'86 Cadet

[Jeremy G]

Just got this trailer. There many be a problem with the wiring.(ie. note saying to connect positive lead to negative pole on battery.)

[Dan Quinn]

please explain and some pictures to

[Gina D.]

A Cadet! Lucky you! Congrats.. pics pics pics!

I would, or have someone else if you are not familiar with it, go thru the wiring head to toe. I bought a car once that had this exact problem. The red lead was actually the negative lead and black the positive, because someone down the owner tree got it wrong. It didn't make any difference, the battery is colorblind, but it sure caused some confusion. Everything was connected correctly for the electrical path, but the colors were inversed.

I had it gone thru completely because if someone did something that bonehead, you wondered what was back in the chain that was wierd. Oddly enough, all was correct.

Did the former owner say why it was like that? Maybe thats the way they do it in Poland?

[Jeremy G]

I'll take sum with my cell phone(see if they look alright), still waiting for the one we ordered to come in. Part of the problem is that we got it from my girlfriend's dad(lives in Medicine Hat), who pick it up at his brothers(lives in Calgary), who bought it in Calgary. And we live in Medicine Hat. Things might of got lost or mixed up in the transfer of info. At this time the trailer to tow connection has been cut off, while the brothers tried to get light to work for its trip to the Hat. Current plan is to wire it to a seven way connectors both the trailer and tug.

[Roger H]

Six volt positive ground perhaps? I had a 1950 Ford 1/2 ton pickup that was 6v +ground with a generator when I was in high school. I'm not a very bright guy, and 12v -ground is difficult enough for me. Fortunately I had no electrical issues with the truck while I had it or I would have been up a creek!

Roger

[Gina D.]

Six volt positive ground perhaps?

Good thought. I kinda doubt it with an 86 tho.

It's a Polish trailer, and it may have that if designed for Polish cars.. who may still have a 6 volt system???

Don't know.. just a stab/guess.

[Joe MacDonald]

could be they fell into the wiring colour trap. On most trailers white is negative, black is positive, not the usual automotive black is negative

[Jeremy G]

This is what I found when looking at the wiring last night.
Main wires were cut and spliced together at the floor.
Had two wire coming from battery positive(ie. orange and yellow)
Two wires from battery negative one into trailer other to frame.(ie. black and red battery cable.)
Inside the yellow from battery connected to black to trailer plug.
Orange wire runs to fridge and furn. as positive, thru a house light switch(120v light switch).
Black from battery neg runs to fridge and furn. as negative.
At the splice the white is attached to a another white and a green wire the runs to the frame outside.
a smaller black wire inside is attached to the orange wire before the switch.
the rest are attached to red to red, green to green, brown to brown.
there was two small blue wires that run from a switch that I think went to a water pump but were melted(coating in serverly spots) and burned at one end.

Here's sum pics.


[attachment=3203:attachm
ent]

[Brian B-P]

...Two wires from battery negative one into trailer other to frame.(ie. black and red battery cable.)...

According to earlier discusssions in this forum, unlike automobiles, trailer frames are not normally connected to the battery "ground" (negative) teminal; however, the ground for the AC power system is.

...Had two wire coming from battery positive(ie. orange and yellow)
...
Inside the yellow from battery connected to black to trailer plug.
Orange wire runs to fridge and furn. as positive, thru a house light switch(120v light switch).
...

While the orange and yellow colour choices are pretty funky, the wiring logic looks right to me - black in the towing plug is positive supply from the tow battery. The 120VAC switch is probably fine in DC service at the lower voltage if the current is low enough, but a real DC switch would seem like a better idea to me. DC contacts are more difficult to break, so a switch intended for AC may not be suitable for DC.

...a smaller black wire inside is attached to the orange wire before the switch...

That's scary: the same colour (black) is being used for negative in most cases but positive in this case (presumably to supply something that doesn't get turned off by the switch). I see this as a source for later confusion.

Overall, it sounds to me (but I'm in no position to judge) like this setup would work okay, but I would want to re-wire everything to typical trailer colour coding standards for sanity, and I'd ditch the negative connection to the frame.

[Jeremy G]

Forgot to mention the small black wire supplies power to the interior lights (2 of them)

The re-wire everthing well be in the plans if there's more problems or if a major mod comes around

Thanks for the replies

[Jeremy G]

Does anyone have some information on standard and option with a this trailer?

