Lightem Up....

[Mij]

I luv doing this, its kind of a trademark of mine. Maybe its common knowlegde not sure. I take the 7 prong plug from the camper and use a 15amp fuse and short the two terminals that share the notch on the plug which lights up all the parking lamps and taillamps on the camper. Looks awesome at night and usually get a couple people asking if I know that my parking lamps are on even though my Yukon is not parked near the camper.

[SLIMSHADIE]

I've read about that. So I tried it and the blades on the fuse are not long enough for my trailer plug?

[Johnnyfry]

You can also fit a flasher between the 2 pins and flash the tail/clearance lights.

It is said to be useful if you have to call 911. Direct the emergency crew to the trailer with the flashing lights. The flasher pins will bridge the light and battery terminals.

John

[DTJ9610]

Can you post a pic at what the plug looks like with the fuse.

[Mij]

I will try n get some pics up tonight.

[Mij]

Here you go.

Cool - gonna have to try this one next time I camp. I found a page about doing this with a flasher relay too: http://rvbasics.com/techtips/emergen...er-lights.html

[DTJ9610]

Thanks for the pics.

[SLIMSHADIE]

I must of had a short fuse, cause I went out with a 10 and 15 and they both worked

[Mij]

It really does not have to be a fuse. A paper clip will work as well.

[Hunter757]

Sweet would of never thought to do that.

[christopherglenn]

I would use a fuse, One of the pins is hot battery, you are shorting it to the lights. That is alot of amps to be running in thin wires to the lights if you get a short to ground.

[cumminsdad08]

not to mention that clip could get very hot, which is bad to touch and for it to hit something else and melt or start a fire. stick with a fuse if you want to play with your lights. it's not a bad idea to have several in the unit anyway.......

[hoffbrew]

Can this be done while camping with full hook-up, plugged in?

[SAD]

Originally Posted by hoffbrew

Can this be done while camping with full hook-up, plugged in?

Yup. I do it all the time.

This case, the 12v is coming from your battery/converter.

[webslave]

I use a "home made" device to activate the clearance and tail lights in the "parking light mode" and then with the addition of one push on wire connection, can make the brake lights flash.

I bought the pigtail piece at the auto parts store along with an "electronic" flasher suitable for LED use (a standard mechanical flasher won't work if you've converted your lights to LED as I have). The assembled device looks like:




The internal wiring is reasonable straight forward...



The white wire is a jumper between the power pin and the parking lights (clearance and tail lights) while the black wire is on the power supply and will be used for the brake lights and the two reds are the brake lights (turn signals) one for the left and one for the right.



Assembled, the back end looks like this. The red wires are twisted together and connected to one leg of the flasher, while the black wire (12v +) is left loose. If I want the brake lights to flash, ala hazard flashers, I connect the black wire to the open leg of the flasher.



I actually "glued" the flasher unit to the 7 pin connector once my "proof of concept" worked so there isn't any wire ties actually on the finished project. It is one piece, stows easily, I don't have to worry about which pins get shorted/connected and is easy to use.

I, personally, don't use mine for general "isn't that cool" lighting. Kind of defeats the purpose of using them for EMS location in a campground if lots of people have their lights in various stages of on or on and flashing, not to mention that a lot of people find them annoying, particularly if in a site next to one that has all of its lights flashing. I use them for emergencies only...should I need EMS or if I have a breakdown on the side of the road and have to leave the trailer for some reason; the hazard flashers will work just like the tow vehicle's without the need for tow vehicle being there and with all my exterior lighting converted to LED, should run off the house batteries for weeks if need be... You could use fuses with the above, however, I've never, in my 45 years of driving, ever run into a short circuit situation with the lighting that would require the use of one, so, I left it out. For the rare instance of needing to use the unit, I didn't feel like trying to cram one into the coupler.

[X-Treme]

Originally Posted by webslave

I use a "home made" device to activate the clearance and tail lights in the "parking light mode" and then with the addition of one push on wire connection, can make the brake lights flash.

I bought the pigtail piece at the auto parts store along with an "electronic" flasher suitable for LED use (a standard mechanical flasher won't work if you've converted your lights to LED as I have). The assembled device looks like:




The internal wiring is reasonable straight forward...



The white wire is a jumper between the power pin and the parking lights (clearance and tail lights) while the black wire is on the power supply and will be used for the brake lights and the two reds are the brake lights (turn signals) one for the left and one for the right.



Assembled, the back end looks like this. The red wires are twisted together and connected to one leg of the flasher, while the black wire (12v +) is left loose. If I want the brake lights to flash, ala hazard flashers, I connect the black wire to the open leg of the flasher.



I actually "glued" the flasher unit to the 7 pin connector once my "proof of concept" worked so there isn't any wire ties actually on the finished project. It is one piece, stows easily, I don't have to worry about which pins get shorted/connected and is easy to use.

I, personally, don't use mine for general "isn't that cool" lighting. Kind of defeats the purpose of using them for EMS location in a campground if lots of people have their lights in various stages of on or on and flashing, not to mention that a lot of people find them annoying, particularly if in a site next to one that has all of its lights flashing. I use them for emergencies only...should I need EMS or if I have a breakdown on the side of the road and have to leave the trailer for some reason; the hazard flashers will work just like the tow vehicle's without the need for tow vehicle being there and with all my exterior lighting converted to LED, should run off the house batteries for weeks if need be... You could use fuses with the above, however, I've never, in my 45 years of driving, ever run into a short circuit situation with the lighting that would require the use of one, so, I left it out. For the rare instance of needing to use the unit, I didn't feel like trying to cram one into the coupler.

This is all done really nicely, EXCEPT that all that wiring should really be fused.

[trucker LOU]

Hey Extreme,I did the same connection.I did not fuse the "gadget" as I had fused all the pigtail wires after finding loose wire nut connections on shake down trip.----LOU---