What Voltage is your Trailer At?

[rsinger]

Absolutely predictable as the wire and connector resistance becomes more of a loss issue with greater current draw.
If you do a dedicated circuit with its own disconnect and heavier wire gauge you can eliminate almost all of the voltage drop.

David

I can't disagree with David, but something just doesn't sit right with me. With only the factory lights on there still shouldn't be any noticeable voltage drop anywhere. You should be reading 12 volts right up to each trailer light.

This trailer is brand spankin new, and I'm assuming a boat mate which is irrelevant anyhow. But I'd check with the manufacturer as well as your dealer. I would assume whoever engineered the electrical aspect of the trailer would have guaged the wiring appropriately, so it's resistance would not impact the current and voltage to the lights. That's what the fuses are for.

I'm concerned if you're getting voltage drop through a connector or the wire itself. If there is a loose connection (maybe) or the wire itself is to small (highly unlikely), I'm worried about heat buildup by the bad connection.

A parallel that I would draw, this really happened. We had a heater plugged in, in our basement. The plug actually started smoking, it got so hot. Luckily enough I was there when this happened, and I yanked the cord as soon as I saw the smoke. I was amazed that the breaker didn't go, but looking at the heater end of the connector, I found that a number of the stranded wires were already broken causing all the current trying to go through the remaining good wires. In retrospect it didn't blow the breaker because it wasn't drawing 15 amps but it was trying to draw more than the remaining wires were capable of carrying. If I could have metered both sides of this connection, I'm positive there would have been a voltage drop similar to what you're seeing on the trailer.