Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Boat trailer lights never work.

I hope a new set of bulbs fix them!

I always unplugged mine before backing into the water. Helped some. miles

That can save a fuse in the prime mover, pickup.
Neglect is likely the culprit here.

Is Vaseline a good lube to stave off corrosion?

I've used a dab of silicone dielectric grease on trailer bulbs in the past. It keeps the bulbs from corroding in the socket and difficult to remove when they eventually fail in the cheap taillights used on most trailers. A worthwhile upgrade would be to swap them out for a set of LED taillights if you plan on keeping the trailer for any length of time, especially if it's a boat trailer. No need to unhook your lights to launch the boat as LED's are sealed and don't generate much heat to cause problems when hitting cold lake water, which is the downfall of conventional bulbs.

Most of my trailer problems over the years have involved corroded pigtail connectors. It's usually a bi-annual event to replace either the trailer end or the vehicle end on one of my trailers. I always solder new pigtails in place as it eliminate one more area for corrosion and an short creating more taillight problems down the road.

Swap to LED lights and forget the problems, My LED lights went 6 years with weekly trips and never missed a beat. My original lights failed every 6 months or so.

The sealed LED units are the only way to go for me.

Another vote for LED's. They cost more up front, but last longer than conventional lights. I've been replacing lights on my saltwater trailer every two years, finally got a set of LED's and just need to install them. I'm also going to run new wire as salt seems to corrode the copper right through the insulation.

My experience mirrors Walt's particularly on switching to LEDs. Silicone dielectric grease on the plug helps too as does WD-40 or I suppose even bearing grease. I have an old cut off plug I use on the truck side to keep the crud out particularly during the off season. That's with the flat connector. Seems to extend the life some.