[Lorraine K]

I know nothing about wiring, but am including this because I have an '86 Captain (manufactured by the same company in Poland). You seem to have a smorgasbord of coloured wire. The only electrical inside mine are lights and fridge so this may be useless to you, but I'm including it just in case. Not much info came with mine, except for a page that says: "12 volt electrical installation - Colour Code:

White = Ground
Green = Running Lights
Black = Inside Lights
Red = Left Signal Lights
Brown = Right Signal Lights
Blue = not connected
Central = 14 gauge (thicker) black wire for the fridge.

[Victor Benz]

According to earlier discusssions in this forum, unlike automobiles, trailer frames are not normally connected to the battery "ground" (negative) teminal; however, the ground for the AC power system is.

Brian;

I respectfully disagree on this point. All the travel trailers I have had came factory equipped with the negative pole of the trailer battery grounded to the frame. All the trailers also charged the trailer battery using the tow vehicle's alternator.

Victor

[Jeremy G]

I know nothing about wiring, but am including this because I have an '86 Captain (manufactured by the same company in Poland). You seem to have a smorgasbord of coloured wire. The only electrical inside mine are lights and fridge so this may be useless to you, but I'm including it just in case. Not much info came with mine, except for a page that says: "12 volt electrical installation - Colour Code:

White = Ground
Green = Running Lights
Black = Inside Lights
Red = Left Signal Lights
Brown = Right Signal Lights
Blue = not connected
Central = 14 gauge (thicker) black wire for the fridge.

thanks for the info Lorraine K

[Brian B-P]

...I respectfully disagree on this point. All the travel trailers I have had came factory equipped with the negative pole of the trailer battery grounded to the frame. All the trailers also charged the trailer battery using the tow vehicle's alternator...

Well, we all learn something every day, if we are lucky...
My Boler doesn't have the DC system connected to the frame, and my understanding of the typical trailer situation is from the discussions in this forum in connection with both running lights and generators from other members; however, with more members comes more information, and I appreciate the correction.

When connected to the tow vehicle, the trailer and tug frames will be somewhat connected electrically through the ball and coupler, but this is clearly not a connection which we want to depend on, so the charging current from the tow vehicle's alternator should still be returning by the negative (normally white) wire (even though the frame ground would work as well). If power is coming into the trailer from somewhere else, it is normally as AC, and the tug is not hooked up, so the grounding situation is quite different.

I'm planning to leave my Boler as-is (AC protective ground to frame, DC isolated from frame), but I don't have any argument with an alternate design - just noting what was mentioned in the past.

[justbabs]

Flying Monkeys indeed, Gina!

Hi! I have a little 13' Cadet too, so I appreciate your congratulations. Thanks, but now I need info!!!! Who made my "Lil Darlin'?" How do I get Manufacturer info on my baby? Parts? Specs? Any help or info GRATEFULLY accepted! She's a sweetheart--and sooo well kept. Brought her home to Columbus, OH from Lafontaine, ON

Talk to me people,
Babs

A Cadet! Lucky you! Congrats.. pics pics pics!

I would, or have someone else if you are not familiar with it, go thru the wiring head to toe. I bought a car once that had this exact problem. The red lead was actually the negative lead and black the positive, because someone down the owner tree got it wrong. It didn't make any difference, the battery is colorblind, but it sure caused some confusion. Everything was connected correctly for the electrical path, but the colors were inversed.

I had it gone thru completely because if someone did something that bonehead, you wondered what was back in the chain that was wierd. Oddly enough, all was correct.

Did the former owner say why it was like that? Maybe thats the way they do it in Poland?

[Martin in Fonthill]

Hi Gina, this trailer is still being made but under a different name. I can send you a link to a dealer site ( in dutch) after work tonight
Martin

[Benita]

Flying Monkeys indeed, Gina!

Hi! I have a little 13' Cadet too, so I appreciate your congratulations. Thanks, but now I need info!!!! Who made my "Lil Darlin'?" How do I get Manufacturer info on my baby? Parts? Specs? Any help or info GRATEFULLY accepted! She's a sweetheart--and sooo well kept. Brought her home to Columbus, OH from Lafontaine, ON

Talk to me people,
Babs

The Cadet is a Polish import to Canada. It is actually a Predoml trailer. Try clicking on the "Search" button at the top of the forum and entering your keywords. Here is one search result using the keyword "Polish".

Predom/Cadet/Captain Search

[Andrew Gibbens]

This German site has current (English) info on the trailer: Mini-Caravan. You need to select the N-126E, N-126ET or N-126D models to get the same bodyshell as the Cadet.

Andrew

[Jeremy G]

Thanks for the links I see that mine is model N-126D.