was too far gone, so I thought I'd take it off, get a replacement bolt/nut, replace the ring connector, and possibly grind down the area around the hole in the frame (is that necessary? wire brush doesn't do much good). But I can't get the nut all the way off...
It would be no problem if I could get better leverage on top; the head of that bolt is a flathead and it's rusted away enough that the edges are a bit rounded, and I only have space to use one of those little horizontal ratchet drivers...
So, is it a bad idea for any reason to extend the wire a bit and connect that ground to my battery? The other option sounds like hard work, esp without access to a lift... I don't even know if I'd want to use a grinder in a space that constricted/position that awkward.
Oh, also, everything (incl. everything inside the trailer) is still working exactly how it had been before I started loosening that connection - could it still be acting like a poor ground even in that position (and coated with WD40)? Or does that mean this isn't even the ground wire for the running lights? I mean, clearly it needs to be fixed regardless.
Would there be a ground for the running lights on the truck as well as the trailer, or only on one or the other?
A few years back when I had the hitch wiring installed on my truck, they replaced the trailer cord as well, so that wiring is also newer.
