LED Trailer Runway lights update...

So on both my supra and my Moomba, I did led strip lighting on my trailer with a digital bilge pump switch to control them.

• 1.5 meters of black 5050 SMD waterproof strip lights, Mine light up BLUE
• 2.Atwood Digital Bilge Switch (Amazon.com had the best price)

http://imgs.inkfrog.com/pix/bestonli...15_%283%29.JPG

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...cL._SX385_.jpg

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This switch will power the lights on for 8 seconds when you first turn on the running lights. Just a power up test it always does. Once the sensors are wet for 8 seconds, then the lights will illuminate. The switch will keep the lights powered up for 1 minute after the sensors are out of the water. There are no moving parts on this switch so it won't trigger the lights going down the road on bumps.
http://www.amazon.com/Attwood-Digita.../dp/B001O0D6LU

Okay, so I just ran the strip lights down the top of my frame rails of my trailer. I tapped into my running light circuit of my trailer lights, ran a wire across to the other side to power those strip lights, and secured the strip lights about every 3 to 4 feet with zip ties around the frame rails. Yes, they have adhesive, but it's weak and I don't trust it so I zip tied the strip lights in place.

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http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/...pskrdkwlqr.jpg

A week or two ago, I noticed that one whole side of the runway lights wasn't lighting up. Frustrating for sure.

Last night I dug into it to do some troubleshooting. I found that the side that was having issues wasn't getting power.

So I traced the wiring from the power lead of the LED strip to the digital bilge pump switch. What I found is that the wire I used to go from the switch's lead to the other side of the trailer for the LED strip lead was corroded at the connection between the switch and the wire I used to connect it to the LED strip. I stripped back some and it was still corroded. I kept going and going and it was still corroded badly 1 foot or more away from the splice. I guess the moisture just sucked its way into the wire and it was corroded inside the insulation...

I replaced that section of wire and it's still not getting power to the other strip. So next round I'll probably have to swap out the entire length of wire. It's probably a 12' run because it goes forward to a crossbar and across the width of the trailer.

In hindsight I should have definitely used some silicone to seal up the splice of the wires. Or maybe used OFC vs some CCA wire that I had laying around.

Live and learn but a good update for those who go this route.

I still have the LED on my trailer but never got to putting on the switch lol

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Originally Posted by mmandley

Live and learn but a good update for those who go this route.

I still have the LED on my trailer but never got to putting on the switch lol

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Because you use your trailer SOOOO much and SOOOO much at night! LOL.


And it's not like 12' of single conductor wire costs anything. I just got to the point where I figured it out at bedtime and didn't want to mess with it anymore last night. It won't take long to use the old wire to fish new wire and get it all working good. Yeah, I figure a couple dabs of silicone would have prevented this.

Correct sir

I was saying you didn't know any better about the corrosion and now you do.

So it's a good learning experience.

I use my trailer so much I rented it out the last month lol

You might even want to use "direct burial cable" it is a silicone flooded cable or wire. It is a mess to work with but does the job well. Heat shrink and the like fully submerged wont cut it for long. I cant tell you how much wire I have had to dig up for gates, cameras and speakers in my past. All due to not using direct burial. Many times even in conduit. However the Houston area is barely above sea level. Anything in the ground is wet.