Should Butt Connectors On a Boat Trailer be Replaced with Heat Shrink and Solder

Question:

I do have a aluminum trailer and the lights were working properly. Due to time and corrosion, i guess the circuit does not have a good ground. Yes the signals are working and those were having ground issues also. Im also thinking the connectors of the running lights are constantly in the salt water so there could have some corrosion between the connectors? Im wondering if i should cut off the connectors and just connect and solder the wires so theres no salt water touching the wires? Or does each running light that has a ground need to be cleaned and have the ring terminal replaced and waterproofed? Any help in this matter would help. Back to the original question, how do you route a jumper ground wire? I read that in one of your help answers, but I?m still unclear about how to do that or should i mount some kind of stainless steel metal to a plastic bumper and make that a ground? lol thank you for your help.

asked by: Kai

Helpful Expert Reply:

I assume you are referring to butt connectors and if that is the case then these can very well be the cause of your issue as they can trap corrosion over time and cause problems. If you test for power on the wire going into the connector and then coming out, that should then let you know if power is passing through the butt connector. If it is not then I prefer to solder and heat shrink wires together as this creates the best bond but we also have heat shrink butt connectors like part # DW05744-5 which are good for boat trailers. If power is passing through then you will need to redo the ground most likely. However, because you have an aluminum frame trailer I recommend you tie the ground for each of your lights (if applicable) into one another and then run them to a single point on the coupler, alongside the trailer side trailer connector ground.

In order to run a jumper wire on the ground circuit you will just take the ground for the trailer connector and then run a wire from that to the light you are having issues with. However, if you do the above then you don't have to run any jumper wires.

expert reply by: Conner L