LED Trailer Light Voltage Loss

Question:

I have a 2007 Chevrolet 3500 dually, long box and four door, it is a long truck. I also have a 20 ft cargo trailer that is probably a total of 25 ft long with the toung. I use the trailer around the Gulf of Mexico a lot and the origional wirring has pretty much corroded away. I have come back in with new wires and all joints are now soldered instead of using the crimp connectors. However it appears that over the length of my trailer and truck I am loosing a little voltage. I measure 12 volts at the tail lights but only 10 at the running lights. For background, the new wirring harness has the running lights conect to the tail light harness at the back of the trailer instead of splicing in midway the way they origionally did. My main question is would this affect the function of an LED light, at what point will it no longer turn on?

asked by: Spencer

Expert Reply:

It sounds like you did it the right way this time! To track down this voltage loss, I would recommend a few things. First, make sure that your trailer and vehicle side are properly grounded to clean, bare metal. Secondly, double check all of your connections, from the trailer connector on back, checking for pinched wires. Using some dielectric grease, like part # 11755 on all of your connections, including the trailer connector, to protect against water and corrosion. LED lights actually use a fraction of the voltage that normal bulbs do, so the drop probably is not a big deal. Everything should still work fine.

expert reply by: Mike L