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Old 08-10-2013, 01:03 PM   #1
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Name: Judi
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Serious question on trailer brake lights.

Just bought my scamp 16 foot 2005 used and drove it home yesterday. It's great! The problem is when I got it home and hooked it up this morning the trailer lights brakes suddenly didn't work. Any ideas why? When I left yesterday I connected them up and they worked fine. I've tried disconnecting from the car attachment and reconnecting to make sure it's salads and that didn't work. The light on the installed brake light inside the car for the trailer works fine and gives me the difference speeds of 10 15 or 20. Still no lights in the back break or emergency or left right turn. Inside lights work in trailer work. Any suggestions? Back to hitch installer? All wiring seems good into the wheels. Only thing that happened was driving back on the interstate the right tire on the trailer had explosion of the tire and I had to put the spare on. Appreciate suggestions. Courageous Indiana woman getting ready for a Six week road trip.
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Old 08-10-2013, 01:29 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Infogypsy View Post
Just bought my scamp 16 foot 2005 used and drove it home yesterday. It's great! The problem is when I got it home and hooked it up this morning the trailer lights brakes suddenly didn't work. Any ideas why? When I left yesterday I connected them up and they worked fine. I've tried disconnecting from the car attachment and reconnecting to make sure it's salads and that didn't work. The light on the installed brake light inside the car for the trailer works fine and gives me the difference speeds of 10 15 or 20. Still no lights in the back break or emergency or left right turn. Inside lights work in trailer work. Any suggestions? Back to hitch installer? All wiring seems good into the wheels. Only thing that happened was driving back on the interstate the right tire on the trailer had explosion of the tire and I had to put the spare on. Appreciate suggestions. Courageous Indiana woman getting ready for a Six week road trip.
...When it comes to..analysis of elctrical circuitry, one could use the term of...SEEMS TO BE...or GUESS, DOUBT... But when it comes to repair and pin-point the problem, it must be...THE READING NUMBERS FROM TESTING EQUIPMENTS. IMO, I guess you need to inspect your trailer receiver harness with accurate readings,-no guess- it's ground/frame connection...then light bulbs themselves/their fuses it applicable...Just my thought..
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Old 08-10-2013, 01:40 PM   #3
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Thanks. Will start with hitch and then receiver and move thru other stuff.
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Old 08-10-2013, 02:28 PM   #4
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did the exploding tire take out some wires. Maybe caused a short and blew some fuses. The wires to the brakes are right there by the wheel.
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Old 08-10-2013, 02:41 PM   #5
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I had that thought. it happened early in my first drive back of six hours with my new little Scamp. I shudder to think I drive six of my 8 hour drive with no lights at all on Scamp! Didn't do a walk around at every stop, only at start of trip. Good lesson. I did have a thought when they replaced the burst tire with new one by local tire people, it could have disrupted wiring to brakes. Will see about having that checked. Or even during the blow out. Thanks for reaffirming my original thought.
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Old 08-10-2013, 02:42 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by Infogypsy
All wiring seems good into the wheels
Sound like there's juice to the magnets.

jack
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Old 08-10-2013, 02:51 PM   #7
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Just to add to the data base.... Did you happen to note the age of the tire that failed? If the other one is still there it's usually about the same age. Please check the mfg dates and let us know what you find.

Othere than that, when a tire fails it can throw all kinds of shrapnel and damage everything from wires to plumbing & gas lines to holding tanks. A good under chassis inspection may point to the cause of the problem.



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Old 08-10-2013, 02:54 PM   #8
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Brake lites don't work

Yes - the tire people said to buy new tires for all three tires as it's 2005 and if not used often which this beautiful little Scamp was not, and it has only been on short trips, (I took it on my 8 hour trip home on interstates) that I need all new tires. I am already checking where to get those tires in town. Do you know the size of the tires and # of lug nuts for the Scamp 16 ft.?
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Old 08-10-2013, 02:54 PM   #9
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Take the bulbs out and clean them , apply a little dielectric grease and reinstall. While you are in there clean the ground connection to the socket.
The taillight wiring is inside the trailer, down the left side.
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Old 08-10-2013, 03:02 PM   #10
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A common source of intermittent trailer light operation is a poor ground between the tow vehicle and the trailer. If the ground is only through the hitch, it can work, then not work .

Check that the tail lights on the trailer have a good ground connection to the tow vehicle.
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Old 08-10-2013, 03:14 PM   #11
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Tail lite issue

Can someone tell me:

Who would I get to check under side of scamp and where and how do I check for good grounding.
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Old 08-10-2013, 03:31 PM   #12
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Now I'm getting the idea that there was NOT a check to see if wiring into the break plates was intact, in which case that should be checked, at least on the side of the blowout.

