Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I have two questions:
1) Would it be ok or even advantageous to run the wiring for the lights on the trailer inside the cabin? If I run them underneath I will put them in pvc or a protective tube and it will have to hang down underneath the frame. I have an interior height of 54" and am planning on having 12" of space underneath the bed so i can easily run wires inside and think it might look a lot better. Also the tail lights are in the hatch so I have to bring them inside at some point anyway. Has anyone done this before?

2) I have the marker lights and was looking at them last night - there are no wires only two small socket looking things. In the box there are two separate one wire mates for the sockets and two 90 degree three prong connectors. I have four lights - how do I wire these?

Thanks
Ryan

Not exactly sure what you are getting at about the light sockets. Sealed lights typically have a set up like that, a socket on the back with two or three connections (twpically three on a two way light, but I have seen some 3s on a marker light before, however, there usually isn't any metal in the third socket). Not sure about the one wire, you got a pic you can post?

I don't see why running trailer wiring in the cabin would be a problem.

First , the marker lights, I believe the solid brown wire from your wire harness is the marker and tail lights. The second wire is ground. That should be the white wire in your harness. Just loop them all in a daisy chain. I run my harness under the floor of the trailer in that blue plastic conduit and boxes. I put a box up front that I catch the front marker lights and the 12 V in side recepticals. Another box back under the galley. Pick up the marker lights in the rear there. I also take my wire harness up through the galley to catch my tail lights and license light in the hatch. I use a male and female connection there at the hinge. This allows me to easily remove my hatch without cutting wires. Don't forget to run a 12V light into your hatch for cooking light. This one I run separately from the harness but also put a connector for easy disconnect.

Inside light I run through the roof spares inside the roof. I drop them all into the same space I run the harness up to the hatch. Battery, converter and fuse block are in between for easy hook up.

I ran all my wires through the td. They enter through the tongue box and then head along the wall over the doors right to the back galley.

Last Sat. I wired the 4x7 teardrop sleeper. I decided I did not want to run the wires underneath the floor this time. I measured in 3 1/2 inches ( the width of a 1x4) and drilled 1/4" holes in each and every spar on both right and left side. The 3 1/2" set in allows me to screw fasten the outside of the FRP roof with silicone and rosettes without worry of hitting the wiring as long as the 3 1/2" area is considered a no fastner area.

I pulled in 12-3 extention cord from front to rear on both sides. The black will be my "brown" running lights , the white will remain white or ground and the green will be the green / yellow turn and brake circuit. Where my clearance lights occured I simply stripped back the outer sheath and tapped into the black (running) and the white (ground wire) with a short section of black and white wire and drilled a small hole thru the side and routed them to the clearance lights. I would strongly suggest a good solder job and these be well taped as well. Once the roof is on it will be all but impossible to reach for repair without felling like a rebuild.

I ran the trailer lights as the directions indicate. The only change was to encase those wires in that plastic sheathing used in automobiles. I bought a bag of them at HF. I didn't even have to cut them. It's almost as if they were made for the trailer. The rest of the wiring was started in the tongue box. We put the battery in there and connected it to a fuseable link. We used a jumper cable through the wall to the back panel where it is connected to an automotive type panel and a converter to make 110. All of the other wiring was built in the walls. The walls were built on a table then set over a key glued and screwed to the floor. There was a key way in the bottom of each wall that fit snugly over the key. The walls were glued and fastened to the key. That kept the outside dimensions at forty eight inches.
Steve

i ran my wiring up and over. since pics are worth a thousand words:


at the bottom of the pic you can see where the wires exit the body and enter the fuse box


the fuse box

Ok so I am going to go through the TD with the wiring. I don't need to run it through any spars, just along the floor so it should be easy. The wiring is still confusing - here is the pic and I don't know how to do the ground wire. The wiring harness has the ground going to the frame so what do I do with the ground wires from the lights? Where do I connect those? Sorry for all the newbie questions. Thanks

Here is a pic of one marker light snapped into the frame; one without the frame and the wires that were included. I have four lights and two each of the wires.

You'll need a wire for each light. If you look closely you can see that one of the terminals has a metal trace that one of the mounting screws will make contact with and ground if the light is screwed into your frame which is intended to serve as the ground.

I think I'd mount an eyelet under that point (where the ground screw is intended to ground the light) with a wire attached and run that wire to a ground terminal strip where all your d/c is grounded.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

Everybody seems to freak out at the thought of running wiring under trailer frame... Well I have done that ever since I have been towing (50 years) and never had a problem.... In the beginning I just taped wiring to frame(s).... I later years I have just put wiring in "split tubing" and used zip ties to hold it in place.... Advantage is its always accessible for repairs.... Disadvantages, none that I know of.....

As for grounding lamps.... Any single wire fixtures needs to have extra ground added if fixture is mounted on wood/fiberglass/non-grounded metal skins....

