Blowing fuses

[DebbieDB]

Everytime we connect the lights in our Scamp it blows the fuse in our car and we lose tail lights on it and the trailer. We still have turn signals and brake lights. If we unhook and replace the fuse it works again but the second we reconnect the trailer we blow the fuse. We bought the trailer new last April and this didn't happen until several months later. Any ideas?

[Darrell in Al]

A wild guess is a short grounding out or too much of a load on circuit.. possibly if newer vehicle with the canbus wiring plus colder weather. I fried a vehicle power port outlet with a 12 volt fan/ heater.
I'm shooting in the dark on it. IE: wild guess.

[DebbieDB]

Thanks Darrell, I was thinking a short in the connector. I wondered if this was common. I find it odd that the brake lights and turn signals work but not the tail lights.

[mary and bob]

Another rare occurrence, but I have had a tail light bulb short internally due to a broken filament. Another idea, wire problem in the plug if you have the 7 pin plug. Sounds like a short that you will have to locate, check bulbs and sockets, wiring anywhere you can see it. Shorts can sometimes be difficult to locate.

[Eddie Longest]

Pretty much what Bob suggested but just a little more detail.
The side marker and taillights (running lights) are on the same but different circuit than the turn/brake lights. The Scamp wire color code is green for the running light wire. You have a short in your running light circuit. The most abuse is at the 7 pin plug , I would check this first, remove the green wire and reconnect the plug if it does not blow the fuse then it is a wiring or light bulb issue. Next remove the running and taillight covers and remove the bulbs and check for a short in the fixtures and bulbs then check the wiring with a meter. If there is still a short start tracing out the green wire and check for a shorted wire.
The Scamp website Owners Manual will give you the 7 pin wiring configuration and the wiring color code.
Eddie

[Raz]

From what you are saying the car and trailer worked fine at one point and now you have the problem. As Eddie suggests, this sounds like a fault in the trailer running light circuit, not the car. Since your trailer is less than a year old I would suggest you call Scamp. It seems they should cover it under warranty. If you had the car wired locally, I would take it there, but any auto technician should be able to troubleshoot the fault. If you choose to deal with it yourself you will need a multimeter. Good luck, Raz

[Jack L]

Lets see. Everything was fine for months and now you have a short somewhere in your trailer. Has anything been changed since you used the trailer ? Did you do anything that might have caused a wire to get pinched or a light socket to get damaged ? Did you change any lamps (light bulbs) ? Did anyone work on anything electrical. Those areas are where I would start looking. It's pretty easy to cause a short especially in the running lights if someone worked on or damaged them.

I had a similar problem and it was a bent connector in one of the running lights.

[stevebaz]

When I had this issue it was the tail light converter added to the car to convert the tailight wiring of the car to the compatable wiring for the trailer. Get a test plug for the car wiring to isolate the issue from the car or the trailer.
etrailer.com - Products trailer tester

[DebbieDB]

Thanks for all your replies! Will try the fixes you all listed.

[Darrell in Al]

Sorry if my response was flippant.. my phone has just updated and now it auto corrects and won't let me use smiley icons. I'll need to remember how to use the punctuate for the icons.