Trailer lights relocation? And LED bulbs?

[C Buchs]

And I suppose you could put it inside the lens so it doesn't goof up the appearance when the light is off.

I thought about that, but it may be really hard to put this stuff on a concave surface. I think it will stretch over the convex outside much better. The roll is 12X48". I should be able to try it several times till I get it right. I'll also have some extra to share with you guys.

Jeff

[warren631]

Thanks guys for the advise. I bought a pair of trailer LED rear lights which I will solder in. I'll probably seal them up with silicone calking. Also bought a few LED festoon replacement bulbs from banggood.com for about $1 each.

[FlyboyTR]

Thanks guys for the advise. I bought a pair of trailer LED rear lights which I will solder in. I'll probably seal them up with silicone calking. Also bought a few LED festoon replacement bulbs from banggood.com for about $1 each.

Good find on the festoon bulbs. I received an order from Banggood today! I would NOT recommend using silicone calking for sealing anything electrical. There are many better options available. The best is probably a marine grade heat shrink tubing. Personally, I solder everything, then apply just a little polybutylene sealant (marine goop is also good), then slide a piece of regular heat shrink tubing over it and slowly heat/shrink it from the center out. We live on the Gulf of Mexico...nothing but salt water. This process has worked well for me for many years. I don't use silicone for anything on a boat. ...just me...other opinions may vary.

[Tomfoolery]

Thanks guys for the advise. I bought a pair of trailer LED rear lights which I will solder in. I'll probably seal them up with silicone calking. Also bought a few LED festoon replacement bulbs from banggood.com for about $1 each.

These are the Harbor Freight lights most are using. Submersible, and sealed, including the wire entry. Mine came with side markers and a harness, which they don't seem to sell at the moment, but I'm sure HF isn't the only place selling these same Chinese-made lights. http://www.harborfreight.com/one-pair-s ... 94137.html

[Sumner]

A suggestion is to use outdoor extension cord for the wiring (16 gauge). You don't need that heavy but it will way outlast most trailer wiring.



When I added a 'legal' light bar to the new rear bunk and the rear and side marker lights to the trailer I used the extension cord for the back stop/turn/lights but used the Harbor Freight wire for the side lights. Big mistake as after 6,000 miles or so it is breaking inside the insulation. It is just too small and prone to breakage. I need to switch it all out. You don't need the 16 gauge wires for the current load especially with the LED lights but it is a lot stronger and less prone to breakage and not that expensive.

I feel a lot better now having the side lights on the trailer. I had some near misses of cars coming up on-ramps at night at high speed and trying to blend in right behind the tow vehicle not seeing the trailer to the last minute due to no lights on the side of it. Our trailer is a '90 but even that far back it seems the lighting would of been illegal most places. If you do much towing at night I for sure would update the lighting with the light bar in the back and side marker lights,

Sumner

============================

1300 miles to the Bahamas and back -- 2015

The MacGregor 26-S

The Endeavour 37

Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida

Mac-Venture Links

[Tomfoolery]

I feel a lot better now having the side lights on the trailer. I had some near misses of cars coming up on-ramps at night at high speed and trying to blend in right behind the tow vehicle not seeing the trailer to the last minute due to no lights on the side of it. Our trailer is a '90 but even that far back it seems the lighting would of been illegal most places. If you do much towing at night I for sure would update the lighting with the light bar in the back and side marker lights,

I couldn't agree more. I've been very paranoid when travelling in the right lane of two or three, which is where I spend most of my time, and the lane on my left slows in heavy traffic. You can usually see who the nitwit is who's going to try to jump behind you as you pass slowly (not intentionally; traffic on the left slows a bit), and without side lights, at night, in a rain storm with road spray everywhere, they're likely to merge right into the side of the trailer. So I have DOT compliant front and back clearance lights, plus side markers, plus ID lights, and even another side marker since the trailer is just over 30 ft with the boat on it (another DOT and Transport Canada requirement), with all the side markers low enough to see in the right-side mirror of a car in close quarters. And the light bar with more side markers on the leg of the outboard.

A bit of a Christmas tree, but folks aren't expecting a long trailer behind an SUV the way they expect one behind a loud Class 8 diesel tractor with 22.5" tires that are hard to miss sitting next to you.

[warren631]

I ordered these LED submersible tail lights $26/pair http://www.ebay.com/itm/301753823200?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

[kurz]

I made the trailer light so they are not to disconnect even in the water.

So I put all LED first. Looks great. But: They can do some problems. Water/humidity can be transportet through the cables.
And when you distroy a glass you have to renew the whole light with all the cables. If you have standart just by a new glass and ready to go.

And especially for the indicators: If you habe normal bulbs you see in the car when the bulbs are not working. With LED you probably won't realize it, depending of the towing car and if you put on some 25W resistance. To do it well a mounted the resistance. Problem: With the one car I had no iondicater lights when the motor was not running. Becouse of the resistance the power was too low and you don't se an LED light anymore. It was ok when the motor was running.

So I added some indicators with normal bulbs, an I solded the bulbs direct to the wire.

Works in any condition/car and even with 9V power the indicators are working and if not I see it with ANY car.

Works great!!!

[C Buchs]

And I suppose you could put it inside the lens so it doesn't goof up the appearance when the light is off.

I thought about that, but it may be really hard to put this stuff on a concave surface. I think it will stretch over the convex outside much better. The roll is 12X48". I should be able to try it several times till I get it right. I'll also have some extra to share with you guys.

Jeff

I got the new light on schedule, but haven't had time to mess with it until now. Below are some photos:

Inside of one lense covered with red film


White light on


Red light on


I'll try to get it installed over the table this week. I think the red is a little bright. I'll try it out at night in the boat. I can always add another coat of the red film to darken it up.

Jeff

[Russ]

Cool.

Red is supposed to preserve night vision. I don't think the brightness of the red is an issue.

You probably already learned that LEDs are polarity sensitive. Many of our boats were not wired with consistent polarity to fixtures.

[Lee Ward]

I used a length of pvc downspout and some led lights. I cut the pipe to fit just above the outboard. The assembly is removed for putting the boat in.