We have a small camp trailer that we pull with our Toyota Highlander. I recently pulled it 600 miles with no problems. Then last week the trailer brakes quit working. The controller gave me an OL light which means a short in the system somewhere. I tried the trailer on the pickup and it worked ok. I then plugged a different trailer into the Toyota and got the OL light. That pretty well narrows it down to the wiring in the car.
I went over it repeatedly and couldn't find any shorts between the controller and the light plug. I finally ran new heavier power and ground wires the whole way. Same problem. The plug was new this spring, Hopkins brand. It took a bunch of time with a multimeter but I found that it was shorting inside the plug. It's a factory defect that sent the power from the brakes to the right turn lights. I had another new in the box Hopkins plug so I swapped it for a new one. Same problem. Hair tearing time. What are the odds of getting 2 factory defective plugs at the same time, but that's what I had.
I had yet another Hopkins plug that was in good shape. This one wasn't new but it was a more expensive type with the wires molded in so no screws are involved. It's just attaching the car wires to the plug pigtails. This time it's working again.
I wasted many hours tracking the dang thing down. The problem is that the blades in the plug wear through the rubber between them and the 2d one I tried was broken through from the factory. Hopkins is pretty low on my recommended company list right now.
What are the odds of getting 2 factory defective plugs at the same time, but that's what I had.
Is the package stamped "Made in China"?
Have you tried to find anything of this type that ISN'T made in China?
What are the odds of getting 2 factory defective plugs at the same time, but that's what I had.
Is the package stamped "Made in China"?
Hopkins could be an alias for Hop Sing.
Have you tried to find anything of this type that ISN'T made in China?
I haven't looked.
Nor am I suggesting there is an alternative, just that the country of manufacture explains the defect rate. That and Hopkins' decision to compete exclusively on price. Sometimes there is no choice but to accept the likelihood of getting chinked. Many such cases.
Reason number 806 why I hate China.
As if trailer wiring isn’t fugged enough
Right after man invented the wheel, he invented the trailer,
He's been trying to keep the lights working ever since.
"You've got a bad ground."
"You've got a bad ground."
That's usually the case but I ran a 12g wire directly from the plug to the battery. The problem was that it was shorting across from the brake wire to the right turn wire, inside the plug.
Thursday on the way home from work I followed a brand new trailer- literally right out of the manufacturers lot - that had the right hand turn/brake light not working. Of course it didn't have to be a trailer problem, could have been the truck or connection. Surprised that the person pulling it hadn't checked the lights before they left with it.
Right after man invented the wheel, he invented the trailer,
He's been trying to keep the lights working ever since.
"You've got a bad ground."
LOL
We have a small camp trailer that we pull with our Toyota Highlander. I recently pulled it 600 miles with no problems. Then last week the trailer brakes quit working. The controller gave me an OL light which means a short in the system somewhere. I tried the trailer on the pickup and it worked ok. I then plugged a different trailer into the Toyota and got the OL light. That pretty well narrows it down to the wiring in the car.
I went over it repeatedly and couldn't find any shorts between the controller and the light plug. I finally ran new heavier power and ground wires the whole way. Same problem. The plug was new this spring, Hopkins brand. It took a bunch of time with a multimeter but I found that it was shorting inside the plug. It's a factory defect that sent the power from the brakes to the right turn lights. I had another new in the box Hopkins plug so I swapped it for a new one. Same problem. Hair tearing time. What are the odds of getting 2 factory defective plugs at the same time, but that's what I had.
I had yet another Hopkins plug that was in good shape. This one wasn't new but it was a more expensive type with the wires molded in so no screws are involved. It's just attaching the car wires to the plug pigtails. This time it's working again.
I wasted many hours tracking the dang thing down. The problem is that the blades in the plug wear through the rubber between them and the 2d one I tried was broken through from the factory. Hopkins is pretty low on my recommended company list right now.
Move to Montana, no one up here has any trailer lights working at all and no one seems to care…
The odds of two new plugs not working?
Better than you might think if purchased at the same time.
If new and not working? It's either a defect in components,
Or assembly. If both were made at the same time...?
NEW= Never Ever Worked
I asked my mechanically challenged buddy to check the turn signals on my trailer. I told him I turned on the left signal and asked him if it was working. He replied, “ now it is, now it isn’t, now it is, now it isn’t.” 😆
Did you check the fuses? I know it sounds silly but I've had some funky stuff happen with trailers and the most frustrating was due to partially blown fuses, or fuses that were bad but didn't show it. Symptoms don't quite fit but neither did mine when it happened
One day God got angry with man, so He created trailer wiring.
Sure, it would beat the idiots that are coming here from California…
Must be a lot of people from Louisiana done moved to Montana Shrap.
Go into an auto parts store looking for trailer light bulbs and they look at you like you're crazy.
Have you checked the blinker fluid? Sorry, it's Saturday. Grounds, grounds, grounds Gramps used to say. I despise trailer wiring. You can start over with everything brand new, and still end up swearing.
21 out of 19 trailer light problems are a bad ground.
Have a shared, wired ground for every light. Don't use the trailer frame for any ground.
Bruce
Yes, ground, ground, ground.
Yes, ground, ground, ground.
A short inside the connector is a ground problem?
I never bothered to run with functioning trailer lights. They were busted out or wires dragged off the first couple of job sites the trailer got set up on.
I quit caring. If you’re dumb enough to tailgate me hauling cordwood or tear-off shingles, then you’ll earn an easy life lesson.
Right after man invented the wheel, he invented the trailer,
He's been trying to keep the lights working ever since.
"You've got a bad ground."
LOL
I appreciate the fact that you always can read between the lines.
Right after man invented the wheel, he invented the trailer,
He's been trying to keep the lights working ever since.
Someone been rereading an old McManus story? Those were great.