DIY easy $10 trailer lights plugin fix

[keakar]

I decided to do this because I needed to fix my trailer lights but the damn things cost $40 and im on a very tight budget (fixed income) so I cut my non working module open to see whats in it that it has to cost so much.

low and behold there is nothing to it but there is a huge design flaw with it.

they run the wiring through a transistor which isn't needed but they often fail which is the only reason these things stop working, ever.

the core of how they work is the four diodes in them so the diodes do all the work and the transistors are just there like a fuse that can go bad.

so if you want to wire up trailer lights without buying the $40 contraption you can just follow these instructions but I prefer to think of this as a fix for one you already have wired in that failed on you since I don't like tapping into stock wiring by cutting it which is what you would need to do if you never had trailer wiring before. I would say this is a more appropriate thing to do after you already bought your $40 trailer light that comes with the stock plugs so you dont cut and wires and then when it fails on you as they often do, then do this fix and you will never have it fail again.

you just need a soldering iron, solder, heat shrink tubing, and electrical tape, then go buy 4 of these diodes or some like it: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...uctId=12673864

now how it works:
diodes allow electricity to go in only one direction and on our trucks the brakes have a separate wire then the flashers do, on many trucks the flashers are used as the brakes so those can be wired directly to the trailer plugs but on ours if you did this then every time you used either flasher then every light would flash like hazard lights and you would have no directional control. to solve this they use diodes to stop electricity from going to the other lights you don't want it to go to. simply cut the wires off of both sides of the module and connect the white and brown wires together, then solder in the diodes to the other wires as shown in the diagram.

in the diagram below you see how this works:

http://www.saltycajun.com/forum/albu...pictureid=3841

you can see how incredibly simple these things are but they are made with bad solder connections and have transistors in then that go bad all the time and the transistors aren't even doing anything except making these things quit working. when one fails there is nothing wrong with the diodes its the transistor or the solder connections went bad.

the power for the brakes goes through both middle diodes and sends power to both left and right flashers. when you need the driver flasher it goes through just the yellow wire and to the yellow flasher but the middle diode is also connected to it but the diode wont allow current to pass in the opposite direction so it acts like there is no connection there. the same happens on the opposite side for the passenger flasher.

this setup is indestructible and there are no moving parts or anything to wear out so unless you physicly crush the diodes they never fail.

this is a $10 repair to an otherwise $40 replacement harness for trailer lights and this setup will NEVER FAIL AGAIN.

this is also a $10 trailer wiring diagram so you don't have to buy one in the first place but for me, and I suggest the best thing to do, is just buy one for the very first time you connect trailer wires to your truck. I don't think you should ever cut and splice stock wiring even though people have done it that way for years and years.

NOTE: this was done for my Toyota but can work on other vehicles as well if your connector is wired with an extra wire other then the yellow, green, white, and brown. having the extra wire is what makes it necessary to use the diodes to prevent back feed of power to the other lights.

[marsh life]

Great info

[lil bubba]

Sorry but I aint the smartest cacahoe in the bucket and I never sleep at a holiday inn . Are you talking about a toyota truck problem or a led trailer light problem , cause I never had a problem with my trailer lights led and I drive a chevy. I'm not being critical of your post I'm just try'n to figure out what you talk'n bout in case this condition arises. I'm thinking the module you talking about is on the truck ?

[keakar]

Originally Posted by lil bubba

Sorry but I aint the smartest cacahoe in the bucket and I never sleep at a holiday inn . Are you talking about a toyota truck problem or a led trailer light problem , cause I never had a problem with my trailer lights led and I drive a chevy. I'm not being critical of your post I'm just try'n to figure out what you talk'n bout in case this condition arises. I'm thinking the module you talking about is on the truck ?

no im not talking about trailers at all and this is not needed for people who have factory wired trailer light plugs already on their trucks.

im talking about people who added trailer light converters to their trucks themselves and had to buy those expensive direct plug in contraptions you buy to plug into your trucks tail lights to give you a working trailer light plug.

in the old days you had no issue because all vehicles used the flashers as brake lights just like trailers do so you could just hook your trailer plugin directly to your tail lights and they worked but on newer vehicles they went to separate flasher lights that were no longer also used as brake lights so the need arose for these "special" trailer light converters to be used. these converters can get pricey depending on the type of vehicle you have. my chevy was like $25 but for a Toyota its $40 yet the parts inside are the same, they just charge a whole lot more simply because its a Toyota.

anyways these converters are very cheaply made with low quality and prone to failing on you and when they do, that is when you need this fix . it will be a way to permanently replace it with something that never fails and never wears out.

some might wonder why have transistors if they aren't needed? well the answer is to sell you more converters because anytime there is the slightest issue with the trailer wiring like a short it will make the transistors fail. you can always put inline fuses on the wires when you do this fix but its already fused through your truck wiring so its redundant but you could do it if it made you feel better.

[lil bubba]

gotcha..............

[Gottogo49]

Yep I did the same thing when I had a Toyota truck, I mounted the diodes on the tail light holder bracket. The only other thing that I found to be helpful is to run a separate ground wire directly to each tail light. Using the frame of the trailer as a ground is problematic.
Mr Keekar must be an instrument man or electronics guy. Just sleeping at a Holiday Inn won't help you figure out that kind of problem.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by Gottogo49

Mr Keekar must be an instrument man or electronics guy. Just sleeping at a Holiday Inn won't help you figure out that kind of problem.

a/c repair tech for 38 years and before that as a kid i loved to take stuff apart to fix it or just figure out how the dang thing works. it didn't matter, anything broken I would fix it or find out why its trash ever since I was about 9yrs old lol