Product warning: Hopkins tail light converters
I just wanted to warn everyone about Hopkins tail light converters, available at Wal Mart.
I moved to Arizona not too long ago. I still have stuff in California, including a 4x8' trailer I let a friend borrow. (For about 8 years...)
I got the trailer back, and thankfully I used to live in the rural desert, so I took dirt roads home. I brought an older Japanese truck that gets excellent mileage for the eight hour drive, as I do not have a lot of money.
While in Arizona, I realized that this mini truck has separate tail and turn and brake lights, necessitating a tail light converter.
I live in Prescott, AZ, which is a horse and ranch town. The weather here is excellent, as is the political climate if you believe in individual freedom. (Just thought I'd throw that in there!)
I called C-A-L ranch stores, and Tractor Supply, to see if they had one- neither of them had the converter. Finally I went to Wal-Mart and found a Hopkins tail light converter for about $25. I bought it, wired it in to my truck, actually I soldered every connection, making sure they were solid.
Well, I get to California, and I discover the trailer lights are a total mess. I hook it to my truck and take dirt roads back to where I had been staying.
I manage to re wire the lights, and hook it to the tail light converter- and I get running lights... but nothing else. Just the faintest, smallest glow for the turn and stop. Barely noticeable, even in the dark!
Well, I went to visit a friend and brought the converter with me, expecting to exchange it while hanging out with him.
We exchanged it, I visited some family, and I drive back to the desert. I hook the new converter up and...
Same problem. It must be the ground, so I took extra precaution to clean it. I take jumper cables and make a clean ground, and hook it directly to the converter. Still. No lights.
I check my connection with a test light, an 1156 single filament bulb in a socket with wires attached.
Every connection I made was proper.
It is dark, now, and approaching ten O'Clock. I have to leave the next morning.
So, i drive to four different cities, using half a tank of gas, from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart, until I find the one tail light converter one store had in stock.
Of course, when I got there, there returns department was closed, so I had to shell out another $25.
I try it in the parking lot.
Same *&%! THING. Tail lights and running lights work great, but turn signal, and brake lights, nothing but a tiny, faint glow.
I can't take it back. It's 11 at night and I am exhausted, with an 8-10 hour drive home early the next morning.
I end up returning home, and sleeping in from the exhaustion and frustration.
I left the next night, after resting.
Here's the interesting part.
I put two older pickup trucks I had on Craigslist up for sale. I get a bite immediately, so I begin clearing out the bed of one of them to show a potential buyer.
Lo and behold, a tail light converter I had removed from the truck years ago! It was at least thirty years old. Instead of having nine wires, like the Hopkins tail light converter, it only had five. No ground.
I hook it up to my original wiring... AND IT WORKED.
It got me home!
I am enclosing pictures of the Hopkins tail light converters and also the older converter that actually worked.
Cliff notes: Went across two state lines, five different cities, purchased three Hopkins Tail Light Converters, NONE of them worked.
Found a thirty year old converted in the back of an old pickup truck that worked perfectly.
Avoid Hopkins products at Wal-Mart.
Pics:
Culprits, all had the same problem
The one that worked! Dirty, old converter that worked
I moved to Arizona not too long ago. I still have stuff in California, including a 4x8' trailer I let a friend borrow. (For about 8 years...)
I got the trailer back, and thankfully I used to live in the rural desert, so I took dirt roads home. I brought an older Japanese truck that gets excellent mileage for the eight hour drive, as I do not have a lot of money.
While in Arizona, I realized that this mini truck has separate tail and turn and brake lights, necessitating a tail light converter.
I live in Prescott, AZ, which is a horse and ranch town. The weather here is excellent, as is the political climate if you believe in individual freedom. (Just thought I'd throw that in there!)
I called C-A-L ranch stores, and Tractor Supply, to see if they had one- neither of them had the converter. Finally I went to Wal-Mart and found a Hopkins tail light converter for about $25. I bought it, wired it in to my truck, actually I soldered every connection, making sure they were solid.
Well, I get to California, and I discover the trailer lights are a total mess. I hook it to my truck and take dirt roads back to where I had been staying.
I manage to re wire the lights, and hook it to the tail light converter- and I get running lights... but nothing else. Just the faintest, smallest glow for the turn and stop. Barely noticeable, even in the dark!
Well, I went to visit a friend and brought the converter with me, expecting to exchange it while hanging out with him.
We exchanged it, I visited some family, and I drive back to the desert. I hook the new converter up and...
Same problem. It must be the ground, so I took extra precaution to clean it. I take jumper cables and make a clean ground, and hook it directly to the converter. Still. No lights.
I check my connection with a test light, an 1156 single filament bulb in a socket with wires attached.
Every connection I made was proper.
It is dark, now, and approaching ten O'Clock. I have to leave the next morning.
So, i drive to four different cities, using half a tank of gas, from Wal-Mart to Wal-Mart, until I find the one tail light converter one store had in stock.
Of course, when I got there, there returns department was closed, so I had to shell out another $25.
I try it in the parking lot.
Same *&%! THING. Tail lights and running lights work great, but turn signal, and brake lights, nothing but a tiny, faint glow.
I can't take it back. It's 11 at night and I am exhausted, with an 8-10 hour drive home early the next morning.
I end up returning home, and sleeping in from the exhaustion and frustration.
I left the next night, after resting.
Here's the interesting part.
I put two older pickup trucks I had on Craigslist up for sale. I get a bite immediately, so I begin clearing out the bed of one of them to show a potential buyer.
Lo and behold, a tail light converter I had removed from the truck years ago! It was at least thirty years old. Instead of having nine wires, like the Hopkins tail light converter, it only had five. No ground.
I hook it up to my original wiring... AND IT WORKED.
It got me home!
I am enclosing pictures of the Hopkins tail light converters and also the older converter that actually worked.
Cliff notes: Went across two state lines, five different cities, purchased three Hopkins Tail Light Converters, NONE of them worked.
Found a thirty year old converted in the back of an old pickup truck that worked perfectly.
Avoid Hopkins products at Wal-Mart.
Pics:
Culprits, all had the same problem
The one that worked! Dirty, old converter that worked
