Hooked up trailer for first time checked brake/ turn signal lights, none work

[Ron in BC]

Well, you guys are going to think we're idiots. Turned out we were putting the umbilical cord in incorrectly.

Not at all. Those of us, me definitely included, who know quite a bit of "stuff" sometimes learned it the hard way. I rationalize my boo-boos as "learning opportunities".

Enjoy your trailer holiday.

Ron

 

[Fayba]

Thanks, Ron. I'm sure there will be lots of " learning opportunities" yet to come.

Fayba

 

[HABBERDABBER]

Live....and learn. FYI. There are spray cans of electrical contact cleaner for the plug contacts. Recommend that if you use something, it be that class of cleaner. Some di-electric grease for the contacts is also a preventive.

 

[LRL]

Well, you guys are going to think we're idiots. Turned out we were putting the umbilical cord in incorrectly. I thought it would only go in one way but apparently that isn't the case. We now have a yellow dot on the top to indicate which way it should go in.

Hmm. I can only put mine in one way. And I don't have a yellow dot. How odd.

 

[GinoandLinda]

Glad you got it figured out and it was simple.

 

[Fayba]

Now, we're thinking the RV place was wrong because we headed out for our virgin run and the lights worked for 2 minutes and then blew. We tried turning off the battery and it blew the fuse again. RV place near us can't look at it until Tuesday so that's the end of our vacation. Very disappointing.

 

[Fayba]

To Craig's point.
We hauled our Scamp 16' with our Subaru Ascent and had no fuse issues, so it wasn't wired incorrectly but maybe the ground has gotten loose.

Fay

 

[Ron in BC]

Now, we're thinking the RV place was wrong because we headed out for our virgin run and the lights worked for 2 minutes and then blew. We tried turning off the battery and it blew the fuse again. RV place near us can't look at it until Tuesday so that's the end of our vacation. Very disappointing.

Definitely aggravating.

I see two options to continue using the trailer.

1. I'm probably the only one who does this but I carry a set of boat trailer lights with my as one of my many spares. In the event of trailer light failure it's magnetic and just gloms onto rear bumper. The long wiring harness plugs into the tug. Only down side is traveling at night. There's no side lights but it's a quick and simple way to get working lights on the rear.

2. I'd try and isolate the problem by taking the cover off the 7 pin junction box. There are 3 wires that feed the trailer lights, yellow, brown and green. I'd undo them and then take a 12V source, with an inline fuse and try each of the wires. If one blows then the problems narrowed down.

Good luck

Ron

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

Older escapes didn't have a 7 pin junction box, my 2014 21, the trailer cable went right up under the floor and into an electrical box under the bed and next to the black water tank.

accessing this required removing one or more plywood sheet from the bed top.

(you can just see the edge of this junction box under the headof the bed, obscured by the cross beam.

 

[Ron in BC]

Some of us can get our head and arm through the hatch.

Yes, Gen 1 wiring was like that which I considered a stepup from my Scamp. They didn't bother with a junction box. Just a mass of wires on the bottom of the closet.

If it is Gen 1 and more difficult to access for the OP I'd say go buy a set of boat trailer lights and be on your way. It'd be a shame to loose valuable trailer days.

Ron

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I recently replaced my trailer cord/plug, I cut it off at the frame outside and mounted a conventional 7 blade junction box just behind the propane bottles. I did NOT mess with the inside wiring shown above, that picture was from previous exploration where I was running separate power for the trailer emergency brake cutoff switch.

 

[Ron in BC]

Some folks that routinely park in places like truck stops have made up a little jumper for the 7 pin connector. They leave the trailer running lights on. Probably the easiest and quickest way to find out in which, if any, of the trailer circuits are the problem

An inline fuse assembly would make a quick test jumper.

Ron

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

Some folks that routinely park in places like truck stops have made up a little jumper for the 7 pin connector. They leave the trailer running lights on. Probably the easiest and quickest way to find out in which, if any, of the trailer circuits are the problem

An inline fuse assembly would make a quick test jumper.

Ron

that could be as simple as a SPST switch between pins 3 and 4 (usually brown and black), as long as you A, don't have a DC-DC *or* B, your tow vehicle leaves the trailer power on all the time (Dodge's do, Ford and Toyota does not). You could mount a waterproof toggle switch on the lid of the trailer junction box.