Trailer Lights

[blinko]

This has been going on for two years now.  When I hookup my PU to my TV the lights will work only if my PU battery is fully charged.  If the battery is just a little low the lights are dim and work sometimes.  If I unhook the + from the battery the running light dim and if I hit the brakes all the light go out and then I here a beep from the CO Dect.  I ran a new ground on my TV it didn't help.  I ran a new ground from the - on the battery and nothing.  Any help?

[AustinBoston]

This has been going on for two years now.  When I hookup my PU to my TV the lights will work only if my PU battery is fully charged.  If the battery is just a little low the lights are dim and work sometimes.  If I unhook the + from the battery the running light dim and if I hit the brakes all the light go out and then I here a beep from the CO Dect.  I ran a new ground on my TV it didn't help.  I ran a new ground from the - on the battery and nothing.  Any help?

Have you tried replacing the connectors?  Sometimes they become too corroded to make good contact.

Austin

[bjkd800]

I have had trouble with corroded connectors also.  I took some sand paper to the connectors to get the corrosion off and back to shinny metal.  Problems went away.

Good luck.

Have you tried replacing the connectors?  Sometimes they become too corroded to make good contact.

Austin

[blinko]

I've replaced the one on the TV.  I'll try the one on the PU.  I just don't understand why I have to have a fully charged battery to make the tow lights work.

[CAPEd CODger]

I can't make any sense of the condition you're describing.
 
The battery on the camper should be there only to run the DC powered devices inside the popup.

Outside lights should be totally independent of the inside lights.

I agree that corroded plugs and connectors can play a large roll in the lights proper functioning. Double check everything, starting at your tow vehicle. It's possible someone connected something that wasn't supposed to be connected.

Worst case; replace the wiring for the trailer lights.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but sometimes that's what you have to do.

Best of luck in your trouble-shooting.

Bob

[blinko]

I agree it doesn't make any sense.  That is why I'm so stump.  I was hoping (not really) that someone else had this problem. (I don't wish it on anyone)  I guess I'll Have pony up the money and get it fix.  I was going to ask my friend to hookup their TV to my PU but I don't want to take that chance.

[AustinBoston]

I agree it doesn't make any sense.  That is why I'm so stump.  I was hoping (not really) that someone else had this problem. (I don't wish it on anyone)  I guess I'll Have pony up the money and get it fix.  I was going to ask my friend to hookup their TV to my PU but I don't want to take that chance.

If you have a poor ground, charge current can cause the voltage on the ground to rise.  I don't know if it could rise enough so that other devices don't work, but it can rise enough so that they work poorly.  When several devices misbehave at once, it is almost always the ground that is at fault.

Austin

[blinko]

I found the problem.  The guys that put on my 7 pin had the ground and brake wires switch.  I got a new tester and took all the wires off and started from the beginning.  When I stared the wires weren

[wavery]

Somehow I missed this thread. As I was reading through it, I figured that the ONLY way that could happen would be if the wire harness was wired wrong.

They must have wired it so that the battery on your PU was feeding back through your vehicles light system. I'm a little surprised that it didn't burn something up in the electrical system on your TV or at least blow a fuse.

I saw that happen once before. It was the weirdest thing. My friend could not shut off his engine on the TV as long as the trailer was hooked up. He could shut off the key and take it out of the ignition and the engine would still run. Unplug the trailer, and the engine died. It turned out that he had the power lead to his battery hooked up to his tail lights on his TV. The power was feeding back through his headlight switch and giving power to the ignition system.