Backup lights on trailer

[Carol H]

Bob, as Darral has shown Scamp changed their wiring harness set up about 4 years or so back to how he has shown in his photo link.

Attached is a PDF of the page from the Scamp manual for my 92 and its the same as the manual they use to have for downloading off there website up until they made the change. The PDF shows how they use to do the 6 and 7 pin harnesses wires.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Ok so I figured it out! LOL This is how my truck is wired up - although its not a round pin its a seven blade and its a perfect match to how Scamp also did their 7 pin connection for years (as per their manual) & how my connection is wired up though its a blade type on my trailer - although I understand that in VERY recent years (last 4 or less) Scamp changed it to be more as you have noted the Standard 7 pin to be.

I have had work trucks wired with this connector, for use with commercial trailers. I have never seen one used on an RV before. So, Scamp never used to use the RV standard 7-pin flat plug until 4 years ago? I know every RV trailer I have had for the last 25 years has.

Did your truck come stock from the factory with this connector? I have never seen this before, it was always added afterwards. I actually have a pigtail I made up to go from the 7-pin round, to the 7-pin flat, from when I used to do commercial construction, so i could tow my trailer with my work truck. Haven't needed it for 20 years now though.

[mary and bob]

Interesting info. Carol thanks for link, but it's not the same as the previous photo you posted which shows a heavy truck / tractor trailer plug that has two pins for tail and marker lights. I was curious about how Scamp did their wiring because my Uhaul did indeed have two separate marker light circuits. But of course Uhaul did not have any standard plug on their campers. Lights were hooked up to the tow vehicle using a connector similar to the Scotch Lock's or the Tap-a-Light bulbs. I'll make a note of the wiring change in case I ever have to work on one of the older Scamps.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Interesting info. Carol thanks for link, but it's not the same as the previous photo you posted which shows a heavy truck / tractor trailer plug that has two pins for tail and marker lights. I was curious about how Scamp did their wiring because my Uhaul did indeed have two separate marker light circuits. But of course Uhaul did not have any standard plug on their campers. Lights were hooked up to the tow vehicle using a connector similar to the Scotch Lock's or the Tap-a-Light bulbs. I'll make a note of the wiring change in case I ever have to work on one of the older Scamps.

Bob, your correct it is a bit different. Scamp used only one line for the marker lights but they also used for years an all in one tailing light that had no back up for years. On the 7 pin - that left the Yellow line unused for adding a future Back Up Light or a Foreign Stop.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

I have had work trucks wired with this connector, for use with commercial trailers. I have never seen one used on an RV before. So, Scamp never used to use the RV standard 7-pin flat plug until 4 years ago? I know every RV trailer I have had for the last 25 years has.

Did your truck come stock from the factory with this connector? I have never seen this before, it was always added afterwards. I actually have a pigtail I made up to go from the 7-pin round, to the 7-pin flat, from when I used to do commercial construction, so i could tow my trailer with my work truck. Haven't needed it for 20 years now though.

Jim I can not say with certainty when Scamp switched their wiring harness set up to the more traditional RV standard you are familiar with. Its simply my guess that it was within the last 5 years for a couple of reasons. A few people have recently mentioned here that Scamp no longer uses the centre pin for the blue brake line - as I recall those who have mentioned it appear to have 2010 or newer trailers. Secondly the PDF wiring harness diagram I posted is the same as the one in the original 1992 manual that came with my Scamp as well as the online manual they had on their web site up until a few years ago. Scamp switched a few years ago to the new video interactive manual on line and the wiring diagram is now different. Floyd is great at knowing all things Scamp, so he probable knows better than I when the wiring change was actually made.

As far as my trucks set up goes - it did come from the factory with the full tow package and wiring per the detailed option sheet included with it and all the parts & install are factory - nice and neat. BUT the truck was 2 years old when I got it so it is possible the previous owner had the wiring switched around for his own set up although I would be surprised if he changed it as all he pulled was a small boat and used a 4 pin adapter for that, which they included with the truck. So what if anything was actually changed on the truck side after it left the factory I can not say with certainty. Just happy it was all neat and tidy and plug and play with my Scamp, including the brake controller.

I do know though that when I took the Subaru in to have the seven pin harness added to the factory 4 pin and a brake & charge lines run for the Scamp I showed the installer the Scamps wiring harness diagram and the party doing the set up took one quick glance at it and said ok and handed it back to me - never looked at it again while doing the wiring. When I got the car home and plugged in the trailer, it all worked as it should. So I am assuming it was something the installer had seen many times before.

[WDavidG]

This discussion has me re-thinking the potential of "back-up" lights. I like Floyd's idea of some bright down/side lighting for backing into a site in the dark. I'm not an expert on electrical, but wouldn't an inexpensive remote operated from in the TV avoid much of the wiring hassle? You could just wire the driving lamps to the panel in the trailer via a remotely controlled relay. Quick search on Amazon located this as an example: "Logisys RM02 12V 15AMP Relay Kit with Two Remote Controls" Would this work?

[Radar1]

My 2005 Scamp has the center pin used for the standard backup lights, same as the diagram Darral posted. So, they've used that configuration at least that long.