wire connections - The Hull Truth

kone · 06-10-2009, 08:16 AM

halfway through our 400 mile trip home this past weekend we saw that our trailer's passenger side rear running light and tri-bar light (if that's the correct name) was off. we climbed under the trailer and found that the two wires coming from each light assembly had detached themselves from the main wire running from the front. fwiw, this our second wire issue on a brand new Venture trailer!

what is the correct way to repair this connection (and then do the other side before it fails too)? thanks.

Bamaskeetshooter · 06-10-2009, 06:47 PM

Solder and then shrink wrap is the best way to wire a boat or it's trailer.

Back-in-Black · 06-11-2009, 06:04 AM

you really need to add some kind of sealer to that mix. Heat shrink alone will not keep the water out. I cover the connection with liquid tape and heat shrink over that.

I replaced a trailer last fall. Old trailer lights were done by me 7-8 yrs ago and haven't touched them since. The new trailer has solder and heat shrink only connections and in less than 1 year, I have lost 2 running lights to corroded connections. I will have to eventually re-wire this whole trailer to eliminate this problem.

kone · 06-12-2009, 08:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Back-in-Black

I cover the connection with liquid tape and heat shrink over that.

I'll give it a try, thanks.

xrayengineer · 06-12-2009, 08:33 AM

In my opinion, solder has no place on any electrical wiring that is subject to vibration. Nothing on a boat, car or trailer should ever be soldered. Solder is used on a printed circuit board, but usually no where else in electronics.

The best way to connect any wires on a boat is to use adhesive lined shrink tube butt connectors of the correct size for the wire.

The only exceptions are the NMEA type communication wires, and those should be connected with snap caps.

Also, liquid electrical tape will crack if subjected to movement, and if the wire area is not cleaned properly, won't even stick well and just flake off.

Just my 2 cents!

mjkten · 06-12-2009, 08:34 AM

There are probably a dozen different ways people will swear is the best. I would make sure you have good, clean wire stripped to the correct length, put in a marine grade butt connector with heat shrink insulation. Use the right tool to crimp, then carefully use only enough heat to shrink the insulation snugly around the wires. Cover the ends with liquid electrical tape and make sure the whole mess is secured out of harms way.

Back-in-Black · 06-12-2009, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrayengineer

In my opinion, solder has no place on any electrical wiring that is subject to vibration. Nothing on a boat, car or trailer should ever be soldered. Solder is used on a printed circuit board, but usually no where else in electronics.

Also, liquid electrical tape will crack if subjected to movement, and if the wire area is not cleaned properly, won't even stick well and just flake off.

Just my 2 cents!

How long have your trailer lights lasted w/o maint??? Vibration and solder? Give me a break. Try pulling your boat/ trailer 350 miles round trip on Louisiana roads for 7-8 years and you'll know what vibration is. I have 2 boat trailers that I installed LED lights on at approximately the same time 7-8 yrs ago. Solder, silicone (I have since been using liquid tape on stuff like this because it's easier and less mess) and heat shrink. As I said, one trailer was totaled and replaced, the other trailer is still in use and I have NEVER, EVER had to even so much as TOUCH trailer lites on either one for 7-8 years. Oops, I take that back. I had to re-do the white ground wire up at the plug on the FlatsCat about a year ago because the trailer builder used a butt splice and wrapped it in tape. After 8 yrs, the connection broke due to corroded wire. Never knew the butt splice was there under all that tape or I would have SOLDERED it 8 yrs ago.

I will be re-wiring my new trailer here shortly using the same method. Should have done it before I dunked it the first time last fall. As I said, they soldered and heat shrinked the connections, but salt water goes right past heat shrink w/o some kind of sealant and on a recent inpection I found all of the wire to be black with corrsion. I HATE screwing with trailer lites and refuse to do it every time I hook up. I'll re-do this trailer with my method and probably NEVER have to screw with them ever again.

New trailer

raymonds · 06-12-2009, 01:37 PM

I had one case where the snap cap on the small garmin antenna wire didn't make a connection, so I quit using them for that. Took a while to track that one down.

Bamaskeetshooter · 06-12-2009, 02:35 PM

It's funny, when I started to solder and shrink wrap, all my electrical issues disappeared. I've never been impressed with butt conections.

xrayengineer · 06-13-2009, 04:16 PM

There is a reason that no manufacturer on planet earth uses solder and liquid electrical tape on high reliability connections. The military doesn't use it. ISO 9001 companies don't use them.