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Old 08-10-2013, 03:39 PM   #13
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As Scamps have used two or three different tire sizes over the years I suggest that you check the size tha'ts on there and left us know. Someone will know if that's an appropriate size. If the spare looks new it's probably original and would be a good indicator.



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Old 08-10-2013, 03:43 PM   #14
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Can someone tell me:

Who would I get to check under side of scamp and where and how do I check for good grounding.
If you run a long piece of wire from the tow vehicle ground directly to the trailer light ground and the lights work, you know that you have a poor ground. You then need to work your way back to the tow vehicle checking the ground connections. These connections are frequently made to the frame and each connection is subject to corrosion, fraying or breaking.
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Old 08-10-2013, 03:48 PM   #15
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Can someone tell me:

Who would I get to check under side of scamp and where and how do I check for good grounding.
jumper cables or a piece of wire bare on each end or preferably with alligator clips on the ends, touch one end of wire to clean bare spot on trailer frame, other to clean spot on car hitch or frame, that should confirm good ground. I have a few test wires of various lengths with alligator clips on them always in my tool boxes. have even run a long wire directly to ground on light to diagnose a ground problem. Auto parts store should have a bulb socket brush to clean socket and contacts, KD tools #139 is one. Be sure lights are off when using it or you'll cause a short right there, you can even use it to clean the bulb base. Everyone should carry one of those plus a simple test light and extra bulbs and fuses. Anyone that does mechanical work or trailer work should be able to inspect the underside. Exploding tire can do a lot of damage.
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Old 08-10-2013, 04:07 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Infogypsy View Post
Can someone tell me:

Who would I get to check under side of scamp and where and how do I check for good grounding.
There is no DOT lighting wiring under a Scamp. The only wiring usually underneath a Scamp is for brake actuation,and not lighting.
As for physical damage...any competent layman with handyman skill level 3 or above should be able to detect any.
I live in Illannoy just 50 miles from lndiana, off of I-80 contact me direct if you need help.
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Old 08-10-2013, 05:48 PM   #17
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Floyd, if the blown tire took out the brake wiring, is it possible that a short there could blow a fuse in the turn or brake light circuit? I assume that when the tire blew the brakes on the tow vehicle were used to stop, therefore power would have been in the stop light and trailer brake circuits for a short period of time. A member on the tnttt forum had a tire blow on some old sticky trailer, maybe a Scotty, or something similar, and it went right through the wheel well and beat up some of the camper interior. I'm still thinking the blown tire caused the light problem, but I could be wrong. Like the rest of us, without seeing the trailer, it's guesswork.
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Old 08-10-2013, 06:19 PM   #18
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Sorry. I'm female and 69 and until right brained. What's the vehicle ground? Is it a spot on vehicle or an invisible place where electricity goes? Or ? Once I learn all this I will be a master.
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Old 08-10-2013, 07:30 PM   #19
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On 12 volt systems you have a positive and a negative terminal on the battery. Modern vehicles use the negative as the ground. So with a simple light you have power from the positive terminal of the battery going to the contact on the base of the light bulb. The side of the bulb is "grounded" back to the negative side of the battery. This ground circuit could be a wire right back to the battery, but many times with a car or trailer the vehicle frame acts as the ground circuit. So in this case assume the trailer bulb socket has a ground wire that goes to the trailer frame. The car has a ground terminal in the plug that most likely attaches by a wire to the car body or frame, and the battery negative terminal also connects to the body. So now if all these connections are tight and clean we have a good continuos ground circuit. But if there is a bad connection somewhere, lights will act in weird ways that make no sense at all, one typical thing is with a turn light on and tail light on the marker lights may faintly blink. Lights may not work at all. As previously mentioned sometimes a ground wire is not used in the plug and the ground circuit must go through the trailer coupler and ball, and that doesn't always provide a good enough connection. Therefore my previous description of running a test ground wire to see if this is the problem. Does any of this make sense or clarify it for you. Someone else may explain it better.
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Old 08-10-2013, 07:41 PM   #20
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Get it now. Thanks. I am feeling rather depressed tonight over my beautiful Scamp not usable without any brake lights or turn signals. Even getting it to a trailer repair is going to be a problem, although I probably drove home 300 miles without any braking or turn lights on trailer. It seemed like it was braking fine though and the inside trailing braking indicator was working fine so perhaps it is an electrical problem. Not sure how to test grounding still but perhaps I can find a trailer place here in our rather small town and get a repair person to fix it without my trying to figure it out myself. Feeling rather sad about how much harder it is than I thought it would be. The trailer has been kept in great shape and the owner did a fabulous job of giving me instructions and making sure I was good. Just an unforeseen thing that the tire blew up and the back of trailer lights not working. The inside lights in trailer work fine - a different battery and all that I am sure. The back lights worked great before I started my 8 hour drive; I tested them all - right and turn, hazard, etc. Will call a trailer place on Monday and tow it in there. Thanks for all the support. I appreciate it.
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