Thread: Aspiration or Expectation

I think it just happens sometimes

probably worked when wires were installed, and when the plug was fitted back onto the car, or trailer, maybe it got dislodged .. really who knows(until you find out what's wrong)

But recently I'd been doing some work for SES moving new equipment about the state, and they had me deliver a trailer to somewhere(can't remember which location now), and it was one of their storm trailers.
Large box with lots of electrics within(and a genny) ... etc.

Hooked it up to the tow car, did the lights check, reverse lights came on with the parkers. LEDs too, so I'd have driven(I think it was Wodonga) all this way with reverse lights on.

Don't know exactly what the issue was, as there were issues with the trailers 'electrics' too, so someone had installed the electrics all wrong. No lights inside, no flashing (emergency)lights .. etc.

All I could do to get it to it's destination was to pull the reverse lights wire out of the socket at the trailer end to get it there without annoying everyone behind.
Pulled up twice at the rest stops to confirm stuff was still working, and then also noticed that the rear axles were ejecting grease at a decent rate of knots too(tandem, with white sunraysias, so not hard not to see on a quick check around)
Parkers and indicators still working, but now bearings were about to self destruct too.
Quick hand temp test had my hand almost blister from the excessive heat on those bearings(minimum 70°C or more), whereas the front axle was barely luke warm(I think about 15-ish degrees ambient, and I sit on about 90 when towing).

To be sure, trailer was collected from 60klms away from the SES depot .. so for all intents and purposes brand new.

Just bad QC. And SES don't skimp on their purchases either.

You say that not a single globe is working, so the primary culprit would be the earth wire.
Could be that the car end was dislodged, or that the trailer plug not connected/seated properly.
Can't remember exactly, but I think standard trailer plug wiring has the earth return via the white wire(something you could check)

How many pins(5 or 7? flat or round).

Lionel,

Hello from Brisbane.

I sense your disappointment. I suppose I would also have been too if I had shared your experience. Post-purchase regret is an all too familiar feeling in this day and age I think - something isn’t working, tools lying about rather than put back as they were etc. You’d hope for better.

However, sometimes it just works out that way - it sounds like a bad earth on the plug which should be easy to correct.

Probably more important is how well the company fitted the bar itself. Hopefully both the bar and the fitting are what you expected.

On a side note, I recently upgraded the tail lights and number plate lights on my own trailer and put the tools away accompanied with the smug satisfaction that I’d done an extra grouse job. When I finally connected it to my car for a tip run a few weeks later I noticed that the number plate lights didn’t come on with the tail lights. Also that they came on when the brakes were pushed but only one of the two lamps worked anyway. The reason for the first issue was obvious, the second that despite the best of intentions and despite being soldered the earth to one of the lamps had separated when the joint was taped. It happens.

Hope your future towing days are good ones.

Cheers,

Neil

hey did not "get around to testing anything" before they telephoned and let me know my car was ready to pick-up.

So that was a simple hypothetical "ready to pick up"?


You should expect far better service than that as obviously it wasn't ready at all until it was handed over to you completely tested.

Right choice Lionel, ditch them.

Hello All,

Thank you for the replies.

I have my car back from the auto electricians. All lights are working now.

Some how the Earth wire had disconnected itself from the vehicle side of the plug and miraculously connected itself into the reverse lights connection. Not that I have reverse lights on the trailer. Funny how things migrate all on their own! Funny how my lights on my trailer were working before I dropped the car off.

Anyway, I had bought a new set of headlights and a new car aerial and had them sitting in the shed about a year ago. I lost the motivation to do the job myself when a Commodore Forum member said that to change the headlights in a VY Commodore the front bumper has to come off. Plastic and plastic clips and I do not work out well. Hence my like of Series Land Rovers. Metal and more metal. Plus, if I make a mistake with the wiring - I burn up a 20 cent fuse. Not a mysterious "black box" worth lots of dollars which controls just about everything to do with the engine being able to run.

So while the trailer light issue was sorted I had the new headlights installed and the new aerial. From what the auto-electrician said they are two jobs that do not appear on their favourite list of things to do. Fiddly time consuming and frustrating. Sometimes it is good to pay for someone else to endure those experiences.

Fingers crossed for the trailer shake-down trip tomorrow and Friday. Then off I go interstate with the trailer early next week.

Kind regards
Lionel