They use crimp connections and if they are subject to moisture or corrosion, they use adhesive lined shrink tube connectors.

xrayengineer · 06-13-2009, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Back-in-Black

How long have your trailer lights lasted w/o maint??? Vibration and solder? Give me a break. Try pulling your boat/ trailer 350 miles round trip on Louisiana roads for 7-8 years and you'll know what vibration is. I have 2 boat trailers that I installed LED lights on at approximately the same time 7-8 yrs ago. Solder, silicone (I have since been using liquid tape on stuff like this because it's easier and less mess) and heat shrink. As I said, one trailer was totaled and replaced, the other trailer is still in use and I have NEVER, EVER had to even so much as TOUCH trailer lites on either one for 7-8 years. Oops, I take that back. I had to re-do the white ground wire up at the plug on the FlatsCat about a year ago because the trailer builder used a butt splice and wrapped it in tape. After 8 yrs, the connection broke due to corroded wire. Never knew the butt splice was there under all that tape or I would have SOLDERED it 8 yrs ago.

I will be re-wiring my new trailer here shortly using the same method. Should have done it before I dunked it the first time last fall. As I said, they soldered and heat shrinked the connections, but salt water goes right past heat shrink w/o some kind of sealant and on a recent inpection I found all of the wire to be black with corrsion. I HATE screwing with trailer lites and refuse to do it every time I hook up. I'll re-do this trailer with my method and probably NEVER have to screw with them ever again.

New trailer

You are right about Louisianna roads, they are the worst in the country.

I do maintenance on my equipment much more regular than every 8 years, so I don't know how long something would last without it.

Let me know what model LED trailer lights you got 8 years ago that are still working, I will definitely get those next time!

Nice looking trailer and rig!

Back-in-Black · 06-14-2009, 12:14 AM

Thanks.

I made the side marker lights on the FC trailer... nobody was manufacturing LED trailer lights back then and I wanted LEDs BAD. I was using those water proof incandescent lights and kept losing bulbs due to our wonderful roads here. One trip I replaced one of the waterproof tail light "bubbles" and by the time I made it to the launch, it was burned out. It was driving me NUTS! Anyway, I bought a pair of cheap, amber side markers, gutted them, stuck some superbright LEDS and resistors on a small piece of breadboard, stuck all that into the amber lens and poured it full of that clear epoxy they make those curio tables with. I was trying to figure out how to do the dual intensity thing for LED tail lights, had all kinds of breadboards and experiments going, when I got a new Bass Pro flyer in the mail. They had LED tail lights in there as a brand new item. Took me about 10 seconds to get a pair ordered. They've been on the trailer ever since. Bought the Contender a couple of months after that and the first thing I did to that trailer was trash the drum brakes... next was to completely re-do the lights.

I just walked out and checked on the ones on the FC trailer. No name on them ANYWHERE. They are the low profile kind and they are not perfectly square on the ends... there's a slight curve on each vertical side.

I gave my old Contender trailer to a friend after I got my new one last year. He dropped a 25 Mako on it. I'll call him and ask him to check and see if he can't find a name on them. They are different ( the square ones) and I bought them as a set with new wire and side markers. Let you know when I find out.

The home made side markers on the FC are still working fine, so I've never replaced them either.

I have this suspicion that most of the trouble people are having with LED trailer lights is due to water intrusion thru the wires. I think that if you don't absolutely seal those connections that the wire acts like a wick and draws tiny bits of saltwater into the light... once that saltwater hits that circuit board... it's all over. Although I know some of the ones West Marine was selling for a while were defective. I put some of those on a friend's boat about 3 years ago. He called me up about a year later saying that some of the LEDs were "burned out". Shortly after that I got a notice from West (I had purchased those lights thru my Port Supply acct)to return those lights for a free replacement. Which I did. I put the news ones on his trailer and as far as I know, they are still working fine. That was about 2 years ago.

rwidman · 06-16-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xrayengineer

There is a reason that no manufacturer on planet earth uses solder and liquid electrical tape on high reliability connections. The military doesn't use it. ISO 9001 companies don't use them.

They use crimp connections and if they are subject to moisture or corrosion, they use adhesive lined shrink tube connectors.

That's what the USCG and ABYC specify also.