I bought a trailer to pull behind my bus. It was a total wreck and I have put as much money into it as I paid for it.
The trailer is basically finished except a few wiring details. I decided to test the marker lights before reinstalling the plywood sidewalls. No go when I hooked up the brown wire and ground to a battery. I traced things back and discovered the green wire seemed to go to the marker lights. The marker lights, but not the tail lights, worked when I hooked up the green wire. Green is supposed to be for right turn, not marker/tail lights.
Doesn't anyone follow wiring standards? I will admit I used black wire to hook up the trailer brakes instead of blue as the color code designates. I didn't realize I would have to replace the wire due to corrosion and all I had is black wire, but I will mark it with blue tape. I ripped out all the wiring (except the brakes) and will replace it tomorrow after a trip to the store.
What are calling standard ever saw a bus with all white wires the NJT Eagle were
good luck
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And you think you got problems ;D this is going to be a real treat lol
Snip! Snip! Snip! Viola! ;)
picky picky
Naw Iam just waiting for the right moment to strike a match lol
Quote from: belfert on September 09, 2010, 07:10:48 PM
Green is supposed to be for right turn, not marker/tail lights.
Doesn't anyone follow wiring standards?
So while we are on the subject, excuse my ignorance: What are the proper colors for wiring the trailer?
Thanks in advance!
Dr. Steve
Hey Andy I'll match that one
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and raise you twice
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Quote from: XE1UFO on September 09, 2010, 11:28:16 PM
Quote from: belfert on September 09, 2010, 07:10:48 PM
Green is supposed to be for right turn, not marker/tail lights.
Doesn't anyone follow wiring standards?
So while we are on the subject, excuse my ignorance: What are the proper colors for wiring the trailer?
See http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx (http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx)
The important part is having the right wires connected to the right place on the plug. I guess the color of the wires on the trailer itself are not important as long as the plug is right. In my case, it was getting difficult to make sure all the lights worked when the wrong color code was used. I decided it is easer to just start over.
Quote from: belfert on September 10, 2010, 05:06:45 AM
See http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx (http://www.etrailer.com/faq-wiring.aspx)
Well, that's one of the best trailer wiring sites I've ever seen, but in all honesty, I don't think there is a "standard". This just happens to be the colors they use.
Besides, who had 7 different colors of wire in multiple gauges? You can buy multiwire cables, but even those don't necessarily match the colors in the chart shown.
Case in point: http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/WT703/TRAILER%20CABLE%20ABS%20GREEN%20JACKET/ (http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/WT703/TRAILER%20CABLE%20ABS%20GREEN%20JACKET/) and http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/WT701/TRAILER%20CABLE%207%20CONTACT/ (http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M50/WT701/TRAILER%20CABLE%207%20CONTACT/)
They're close, but there's no purple, and the chart doesn't show the most common color of all, black.
The best bet is to know how to trace a wire with a meter... or start over and pull new wire.
Suggest you label wires while you are in there, so you don't have to do it again in a few years.
Holy wire nut BatMan You win :o
The colors for the standard 4 way flat trailer connecter are very standard. The 7 way connector may not be as standard, but the 7 way plug with wire I bought at Northen Tool matches the colors from that website exactly. The second cable from Waytek has the right colors. The first cable is for trailers with ABS per the description.
What I am planning to do is to buy a 4 way trailer cable that is long enough. They are only 16 AWG instead of my preferred 14 AWG, but the trailer lights are all LED now. I will also label the cables at the junction box with my heat shrink labeler if I can find it. I only need to wire the lights. The brakes and battery connections are already done.
Brian, as I recall, you have towed before. If that is the case, you already have the 24V-12V and 4 light to 3 light converter. If not, you will need to get all that assembled or get one of Craig's systems.
Thanks for the great wiring link.
Jim
If it helps, this is the standard here:
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Usually the towing vehicle is fitted with two 7-pin sockets when it's used to tow a caravan - one is wired as above, while the other one is used to provide reversing lights (which aren't included on the standard socket), as well as provide circuits to charge the caravan battery, power the fridge etc. Because this is a bit of a fiddle there are now 13-pin 'Euro plugs' available, which combine the two
Jeremy
Jim,
Brian has a Dina! And they already use 12 V for the lights and such!
;D BK ;D
Yes, I have a converter from 4 light to 3 light. As Bryce mentioned, my bus is all 12 volt lighting so I am set there. I bought a standard Drawtite "heavy duty" converter, but I should really build my own with some relays. I already had one Drawtite converter malfunction just out of warranty.
Brian, I have never had good luck with the commercial 4 to 3 converters. That is why I made my own with relays. Wrote a how to do article with vendor information for BCM a while back. Easy to do and it uses very reliable mini ISO relays. Sean. Craig and Jack Conrad contributed to the article.
Jim
The irony of it all is the 7 way plug with cord I bought at Northern Tool doesn't follow any sort of standard color scheme. I had to use my multimeter in continuity mode to figure out what went where. I bought a trailer junction box to join everything together. Laying on my back under a trailer crimping on terminals is not my idea of fun.)
(The original junction box was a 2 gang metal box with a flat metal cover. Waterproof it was not!)
So, if I'm working on my bus wiring and discover 2" of badly corroded brown wire with purple, green and white stripes, I should drive 15 miles round trip to town to look for it!
Or I could look it up on the net and wait four or five days for it to arrive!
Or, I could just add a short piece or red wire and pretend it is brown! Heck, I could even wrap it with brown plastic tape.
I don't care what color wire anyone uses in their bus. There is no standard for that wiring generally.
There is no reason a well respected trailer manufacturer should not have at least followed the wiring standards for the tail lights, brake/turn signals, and ground. The colors for a 4 way trailer plug have been the same for years. I wouldn't have had enough wire of any color to finish the job so I drove five minutes and picked up a 25 foot chunk of trailer wire.
I will admit there are sections of wire that aren't the right color as I wasn't going to a buy rolls of each color just to go a few feet. In the end I should have just bought a 100 foot roll of some color and did the whole trailer that color.
I think the days of wiring things right went away when crimp connectors took the place of solder. You mention solder to people these days and most everyone just rolls their eyes. Sad how sloppy weve become with everything, we used to take a lot of pride in what we made.
I've seen so many corroded soldered connectors in my 4104 that I won't even think of using solder anymore.
I used to think it was the best, but no more.
I share your opinion...the 98 entertainer coach I am rebuilding. had 2 wire brown lamp cord(16 ga) for some 120 volt runs..this was suppose to be a professional converted coach! maybe I was expecting something more professional..It's all out now and will be put back correctly.made me suspect of their conversion process..Bob
Most people I know won't use solder in trailers or other vehicles as soldered joints can crack from the movement and vibration. A few diehards I know will still use solder, but they only do it because it is how they always have done it.
Personally, I use heat shrink crimp connectors (or Packard connectors) for all my low voltage DC stuff in vehicles. The multiwire connectors that connect one wire to two wires are not cheap, but they are less expensive than corrosion issues down the road. They do make heat shrink crimp connectors with solder in them if you still insist on using solder.
Im with Van!!! SNIP, SNIP,SNIP, SNIP. Then you spend the next 5-6 years to redo!! LOL
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