Replacing trailer lights with LED

lakill Farm

Going to try replace a few lights on trailers and implements here over the next year or so

Anyway where is the best place to buy LED lights.

What should I be looking out for before buying? I read here on previous thread about "E" markings

Im getting dad to do the wiring. He is a mechanic by trade and has the certs for electric wiring etc. Its probably 30 years since he did them certs and 18 years since he did repair work.

Anyway he asked how hard is it to

Wire side lights
Wire up flashing units. ( I have an aerator (10ft) and ifor plant trailer) and would put flashing orange lights on them as a warning.

Do you use a different type 7 pin socket

Or between us as we making it sound far more complicated than it really is

Thanks

twofish101

Led Lights are handy, and maintenance free, however if the indicator/brake/tail light goes in the light you have to replace the whole unit, other than that they are great and use less power as well.

lakill Farm

twofish101 wrote: »

Led Lights are handy, and maintenance free, however if the indicator/brake/tail light goes in the light you have to replace the whole unit, other than that they are great and use less power as well.

I know about having to replace them , that's only a small concern to be honest

_Brian

lakill Farm wrote: »

Going to try replace a few lights on trailers and implements here over the next year or so

Anyway where is the best place to buy LED lights.

What should I be looking out for before buying? I read here on previous thread about "E" markings

Im getting dad to do the wiring. He is a mechanic by trade and has the certs for electric wiring etc. Its probably 30 years since he did them certs and 18 years since he did repair work.

Anyway he asked how hard is it to

Wire side lights
Wire up flashing units. ( I have an aerator (10ft) and ifor plant trailer) and would put flashing orange lights on them as a warning.

Do you use a different type 7 pin socket

Or between us as we making it sound far more complicated than it really is

Thanks

We put a set on the builders trailer in the spring, same wiring as the non led units. I bought in local agri-stores, think it was €20/25 for the pair.

lakill Farm

_Brian wrote: »

We put a set on the builders trailer in the spring, same wiring as the non led units. I bought in local agri-stores, think it was €20/25 for the pair.

Sound. First trailer we are going is the turf trailer. One of them caught the old lead last year in the lift arms and broke 6ft off so going to fully replace all as apart from turf, I plan on using the trailer for beet over the winter .

zetor 4911

lakill Farm wrote: »

Going to try replace a few lights on trailers and implements here over the next year or so

Anyway where is the best place to buy LED lights.

What should I be looking out for before buying? I read here on previous thread about "E" markings

Im getting dad to do the wiring. He is a mechanic by trade and has the certs for electric wiring etc. Its probably 30 years since he did them certs and 18 years since he did repair work.

Anyway he asked how hard is it to

Wire side lights
Wire up flashing units. ( I have an aerator (10ft) and ifor plant trailer) and would put flashing orange lights on them as a warning.

Do you use a different type 7 pin socket

Or between us as we making it sound far more complicated than it really is

Thanks

Was going to do the same with my Hudson 12ft cattle trailer. The current ones have me driven mad as every time I used the trailer there are some lights not working. I know that some of the problem is the short cable that goes from the front of the trailer to the jeep. Someone said that I would be better to get rid of this short cable and just have one connection into the jeep if you know what I mean. There are a lot of lights on the trailer (back, side and front) so anyone any idea the cost?

49801

If your going at it a lot of lads are now fitting a female on the trailer side as wel as the vehicular side. Then have a short lad between the two with males on both ends. A lot less likely to have plug issues and easy to have a spare in waiting if is does get damaged

enricoh

A fairly clued in lad I know has gone back to using bulb lights instead of leds.
He reckons the leds are great for a couple of years n then just pack in n need replacing whereas it's only a bulb goes on the others. So he puts two sets on the back of each trailer. Hard to beat the light out of the leds though!

lakill Farm

enricoh wrote: »

A fairly clued in lad I know has gone back to using bulb lights instead of leds.
He reckons the leds are great for a couple of years n then just pack in n need replacing whereas it's only a bulb goes on the others. So he puts two sets on the back of each trailer. Hard to beat the light out of the leds though!

