LED Trailer Lights On Sale At HarborFreights

[FishingFool]

Only $30.
http://www.harborfreight.com/automotive ... 94137.html

Can not beat that for the price. Yes yes, I know it's HarborFreights, but it's just LED lights. Probably from all the same source. Bought a set. Now I need to find the type of quick disconnecto that's on my current harness, so I dont have cut my harness and use those crappy twist caps that came with the kit.

[walrus]

How did the lights work out? What connectors did you use? I just got a set and hope to put them on this weekend.

[sickbayer]

I think you should do it right; cut, solder and heat shrink you will be shocked how easy it is. And it looks great.

[FishingFool]

How did the lights work out? What connectors did you use? I just got a set and hope to put them on this weekend.

I never installed it. I still have them. I was going to install them, until there was a chance I was going to buy different boat.


I'm going to use them on my new trailer. Havent dug in it to see how the current lights are attached.

The only thing I dont like about doing the whole and solder them on is, if you have to disconnect it in the future for whatever reason.

[MikeFishes]

How did the lights work out? What connectors did you use? I just got a set and hope to put them on this weekend.

I never installed it. I still have them. I was going to install them, until there was a chance I was going to buy different boat.


I'm going to use them on my new trailer. Havent dug in it to see how the current lights are attached.

The only thing I dont like about doing the whole and solder them on is, if you have to disconnect it in the future for whatever reason.

I'm not sure, but I think disconnecting after soldering is really quite easy. The hardest part would be to cut off the heat shrink sleve. Then desolder the connection by using some soldering wick. It sucks up the solder and you have nice and clean ends. No cutting involved.

But of course, I know nothing of other types of connections that you could use.

[G-Man]

Good deal on the lights! Now, to keep them water tight, remove the lids and apply some marine grade silicone to the edges and re-install the lids. Second, use the heat shrink/hot glue butt connectors that you can get at marine and auto parts stores to do the connections. As the trailer frame is hollow, you can run the lines inside the frame and that way you won't feel the need to trim the excess wire. This will leave you more than enough wire to cut and re-attach connectors or lights multiple times. If need be, you can get rubber grommets for any holes you use or drill in the frame, to prevent wire chaffing, at the same place you get the butt connectors.

[TomD]

So I bought a set of these, too... I think it's time to try LED's again... When you take the top lens off, the side lens also comes out. There are also holes in the light unit on the bottom of where the lens meets it. It looks like the design is to have the inside sealed and allow water to flow in and out of the "casing".

I can surely seal it all up, I just wonder if that is the right thing to do...??? Or seal up everything but the 3 small holes to let any water out???

Gman - thoughts?

[G-Man]

I had to replace my original LED lights as they incurred some salt water intrusion and shorted out on me. The unit's that came with the trailer and the replacements I purchased both came completely sealed. Having learned my lesson, I applied additional sealant to all the seams and wiring access points and have had no issues to this point. There are two theories on how to keep water from causing problems, but both require a perfect seal. The first is the most obvious, completely seal the unit, making it impervious to air and water intrusion. The second is the more conventional method and relies on air pressure to keep the water at bay when the lights are submerged. The unit is sealed with the exception of a small hole or two at the very bottom which would allow moisture to drain. This begs the question, how did moisture get in there in the first place? If your unit did not come with holes you can drill a couple of small (1/8") holes with a hand drill. Some of you may have done this trick with your vehicle's lights to get water out of them as well. A word of caution, if you don't have a perfect seal above holes, the air keeping out the water will escape and the water will come in. How quickly depends on the size of the leak, but if you submerge your lights and then see bubbles, you have some work to do! The whole key to the game is checking your equipment on a regular basis. I broke that cardinal rule and it cost me some new lights and the time to install them. If you go with the "seal the suckers completely" option and you later find that you have water intrusion, you can always resort to the second option.

[TomD]

Sounds like a plan... Seal the crud out of them...!

[FishingFool]

Good deal on the lights! Now, to keep them water tight, remove the lids and apply some marine grade silicone to the edges and re-install the lids. Second, use the heat shrink/hot glue butt connectors that you can get at marine and auto parts stores to do the connections. As the trailer frame is hollow, you can run the lines inside the frame and that way you won't feel the need to trim the excess wire. This will leave you more than enough wire to cut and re-attach connectors or lights multiple times. If need be, you can get rubber grommets for any holes you use or drill in the frame, to prevent wire chaffing, at the same place you get the butt connectors.

With the tip of resealing. I seperated the LED housing, from the outside housing. The LED housing will get a nice bead around the edge of the lens and wire entries.

The outside housing, I'm going to leave alone. Too many openings for water to get in. As long as the main LED housing is sealed, should be no problems.

Wish I had some spare 3M 5200, but all I got is the regular marine silicone. Hopefully that should be good enough.

Also, are trailer wires suppose to be tinned?

[G-Man]

Tinning is only necessary if you are going to be soldering them or wrapping them around a terminal connection. Leave them untinned when using crimp connections.

[FishingFool]

so I just tested the lights out for the 1st time tonight.

Hooked them up to a small 12v battery. The turn signal LEDs are not very bright. When the brakes are activated, you can barely make out the blinking.

But other than that, looks like it should be fine.





PS, I need a new side marker for my fender from my noob driving, when I first picked up the boat. As you can see, water is getting inside the lens and it will just be a matter of time until failure. As of right now, the light works though. The fender has been replaced. Luckily, they are cheap.

I bought these from Basspro thinking they would work.
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... rchResults


But I dont like them. The base plate needs to be screwed onto a metal surface to complete the circuit. There's only 1 wire coming out the back when you hook it up.
I'm sure I could solder on a wire and run it, but I dont think it will be very sturdy. Not to mention, it doesnt really match the other side.

[walrus]

I got a set of LED lights from HF and put them on my trailer...Shrink tube, liquid tape, crimp connectors...fish mainly salt. Working great.

[TomD]

I have mine all installed as well. Mine are really nice and bright. I have ground wires that run up the frame and screw in near the tongue, so I don't know if that is a difference... I have LED's all around now.

FF - For side markers, I got some Grote (sp?) brand LED markers from west Marine. I think the ywere about $16 each, but they do have both a power and a ground wire. They are looking good for me, too...