People will also argue frame is not good ground source, well... IF its a welded frame there is no better larger ground conductor ... IF its a painted and bolted frame is a poor conductor.... I always use chassis as ground source and have never had a problem.... I always add ground circuit to lamps (single wire) not mounted directly to chassis...

Always use proper methods for connections and always use dielectric grease on any crimped or screw connection...

Simple concepts that always work...

Dale

Aint2Proud wrote:Ok so I am going to go through the TD with the wiring. I don't need to run it through any spars, just along the floor so it should be easy. The wiring is still confusing - here is the pic and I don't know how to do the ground wire. The wiring harness has the ground going to the frame so what do I do with the ground wires from the lights? Where do I connect those? Sorry for all the newbie questions. Thanks

Here is a pic of one marker light snapped into the frame; one without the frame and the wires that were included. I have four lights and two each of the wires.

The spot you have the wire plugged into is the ground. If you plug any of them into that spot while the lamp is bolted to the frame, it will be a direct short circuit to ground. Its pretty easy to see, since that spot is also part of the metal mounting base and is the same piece that the mounting holes are in.
It looks like it uses standard banana plugs, so you can get some more at Radio Shack or anyplace that sells electronic parts (take in one that you have, and probably one of the lights as well, to match it up) and then you can plug into that spot and run a wire to a ground junction block, if you want to go through all that.
The 3 wire plug that you have in the picture wont plug into the lights you showed, which only have 2 terminals. There are 2 terminal plugs similar to that 3 wire one you posted, but I kinda doubt they will plug in correctly, unless you modify the mounting base to remove the piece of metal that goes around the one terminal on the light.

Dale M. wrote:Everybody seems to freak out at the thought of running wiring under trailer frame... Well I have done that ever since I have been towing (50 years) and never had a problem.... In the beginning I just taped wiring to frame(s).... I later years I have just put wiring in "split tubing" and used zip ties to hold it in place.... Advantage is its always accessible for repairs.... Disadvantages, none that I know of.....As for grounding lamps.... Any single wire fixtures needs to have extra ground added if fixture is mounted on wood/fiberglass/non-grounded metal skins....

People will also argue frame is not good ground source, well... IF its a welded frame there is no better larger ground conductor ... IF its a painted and bolted frame is a poor conductor.... I always use chassis as ground source and have never had a problem.... I always add ground circuit to lamps (single wire) not mounted directly to chassis...

Always use proper methods for connections and always use dielectric grease on any crimped or screw connection...

Simple concepts that always work...

Dale

I wasn't freaking out this is my 9th build in 40 years and the first I have kept contained in the body. Should I wish to remove the shell I can without having to cut the wiring from the frame. In fact with an additional 4 way flat male and female coupling it would remove without care from the frame. Something to think about for the folks that talk of a removable body for a utility / teardrop combo trailer.

Wire simply taped to the frame here in the frozen north wind up with 15 - 20 pounds of ice and snow on them in some conditions playing hell with the wiring. I agree the frame is a good ground conductor unfortunatly the ground need to reach the tow vehicle and the ball and coupler connection is not always a good conductor. A grounding clip from the trailer to the tow vehicle frame may help correct this problem. Some of the 4 way flat connectors have NO white ( ground) wire therefore they must rely on the trailer frame to tow ground. I try and be certain that I purchase the ones that do have a dedicated ground ( white wire ) back to the tow vehicle and tie each lites ground wire to a common ground and return these to the dedicated ground at the plug via a heavy 10 - 12 gage ground wire. The time spent wiring it with a bit of extra care save several hours of head scratching trying to figure out the lighting gremlins.

bobhenry wrote:I agree the frame is a good ground conductor unfortunatly the ground need to reach the tow vehicle and the ball and coupler connection is not always a good conductor.

I ALWAYS BOND WHITE GROUND WIRE (or any other color for ground ) to trailer frame at tongue even IF I choose to run grounds to individual fixtures....or brake breakaway system or TB battery or whatever...

Prefer to use large gauge wire like 10 gauge so there no possible confusion (electrical) that there is enough ground current capabilities....

Yes 4 way corrector don't have that capabilities that is why I prefer 7 way connectors... And I always up grade grounds on factory plugs on TV....

Dale

bobhenry wrote:I agree the frame is a good ground conductor unfortunatly the ground need to reach the tow vehicle and the ball and coupler connection is not always a good conductor.

I ALWAYS BOND WHITE GROUND WIRE (or any other color for ground ) to trailer frame at tongue even IF I choose to run grounds to individual fixtures....or brake breakaway system or TB battery or whatever...

Prefer to use large gauge wire like 10 gauge so there no possible confusion (electrical) that there is enough ground current capabilities....

Yes 4 way corrector don't have that capabilities that is why I prefer 7 way connectors... And I always up grade grounds on factory plugs on TV....

Dale