Electrical issue
Just a little advice from my accomplished electricians out there. Yesterday we picked up our boat from winter storage and had trouble getting our lights to work on the trailer. Initially all I was a...
Forum Discussion
BTPO1 wrote:JSGlow wrote:
No to sound too naive but I did not previously know that the hitch itself was part of the circuit.
IMO the hitch could be part of the system, but it is not a very good ground. There should always be a separate ground wire (White) installed. JMO
There is a white wire. It's part of the 4 wire lead. As I recall they are black, green, yellow and white. My boat frame is enclosed tubular steel so the combined wires enter a little hole on the neck and then emerge by each taillight. An examination this morning reveals black, white and one of green/yellow at each taillight. Having had to fool with the right light last year when I had a short, my recollection is that white ground wire is attached to the trailer frame on the mounting plate behind the actual plastic turn signal fixture. That one alone had been giving me problems and a little TLC last summer cured the problem. Again, yesterday was unusual in that I initially had 100% good running lights but nothing else, followed later by running lights and 100% good left (blinker and break) but no blinker/break on right. With 45 more miles under my belt all the problems had seemingly corrected themselves 100%. That doesn't suggest a short back at either light to me and made the hitch discussion make a ton of sense. I cleaned it up further as a result.
Again, happy to get feedback from more folks who know.
