No Brake Lights on Inner Harbor Trailer Towed by Harley-Davidson Road King

Question:

i have a inner harber trailer I pull with a motorcycle I use a hopkins 48895 4 -5 converter and cannot seem to get brake lites i have power on red wire up to converter

asked by: Gary P

Expert Reply:

I would recommend using a circuit tester like part PTW2993 on the green and yellow wires exiting the converter, to see if you get voltage on them when the brake pedal is applied.

You stated that you are getting voltage on the brake wire on the input side of the converter. If you get no voltage on the output side, the converter is blown and will need to be replaced. The most common cause of the converter being blown is a short in the trailer wiring. You would need to trace each circuit back from the trailer connector, looking for pinched wires or loose connections. Make sure that the wiring insulation is in good shape, with no cracked or worn insulation that would allow the copper conductor to short to the trailer frame.

It is also possible that you have a poor ground connection. Check that the converter is properly grounded to the bike frame, and that the ground connection on the trailer is securely attached to clean metal. Each lamp on the trailer will typically get its ground connection by its connection to the trailer. If the lamps are not grounded by their attachment studs, make sure each lamp has a jumper wire to ground it to the trailer frame.

I have linked you to our wiring converter troubleshooting video, as well as a video showing how to troubleshoot your ground connections.

expert reply by: Mike L