Surfside Wiring

[Kevin W]

Hi,

I have the wiring on the tongue of my trailer all pulled apart and cant figure out how to get the interior lights to work. When I bought my trailer it had both the flat 4 wire harness and a round 7 wire harness grafted into it. To say the least it was a real mess, and since I only added a 4 wire harness to my van, I figured that I would remove the 7 wire harness because its heavy and pulled all the wiring down to were I was afraid it would hit the road.

I have two black cable coming out of my trailer of different diameters. The larger one has 6 wires I believe and there is a sticker on the front of my trailer that explains what the different colours are for. The only thing is the sticker talks about a brown wire and the trailer has a yellow wire inside the bundle. There is also a smaller diameter black cable with a white and black wire inside. I have a battery mounted on the front of my trailer and some of the existing wiring had the crimped on circlular ends to attach to the battery posts under the wing nuts. The interior lights worked before.

So I took the 2 wire cable, added the end pieces and attached to the battery, no interior lights work. I have used my 12 volt tester and the battery has power and I have recharged the battery about 2 weeks ago and havent used it since.

So I have a few issues. Is the smaller cable for the interior lights? and why isnt it working?and for the exterior lights, can I connect the brown wire on the 4 wire connector to the yellow wire that is part of the 6 wire cable?

any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am not going to be near a computer all day Saturday, but I will be back on here to read any posts on Sunday.

thanks
Kevin

[Donna D.]

Can't help you Kevin, my setup is 7 pin.

BUT IF ANYONE can get this information in drawing form..I'd love to have it for our Document Center, we currently have both 7 pin tug and 7 pin trailer diagrams: Helpful-Links Wiring

[Dan Meyer]

Hi Kevin

How did you connect the wires to the battery? Black to negative? White to positive? If so, you probably attached it backwards. For some unknown reason, black is positive in many trailers. Don't worry, the only damage is probably a fuse someplace.

You can find a wiring diagram for Scamp in the owners manual I've put up on my web site. The diagram may also be found in the Fiberglass RV document center on the left side of your screen.

-- Dan Meyer

[bdiscount]

Since you know the battery wire connect one wire to the + side and see what lites mark the wire or write it down, continue 1 at a time till you know them all. Be sure the negative side of battery is to ground. The tail lites etc should be to the 4 prong plug. Good luck

Hi,

I have the wiring on the tongue of my trailer all pulled apart and cant figure out how to get the interior lights to work. When I bought my trailer it had both the flat 4 wire harness and a round 7 wire harness grafted into it. To say the least it was a real mess, and since I only added a 4 wire harness to my van, I figured that I would remove the 7 wire harness because its heavy and pulled all the wiring down to were I was afraid it would hit the road.

I have two black cable coming out of my trailer of different diameters. The larger one has 6 wires I believe and there is a sticker on the front of my trailer that explains what the different colours are for. The only thing is the sticker talks about a brown wire and the trailer has a yellow wire inside the bundle. There is also a smaller diameter black cable with a white and black wire inside. I have a battery mounted on the front of my trailer and some of the existing wiring had the crimped on circlular ends to attach to the battery posts under the wing nuts. The interior lights worked before.

So I took the 2 wire cable, added the end pieces and attached to the battery, no interior lights work. I have used my 12 volt tester and the battery has power and I have recharged the battery about 2 weeks ago and havent used it since.

So I have a few issues. Is the smaller cable for the interior lights? and why isnt it working?and for the exterior lights, can I connect the brown wire on the 4 wire connector to the yellow wire that is part of the 6 wire cable?

any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am not going to be near a computer all day Saturday, but I will be back on here to read any posts on Sunday.

thanks
Kevin

[Frederick L. Simson]

Hi Kevin

How did you connect the wires to the battery? Black to negative? White to positive? If so, you probably attached it backwards. For some unknown reason, black is positive in many trailers. Don't worry, the only damage is probably a fuse someplace.

You can find a wiring diagram for Scamp in the owners manual I've put up on my web site. The diagram may also be found in the Fiberglass RV document center on the left side of your screen.

-- Dan Meyer

I think Dan has the most probable explanation for your interior lights not working.

If you are missing a brown wire, and instead see a yellow wire, my first impression is that I have had experience with some standard 6 wire cables in that configuration: Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Black, White. This is a standard color code for cabling the low voltage signal wiring to a digital display truck scale. Your trailer manufacturer, or a previous owner, might have substituted this type since the only difference would be the brown/yellow discrepancy.

BUT, there is also a slight discrepancy in the color code between 7-pin round & 4-pin flat:

color----------4-pin flat--------------7-pin round

white----------ground----------------ground

brown---------running/clearance----right turn/brake

green---------right turn/brake-------running/clearance

yellow---------left turn/brake--------auxillary/back-up

red------------(missing)---------------left turn/brake

blue-----------(missing)---------------brake (controller)

black----------(missing)---------------charge line (House Battery Positive)

[Kevin W]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been out of town and haven't had an opportunity to get back at the wiring since Friday. I did peak into the trailer Saturday morning on my way out and saw that the switch was on "inverter" and not on "battery" I hope that this solves at least part of my problem. I feel like such a bonehead I am back at work tonight and will flip the switch back to battery tomorrow and reconnect the wiring and see if the light comes on in the trailer and in my head