Log 2014060601

Last year, I did an adequate job wiring my 1195 Lb. Capacity Heavy Duty Folding Utility Trailer that I purchased from Harbor Freight Tools.  But I left it's wires drooping in anticipation that I was going to fold it someday.  Well, when I placed it in storage, while folding it, I taunt and stretched the wires.  With all of the wire shorting problems that I've had between the trailer and car, I don't dare trust them again.  So, the trailer needs to be rewired.
But I got to thinking this evening that there's no way to do this right when folding without having some kind of separation.  Last year, I probably played around with using some kind of bullets.  But as I understand, those are usually designed for wires typically used in model aircraft and small RC cars.  I never found one that could interface to a 6 gauge battery cable so that my marine battery on the trailer could charge on the trailer while it's in motion.

So, what purchased today from Walmart in Mentor of Lake County are 5 - trailer extension wiring that have both a male and female ends for a 4 flat connection.  I intend to use the first two at the midsection and the others at the trailer's taillights. That will give me the separation that I need.  And the midsection connections should be rugged enough to stay connected and not accidentally ground to the frame.

Since my floor is wood, I also purchased some mounting brackets that one would use in a house to pin coaxial cable to a base board.  I plan on tacking that up under the trailer to hold my wires so that they don't sag.  The connectors at the taillights are there for diagnostic and by-pass purposes.  If I'm down trail, I may not be readily able to diagnose, by-pass, or re-wire the main lines.  With these new connectors, I can run a temporary by-pass on top of the floor and have full running lights in the meantime.

On a seperate note... I applied this year's sticker on the trailer's license plate today.  The temporary by-pass lighting was mounted to the rear rails.  But I discovered that the left turn signal wasn't working.  I tested them two days ago and found that both worked.  Therefore, there is a short in the car at the location where the hitch wiring was installed.

Leaving the Storage B, there wasn't any issues with the trailer linking up to the car or while driving.  While at the gas station, they didn't have any alkaline AAA batteries, so I reluctantly purchased some lithium ion's instead.  With the main taillights out, they were for a headlamp that I wrapped around one of the taillights that serves as the license plate light as well.  The headlamp is for people who go in caves, or hikers.  But it has an elastic band that I mounted to the taillight so it would illuminate the license plate.