MacGregorSailors.com

Whatever brand of LEDs you have, buy another type.

My guess is they are burning out BEFORE you hit the water. Cheap LEDs will burn out if not regulated properly. I really doubt touching the water is what's causing the failures.

Salt water may expedite the corrosion of connections etc., but what you are describing sounds like a poor quality LED. There is the small chance that your alternator is putting out lots of dirty power causing the LEDs to fail.

Reading these posts took me back through my various stages of trailer light frustration:
1) at first I dutifully removed the (stock) backup lights and side lights for each launch/retrieval. This amusement got old in a hurry.
2) so, I decided I would just live with replacing the burned out lights every few years
3) but the stock lights died much more quickly than years - eg. try right away - with salt water immersion
4) so then I bought a separate wiring harness and wired the stock lights to it and clipped and bungee-corded the whole thing to the trailer for 'quick & easy' removal/replacement .... but running around the boat/trailer untangling many yards of wire also got old in a hurry (not to mention bungeeing up loose loops to avoid highway disasters)
5) so I tossed the replacement harness, and installed 'permanent' LED backup/signal lights [SEASENSE brand] ... wired to the original Mac harness, but with all connections soldered and sealed with epoxy. My plan is to hope that these last at least a few years of immersion: I figure 'simple' is good, and worth some extra money, when it comes to launching and retrieving.
Kittiwake

Like freedom have a light board which was actually supplied by the dealer/importer, still haven't bothered to convert to led's as don't have a lot of problems after 6 yrs and many thousands of k's.
Do have LED's on a poly boat trailer but so far no problems at all, heat shouldn't be a problem as led's run cool but joints should be sealed properly.

I am sure we all agree that it is best to have lights on your trailer from the moment you start trailering if only in the name of safety; for ourselves and for others.

However, I do think there is another angle to this issue which influences the final decision of how one goes about his trailer lights.
In your part of the world, how strict are the rules concerning trailer lights? How are they enforced? Do the authorities chase you? Are there severe consequences if you get stopped with improper lights – heavy fines? Can you get away with dragging your trailer from the ramp to your nearby home? Is it out of the question to even attempt to move the trailer without lights on?

For example, if I am driving from the ramp to my parking spot within the marina fascilities, even though there are other vehicles in the area, I would not need to put lights on my trailer.

It would be interesting to hear what works for some of you guys in your local area?

Happy trailering!

Octaman

sorry but i been backing boats in to the lake for several decades straight off the hi-way and have never had any water SUCKED PAST THE SEALS yet.so unless your towing at 180mph with a stock car i think we can put this wives tale to rest.

My cheap Harbor Freight LEDs have worked all summer, dunked frequently, but I soldered all the connection, and dipped them in liquid electrical tape. I'm still using the frame for the ground, but that will change when the boat goes into its slip and I have easy access again.

I have DOT compliant lights on the trailer, plus lights on a bar strapped to the OB. Puts lights in the drivers' faces, and they're all the way back so no worries about someone clipping the OB or me getting a ticket for not having a red light on the mast (mast ends about where the OB ends). The light bar plugs into a female plug at the winch pedestal, where I have a junction box. I can leave the lights in the car, and the trailer is still road legal.

It's not pretty, but then, all anyone can see at night is red light.

Very nice, indeed!

Here in upstate , the trouble you get into with the law is less about your exact lights and more about how much of an a** you make of yourself.

My lights went out on my trailer about one hour from home At dusk, so I got the flashers working, turned them on , and continued down the Thruway. State cop pulled me over 20 minutes later, told her I figured it was better to get off highway than be fooling with them in the dark on the roadside...or trying to get home without lights, which I probably coud have pulled off. she thanked me for playing it safe and sent me on my way, sans tickets.