trailer wiring question. Grounding?

[lester]

So I searched the forum and didn't find this question. Anyways, I bought a new submersible LED light kit for a trailer I bought (didnt' have lights or wiring) and was putting it on. Anyways I got it to work just fine (haven't put it in the water yet), but was wondering, the lights are submersible, but what about the grounding (white) wires coming out of the LEDs? The wire for these is only about 6 inches long so I can only put it so far from the lights on the trailer and I suspect it will get wet/submerged in the current location. Does this mess up the grounding or will it blow a fuse..etc? Thanks, I don't know too much about electrical.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

Connect the short wire ( on each light) to the trailer ( right where the light bolts on) and do the same at the connector (near the hitch). It uses the trailer frame as the wire and won't hurt anything. It's just the ground ( and the only wire you can do this with.) If it really bothers you, you can splice in additional wire but it's not required.
Having said that, I was religious about disconnecting my trailer lights /power before wetting the trailer when my lights were down low. Not required but it helped leaky lights from burning/shorting out so fast.
Still, I used to burn/corrode out sets of "waterproof" lights every few years. Then I added some trailer guide-on's which( besides being worth their weight in gold for loading teh boat,) gave me a place to mount my lights high enough so they never got wet. Now, it's going on 10 years on the same bulbs!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

Normally the trailer frame is grounded via it's mechanical attachment to the car or truck frame, and the fourth wire on the trailer wire connector. i would think you will be fine if you make a solid connection from the LED ground to the frame. Alterantively, you can pull a ground wire from the connector to the lights.

 

[mthieme]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

I run mine all the way up. Connecting the ground to the rear of the trailer will rust up in no time.
Use a butt connector with silicone in each end and then heat shrink wrap it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

mthieme, i agree, i have been running a separate ground wire on all my trailers, for 25 years, only trouble i've had is a rare blown bulb.

 

[triumphrick]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

I agree with mthieme. My led trailer light kit came with an adhesive filled shrink wrap to cover the butt connectors. The heat gun for shrinking these is sold at harbor freight for only $10. This would be a good time to equip your shop with both the heat gun as well as some more of the shrink wrap, that way you will be equipped for all the rest of your boat and trailer electrical repairs!

 

[rainman240cs]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

I don't worry too much about where the ground connects, but I am religiuos about disconnecting the power prior to submersion. All those "submersible" light kits are false advertisers.

 

[mthieme]

Re: trailer wiring question. Grounding?

I've never had any problems with submersibles taking on water...unless of course they had a crack or something like that. I also put a dab of silicone where the wires go through the housing as a habit when new.
The last couple kits I bought were Harbor Freight - $15. The bad thing is that they are hermetically sealed. So if and when a bulb goes, you have to replace the whole light.
I have a utility trailer I am more than happy t o loan to friends. It always seems to come back with some light issue - busted lenses typically.
Also, anytime I go down the road I check my lights. It never fails, that's when something goes wrong - or at least you notice it - or the cop behind you notices it. Why can't they make something that sends you an email ahead of time?