My mom and dad are an hour away on a camping trip. When dad hooked up the 5'er to the truck, he checked and all lights were functioning. He came out got in and went down the road.

As he was traveling he noticed he didn't having running lights. Brake controller was functioning and brakes themselves were working. He called a his friend who was following him and checked if he had turn signals and break lights, and that was fine.

So he called me after unhooking. He checked connection in the bed, as well as on the bumper and neither one will run the trailer lights. He jumped the connector on the trailer like all of the people in my camping group do in order to get the running lights on while we are camped (a tradition my brother, father and I started). Running lights on the trailer work fine when jumped so it's not the trailer. He checked fuses with a meter number 6, 17, 18, and 38 (going off memory here) and they were all good. Number 115 which is a bigger one (not a relay) with a plastic window and is supposedly for trailer battery charging was blown so he went to Autozone to get some fuses.

He hasn't reported back whether or not that fixed it for him. I do't think 115 is going to be it. So what now? Anything I can tell him to check before he has to run the truck to an automotive electrical place?

 

Jason, mine would always pop the 20amp under the hood. Why, not sure, but once switched out, with trailer hooked, it would be fine, until the next venture with toyhauler.

 

So, he replaced 115, checked plugs with a meter, had no 12 volt anywhere. Plugged camper in on a whim, it has lights. I told him to get some di-electric grease and call it a day. I hate electrical gremlins...

 

You can jumper the plug with a fuse for running lights while parked at the campground... My plug always needs attention every year.

 

Yeah. If you take a little wire and jump the top 2 contacts together one on each side of the alignment lug, voila...lights.

If you are looking at the plug, the plastic alignment lug on top, the contact to the upper right is running lights, the contact to the upper left is 12V. Jump those 2 and the running lights are on. When you are plugged in to the camp's 120 service, it keeps a charge on the batteries, and you have lights. It's just something I saw once and I thought something was wrong with the guys camper. So my dad, brother, and I went over and told him and he chuckled. He said he saw a plug selling on ebay for about $20 that did it. He said he was pretty sure it was 2 wires jumped inside the plug but he didn't know which 2. My brother did a little research and found out which to contacts it was and I keep a little 14 gauge wire and once we set up, I jump those 2. I like it.

 

Thanks for the tip on jumping the running lights, very festive!

My 5er hooks to a plug in the bed, on mine a wire got loose once, worth checking. Pull plug out of bed, screw wire back on, pretend it was hard and have a cold one.

 

Instead of using a jumper wire I use a blade type fuse just in case something shorts out I have an extra layer of protection...

 

I see a lot of dealers at RV shows do that. Some use a turn signal relay to make them all blink.

I think your recommendation of dielectric grease was likely spot on. He may want to pull the plug off the truck end and make sure the wiring behind isn't starting to rot.

 

What amp fuse do you use? Does anyone running the lights all night long have any issues with bulbs burning out or lenses getting too hot and distorting?

 

Nah, they're low voltage. I haven't had any issues.

Btw, he drove home yesterday with no issues.

 

Jason,

Sorry I'm late but glad the problem was fixed.

I'll post this pic just in case someone in the future can us it:

 

Thanks Rich, I can't figure out how to do that. I am cumputerly challenged...

 

So, would this be the Hkusp Trailer Light Mod (TLM)???

 

I didn't invent it for sure, but yep, that does it.

And now you are just showing off