boat trailer rewire project

[vidaliaman]

rewiring my boat trailer, have questions on the ground, my old lights had no ground wire, my new lights have the white ground wire, i want to ground the white wire from the connector on the tongue to the tonque, however can i ground the light wires to the trailer frame by the light or do i need to run a ground wire up the trailer to the connector ground? my lights seem to be a bit dim depending on the pulling vehicle ground

thanks dave
gowen mi

 

[midcarolina]

The lights are designed for the white wire to ground to the light mounting bolt........make double sure the mounting area is very clean ( no paint or rust )

It would actually be better to run a ground from each light up to the grounding point at the tongue,,, But most don't bother with the extra work.

 

[vidaliaman]

thank you kind sir!
dave

 

[bruceb58]

On my trailer, I take the wire at each light and ground it to the trailer right at that point.

Drill a hole, scrape the paint to bare metal. Put a ring connector on the white wire and then attach it with a screw through the hole. Then paint over it to keep water out and you will never have a ground problem.

 

[bobdec]

Found my Shoreline waverunner trailer was a mixed bag. Had white wires from 4 pin connector to right rear light stud, and side running lights. And the right rear white wire stud connection was also used as a ground to the frame. The frame was then used for left rear tail and center tail running light grounds they did not have a direct g round wire. The connection on the right stud to frame got crappy causing left rear tail to go out and side lights to come on with break pedal. All sorts of weird lighting things happened. I wired a direct ground wire to left tail and use that as a second frame ground point. So I now have all lights with a direct wired ground except the center running tail light that is a one wire setup requiring frame ground .

 

[Bubbasboat]

It would actually be better to run a ground from each light up to the grounding point at the tongue,,, But most don't bother with the extra work.

+1 to this

 

[bruceb58]

The problem with running a separate ground to each light, besides using a lot more wire, is that now you have additional connections you need to worry about. You don't get any advantage over making sure you have a good ground at each light.

 

[bgc]

I run ground wires to each light, from the harness, and use Master Appliance brand heat and seal butt connectors.

https://www.grainger.com/product/MASTER-APPLIANCE-Wire-Harness-Connector-Kit-1YMK7?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/1YMK7_AS01?$smthumb$

 

[bruceb58]

I run ground wires to each light, from the harness

So out of curiosity, how do you join all these grounds(would be over 7 on my trailer) at the harness?

 

[midcarolina]

Drill a hole, scrape the paint to bare metal. Put a ring connector on the white wire and then attach it with a screw through the hole. Then paint over it to keep water out and you will never have a ground problem.

using a screw would be the least favorable way........ using a bolt nut and lock washer or nylock nut would be a much better connection.

 

[bruceb58]

using a screw would be the least favorable way........ using a bolt nut and lock washer or nylock nut would be a much better connection.

That's actually what I do. I am using a stainless screw and a nyloc nut.

 

[Idlespeedonly]

I run separate ground wires to the tongue.

 

[bgc]

So out of curiosity, how do you join all these grounds(would be over 7 on my trailer) at the harness?

I add a new splice near each light and brake. Basically the ground runs down both sides of the trailer and is also grounded to the frame. I found this reduces the time I spend working on the trailer and increases the time I spend on the water.
Most of our customers coming in with "No/Intermittent Lights" have a ground issue. There is also the fare share of broken/corroded wires and contacts.