Thread: Trailer lights and wires

Whats a good way to buy new lights plugs and wires to re do a horse float with electric brakes?
It needs a total re wire.
Im in country Vic . Sth Gippsland .

Should I buy the parts through Ebay? An auto store or a trailer supplies shop? Id rather have them sent / posted rather than drive and pick up.

Any recommended sellers?

Rob

Hi Rob, You could buy the items from any place, Ebay, auto spares outlet or an auto electrical place. Most will post off what you need. There are 2 important things to remember, first, is to make sure that your choice of lights will fit into the required space, secondly, that the 7 core cable is rated at 3mm minimum, this is to ensure that the power supply to the brakes is adequate. If you let me know what you need, I can post it over to you.
We use LED branded lights at work, as my main job here is to wire the trailers, I can get the items at a good price for you.
When do you plan on starting the rewire, as I may be over that way to give you a hand, if required?
Regards,
Kryn

I bought the lights etc for mine from ebay seller “trailer_solutions”. Arrived quickly and no issues.

Steve

I bought a pair of ARK trailer led lights they come pre wired with 7 or 8 meters cable so no water intrusion with soldering and heat shrinking

Great lights they are also ADR approved

Heres the only old pic i have of the ARK lights

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Hi Rob, You could buy the items from any place, Ebay, auto spares outlet or an auto electrical place. Most will post off what you need. There are 2 important things to remember, first, is to make sure that your choice of lights will fit into the required space, secondly, that the 7 core cable is rated at 3mm minimum, this is to ensure that the power supply to the brakes is adequate. If you let me know what you need, I can post it over to you.
We use LED branded lights at work, as my main job here is to wire the trailers, I can get the items at a good price for you.
When do you plan on starting the rewire, as I may be over that way to give you a hand, if required?
Regards,
Kryn

Thanks Kryn .
I'm just starting to Youtube all I can to get prepared to do this. Electrical and me = things can go wrong so I want to get prepared. Ive seen 12V things smoking before. In the days before I realized I should have disconnected the battery first. I feel confidant enough now but don't know much about electric brakes and the ways of checking them and that the right wires are connecting to the right wires in the plug and if its wrong how to problem solve that .
My Ute was bought new so the plug must be standard 7Pin wiring and going by colours should be right I suppose. The float has been worked on and patched plenty of times and Ive no idea if wire colours have been followed. I doubt they have.
The float wiring has been bad for ages and now its not working and I want to use it ( Furniture Moving) but cant so sooner its fixed the better.

Ill do a count up of lights and wires needed and get back to you .
With 3 mm wire minimum . Is that 3mm square or what gauge ? Or is it just called 3mm wire? I don't mind going good or better quality for a long lasting job.
Solder and heat shrink if that's the way.

And if your over this way and timing is good a hand could be good. Thanks very much for the offer. Ill be in touch for parts .

Rob










Your coming over this way

Ebay lights and wiring can be a bit iffy imo , buy quality Narva wiring and lights , its chalk and cheese difference. Ebay stuff gets brittle after a while and wiring guage isnt the best. Sure yes Ebay stuff works but...

Originally Posted by auscab

Thanks Kryn .
I'm just starting to Youtube all I can to get prepared to do this. Electrical and me = things can go wrong so I want to get prepared.
My Ute was bought new so the plug must be standard 7Pin wiring and going by colours should be right I suppose. .

Ill do a count up of lights and wires needed and get back to you .
Or is it just called 3mm wire? I .
Solder and heat shrink if that's the way.

And if your over this way and timing is good a hand could be good. Thanks very much for the offer. Ill be in touch for parts .

Rob Your coming over this way

I'll do just about anything to help the members on here.
Can do a wiring diagram for the braking side if you like, same with the lighting.
Will need a pic of the wires coming out of the brake control box.
Is the 7 pin a flat or round style?
It will have written on the roll, 7 X 3mm trailer wire or something similar. Just let me know by PM what you require, and I'll organise it ALL, heat shrink, wire, plugs, lights etc.
Solder and heat shrink is the only way to go. Note that some heat shrink doesn't have an adhesive inside, the stuff I use does, as it makes for a better water proof joint and holds the wire in a position that makes for a better joint.
I'll probably bring the stuff with me when I come, to save postage, and give you a hand or two.
I've got several calls to make over that way to pick stuff up and drop off.
Regards,
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Will need a pic of the wires coming out of the brake control box.

That's the box under my dashboard ?

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Is the 7 pin a flat or round style?

