Howdy !
We all have our “Pet Peeves” and one of mine is bad wiring practices. One of my biggest “Peeves” is reserved for those ever be darned 3-M wire splicers. Now the idea is good. A simple one-wire-in and two-wires-out splicer that you just lay the wires into and crimp it into place. No stripping the insulation off of the wires, no tape to hold it together and quick.
However, folks just seem to go crazy with the dang things. Last week a buddy of mine brought his 5th wheel trailer over because the tail lights “just stopped working” and could I fix it if he brought the adult beverages. Well, I hooked up my trusty light and brake controller test machine to the trailer and the lights worked just fine. Hummmmn
Hooking my tester to the trailer electrical connector on the pickup we tried the brakes, tail lights and turn signals and nothing worked. Now as you might already know, I’m in my more “advanced” years and crawling on the ground is something not on my current list of hobbies – but – he is a friend so under the truck I went.
This is what we found:
Those first quick clips were put on by the RV dealer when he took the truck in to have the hitch and brake controller installed. The second were done during one of his travels at a shop that “fixed” his intermittent tail light failure.
We tend to forget that inside these quick-clips are little dinguses that look kinda like a itty-bitty tuning fork that is pressed over the wire when the clip is crimped into place. The wire gets nicked and over time and vibration the nick can turn into a cut wire. Water and dirt can also get into these things causing corrosion and make the splice fail.
Cequent, Bargeman and other wire and brake controller companies make adapters that you just plug into the tow vehicle’s wiring harness for the brake controller and the trailer’s light/brake plug. No cutting, splicing or mess.
For motorhomes that tail light plug for the TOAD on the back of the rig and the splices into the TOAD’s light circuts may be done with these critters so it might be a good idea to take a look at the connections and see what you have. I’ve seen some pretty high dollar coaches with these things on them so don’t assume that everything is custom wired ! In fact, it your rig is used you might want to check it completly to make sure that some previous owner didn’t use these things.
If you MUST use one of the 3-M type connectors just make sure that the quick-clip is taped to prevent crud from getting into it and the wire is mounted to prevent strain and vibration from cutting the wire.
Well, that’s my peeve for the day –
Latter,
The Old Ranger