I am tired.. I'm tired of every time I hook up the trailer late to get ready for an event playing, Which light on this trailer isn't going to work this time, roulette.
I live in the Midwest. My trailer is stored outside and occasionally gets used when the evil car melting solution is applied to the ground.
I will spend basically anything for wire that has a life of more then a few dozen lunar cycles.
Hopkins doesn't make it.
Reese doesn't make it.
TowSmart DEFINITELY doesn't make it.
So what legit automotive grade wire, with insulation that prevents the inside copper strands from turning to white/green powder, and resists the evil forces of the sun exists?
I don't feel like I'm asking for much here. Just a product that functions.. as designed.. entirely in the environment it is designed to function in.. installed exactly as intended.. and works for more than the time between Olympic games.
Use an extension cord and keep it behind the seat of your truck?
I used to keep a set of lights that I would Visegrip or Bungie in place, so I had lights no matter what junk I was dragging.
They were so cool the guy that borrowed them has yet to return them.
My use case is a little different but on my work vehicles I use 16/6 and 16/7 stranded direct bury cable and 7 pin waterproof crimped connectors with a regular spray of goo. I work on govt stuff so I have to use USA wire and it's $2.50ish per foot but I don't remember the brand. I imagine any supply house that does govt or military supply can get good quality USA made wire.
Following, because my 28 year old trailer wiring has a dead short in it someplace. Time to rewire it.
I've used jacketed cable made by East Penn that has held up well. Similar to this product from Waytek, not sure if they source from East Penn but it's listed as made in USA so it's very likely.
WT14-4 Trailer Cable, Stranded Bare Copper, 14/4 Gauge/conductors | Waytek (waytekwire.com)
If you are just using individual wires and not bonded/jacketed cable you want cross-link polyethylene insulation. It will hold up to outdoor exposure much better than PVC.
General Cable 148430-91W Automotive Cross-Link Wire | Waytek (waytekwire.com)
Also make sure you are using heat shrink terminals on any crimped connection so you don't get the moisture inside that will oxidize the wire. Or plenty of dielectric grease.
What about salt water boat wiring?
Dusterbd13-michael said:
What about salt water boat wiring?
I believe marine wire is Tin coated (tinned?) to keep the wires from oxidizing. Unfortunately I doubt the wires in the light fittings are. I think heat shrink like mentioned above is the best bet to keep moisture out.
I bought one of these from Bezos when I build my car trailer years ago. The junction box is mounted on the nose of the trailer, then wires ran back to the left/right side from there. It's surprising heavy duty, watertight and has held up great. The plug is molded to the wire which keeps water out and I think that's a big part of reducing oxidation on the connections.
I always let the plug dangle down when stored so rain water won't go into the plug itself.
wae
PowerDork
7/21/23 8:42 a.m.
In reply to WillG80 :
I also have one of those boxes. It's been installed on the stored-outside trailer for a couple years now and so far it has not been the source of any failures. What I really like about it is that I can pop the four screws off that cover and immediately test to make sure that I'm getting power from the truck and I can put +12V straight to the terminals to see what the trailer does. That makes troubleshooting a lot faster and easier.
nocones said:
I am tired.. I'm tired of every time I hook up the trailer late to get ready for an event playing, Which light on this trailer isn't going to work this time, roulette.
I live in the Midwest. My trailer is stored outside and occasionally gets used when the evil car melting solution is applied to the ground.
I will spend basically anything for wire that has a life of more then a few dozen lunar cycles.
Hopkins doesn't make it.
Reese doesn't make it.
TowSmart DEFINITELY doesn't make it.
So what legit automotive grade wire, with insulation that prevents the inside copper strands from turning to white/green powder, and resists the evil forces of the sun exists?
I don't feel like I'm asking for much here. Just a product that functions.. as designed.. entirely in the environment it is designed to function in.. installed exactly as intended.. and works for more than the time between Olympic games.
This is exactly how I feel about holiday decoration lights. I am convinced that no good products exist anymore.
Are you grounding through the trailer or with a dedicated wire? I feel like a lot of trailer electrical issues are due to the ground not having a great connection to the trailer frame.
I have used extension cord in the past, and a chunk on my new trailer, without ever failing. 14-3 25' cord will get you 2 stop/turn and a taillight wires and ground to the frame. I heat shrink everything on trailer wiring that I want to last.
I have one of these Towmates and it is very reliable. https://www.towmate.com/TM22G-Wireless-Tow-Light-Bar_p_520.html I know it isn't exactly what you are looking for but depending on what you tow and when it's an option. It doesn't give you a brake option if you are towing something with brakes. I have also wired a couple of trailers with the Bezos special that WillG80 put above and it is pretty painless. I used 3 conductor power cord for the taillights and turn signals. The marker lights were single wires which I didn't like doing but they seem to keep working.
Every trailer wiring issue I have had was because of crappy connections. Whether you solder or crimp, make sure they are heat shrunk, with the good shrink that has the sealant goop inside. And never use vampire taps. Using vampire taps is not just asking for problems, it is shouting "I WANT PROBLEMS" from the rooftops.
IMO the thing to do would be to put the lighting on Weatherpak connections to the trailer wiring, because the lighting dies frequently regardless, and at least you can make a weatherproof connection. And somehow ditch the crappy trailer connectors for Weatherpak...
Type SO or SOOW portable cord is pretty durable stuff. It's typically used for heavy duty power cords and extension cords and is available in a variety of wire gauges and number of conductors. It has a heavy rubber overall insulation that stays flexible in cold weather and is oil resistant. It may be tricky to find it being sold by the foot - try local electrical distributors like Graybar. Here's an example on Amazon in five conductor: https://www.amazon.com/Custom-Cable-Connection-Conductor-Portable/dp/B07S2983N6
Dusterbd13-michael said:
What about salt water boat wiring?
This is the correct answer. Tinned marine wire. Do not use solder joints. They frequently can't handle the vibrations. Use insulated heat shrink butt splices. Use a ratchet type crimp tool that will not damage the heat shrink. On boat trailers, I run dedicated grounds from each fixture all the way to the front of the trailer to keep those connections out of the salt water. If you tow on salted roads I'd consider doing the same.
Use waterproof, sealed or potted, submersible LED fixtures. Something like this.
Run all the wire through the frame if possible. If not, run conduit down the trailer to run the wire through. Zip-tying it to the crossmembers frequently leads to broken wires. I have run conduit down all of my trailers. It keeps the wire from getting snagged and keeps it from rubbing on anything.
I use marine wiring and fixtures on all of my trailers, boat or otherwise, and almost never have lighting problems.
Plug and distribution box like posted above is what I did, then 100 percent new wire for the rest. I bought the length I needed of individual rolls and basically made my own harness with as few splices and connectors as possible. Did new LED lights while I was at it, ran the charge wire to the winch battery and put on loading/reverse lights to see at night.
Only wiring problem on that trailer since 2019 has been a pulled brake wire when a U bolt broke and the axle moved.
Don't remember exactly what wire I bought but it was off Amazon and wasn't the cheapest wire I could find but still very reasonable.
Doing the same things with the enclosed trailer pretty soon too.
I've been towing for years and gave up on trailer lights. It didn't matter what I did I always had problems. So in my most recent install I wired everything inside the car, keep the connection inside, use magnetic trailer lights and put them in a waterproof tote when not in use.