7 pin Flat. Think I may have a new one already

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

I'll probably bring the stuff with me when I come, to save postage, and give you a hand or two.
I've got several calls to make over that way to pick stuff up and drop off.
Regards,
Kryn

I redid the trailer wiring on the enclosed trailer I'm fitting out in another thread - the long history of the trailer meant there were multiple generations of mods to the wiring, with lots of wads of electrical tape, random wires bundled together and various abandoned electrical fittings.

I ended up ripping out everything and running new 7 core, soldering all joins and covering with adhesive-lined heatshrink, and adding corrugated sleeving wherever the cable encountered a metal edge.

I'm no expert in this area, but from what I have read recently, soldering is no longer recommended for vehicle wiring. Crimped lugs give better connections and don't make the wiring brittle like soldered joints do, when the solder wicks along the wire from the lug or terminal. The crimping does need to be done correctly, not with pliers, but with the correct crimping tools, and the joints reinforced and protected with heat shrink, preferably adhesive lined. The cables are best protected in conduit, either the rigid variety or corrugated and I have also used LDPE 1/2" irrigation line in the past as it is very resistant to stone damage. "P" clips to support the conduit complete the job, and like exhaust systems, the better the support, the longer it will last.
Good crimping tools do not need to cost the earth, I have recently bought several different styles for different cable sizes and terminations from China, including hydraulic lug crimpers capable supposedly of crimping 70mm2 cables. I have not used them for cables that big, but have made probably twenty crimps, all successful of 0 gauge cable, or 49mm2, and many in smaller cable, mostly 6 B&S. that tool was delivered to me for less than $50 Au.
For anyone interested, have a look on YouTube at Andys off grid Garage. He is a German /Australian, a bit OCD perhaps, but pretty smart and very entertaining. He discusses all this and more, and has a web site with recommended tools and suppliers. All of the tools that I have recently bought for this sort of work and at his suggestion have worked pretty well, even if some of the dies for the hydraulic crimper have not been perfect, but I have been able to get the job done in a satisfactory manner. I hope that this helps someone,
Rob.

Originally Posted by Ropetangler

Crimped lugs give better connections and don't make the wiring brittle like soldered joints do, when the solder wicks along the wire from the lug or terminal.

I'd agree if the connection is flapping around in the breeze, but if the connections are bundled together and secured with tape, I wouldn't be too concerned about brittle joints failing.

That said, crimping is definitely a good option, and is particularly handy when working with older wires that have corrosion.

These are the lights im using and previously mentioned, You dont solder anything there are no wire splices no cut wires you just run the cables straight up to the plug

The days of soldering trailer light cables is far gone

I'll add my 2 cents worth.

Narva. Quality commensurate with price. And I hate it when trailer lights either fail or begin to play up.

Throw away the soldering iron. I know some swear by the soldering of wire connections, however...........I worked with a bunch of electrical engineers who were designing systems on high vibration tracked vehicles. Performance against fatigue failures in wiring connections were substantially reduced through the use of crimp on connectors instead of soldered joints. Electrical connectors that crimp on both the wire core and insulation offer superior resistance against mechanical fatigue compared to soldered joints. The introduction of heat and a solder were found to be inferior compared to quality crimp on lugs terms of corrosion based fatigue, especially in a corrosive environment such as salt air. Utilux Supergrip were the go to connector. This was the guidance offered nearly 30 years ago when I sought advice about wiring boats. Since that time I have totally wired or re-wired over a dozen sea going vessels with crimp on connectors only and nil solder and NEVER suffered a wiring or connector failure. Sure, some of the devices may have failed, but never the wiring or connectors.

Salv

Crimping sounds like its worth a look . Do you not heat shrink it though ? Do the plastic covers that come with them do the job ?

I was looking at the bad wiring today on the horse float. Two are thick and 5 look really thin . I didn't measure any but I was wondering what size they may be . I guess when I get some thicker 3mm quality stuff to compare my knowledge will benefit from that.

I haven't been able to get under the HF yet to see whats going on . No room in workshop yet and its wet outside atm .
What do you do to run wires to each side of a trailer from a 7 core . Do you run it all down one side and splice in to that where needed to run power to the other side for the tail lights and side lights ?

Or split it near the front end , join and and run a set down each side ?

If it was me I would be allowing cable for a reversing/traffic camera. A camera is handy when travelling to see what is directly behind the trailer and can't be seen in the mirrors. Long experience driving trucks proved that to me especially reversing with no one to tell how close you are to whatever is behind the trailer.