OH :eek:

gctest50

enricoh wrote: »

A fairly clued in lad I know has gone back to using bulb lights instead of leds.
He reckons the leds are great for a couple of years n then just pack in n need replacing whereas it's only a bulb goes on the others. So he puts two sets on the back of each trailer. Hard to beat the light out of the leds though!

just put LED bulbs in the (good ! ) ordinary holders

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-bulbs/halfords-premium-382-p21w-led-car-bulb

orm0nd

gctest50 wrote: »

just put LED bulbs in the (good ! ) ordinary holders

http://www.halfords.ie/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-bulbs/halfords-premium-382-p21w-led-car-bulb

it's usually the holders that give problems

Kevhog1988

They are a piece of piss to wire. We have changed everyhting to led in work as lads were forever knocking a bulb loose etc when loading mini diggers onto trailers. I put a set of the led bulbs into the jcb rear lights. only thing left to be done now is the grab & hot box as they are both 24v

_Brian

Problem with the standard light similar to light boards is that the bulbs are forever loose and the units are nowhere near water proof so the contacts corrode badly, it's a lottery what lights you have on the back at any one time, led bulbs will suffer the same fate.

The sealed led units are handy wired, bright and if they last a few years while working properly I'm happy, only occasional trailer use here anyway so should last longer. We changed over one trailer in the spring and I'll change over the other two over next winter when things are quieter.

ferryman35

enricoh wrote: »

A fairly clued in lad I know has gone back to using bulb lights instead of leds.
He reckons the leds are great for a couple of years n then just pack in n need replacing whereas it's only a bulb goes on the others. So he puts two sets on the back of each trailer. Hard to beat the light out of the leds though!

The problem with this approach is that if the extra lamps are fitted then they must be working.......there's something in the small print, so you could still be pulled for having just one working where 2 are fitted.

The other point is that the flasher unit may be affected by the 'double' load. It may work away for a while but then burn out or it could affect the 'blink' rate. Whereas once the flasher unit was a simple replaceable relay there is an increasing trend by manufacturers towards integrating the flasher unit with the fuseboard electronics and replacement suddenly becomes a whole different but very expensive issue.

The idea of having a socket on the trailer and connecting to the towing vehicle with a lead with 2 plugs is a good one - been done with artics for years. The most common failure of trailer lights is with the plug.

Good LED lamps are a great job, but they're not that easily found for a very simple reason - cost! I've fitted LED lamps that cost €75+VAT (each :eek: ) and they're still going strong years later, whereas I've found that the cheaper ones let water in and blow often in the 1st year!

A small spray of silicone grease makes all the difference in preserving good electrical contact in plugs, sockets and bulb contacts - saves huge hassle!

visatorro

Put led lights on trailer here. The light on the dash that tells you the indicators are working on the trailer doesn't come on any more with the leds. Any reason for this?

emaherx

visatorro wrote: »

Put led lights on trailer here. The light on the dash that tells you the indicators are working on the trailer doesn't come on any more with the leds. Any reason for this?

Not enough loading from the led lights. Can be fixed by adding resistors to the trailer indicator circuit.

pedigree 6

visatorro wrote: »

Put led lights on trailer here. The light on the dash that tells you the indicators are working on the trailer doesn't come on any more with the leds. Any reason for this?

Same here with bale trailer when I put the led trailerboard on.
The reason is that the led's don't use as much power as ordinary bulbs and so it doesn't register with the dashboard that there is trailer lights plugged in.
The tractor thinks that no trailer lights are plugged in. Afaik.

ferryman35

pedigree 6 wrote: »

Same here with bale trailer when I put the led trailerboard on.
The reason is that the led's don't use as much power as ordinary bulbs and so it doesn't register with the dashboard that there is trailer lights plugged in.
The tractor thinks that no trailer lights are plugged in. Afaik.

Spot On. Sometimes there's an extra resistor built in with the LED's to simulate the load of a 'normal' bulb

emaherx

Just a warning on getting dash board light to work with LED indicators. Incandescent bulbs produce heat, a resistor used to make a LED bulb simulate an incandescent bulb will also produce heat so it is very important that they are mounted to a metal part of the trailer to dissipate the heat produced. They are perfectly safe to use but follow the manufacturers install instructions.

Muckit

49801 wrote: »

If your going at it a lot of lads are now fitting a female on the trailer side as wel as the vehicular side. Then have a short lad between the two with males on both ends. A lot less likely to have plug issues and easy to have a spare in waiting if is does get damaged

I wouldn't agree with this. Everywhere you have plugs/connections you will have potential problems. Now you've just added two more.

The ideal would be to run a straight cable from the rear, up into the boot and soldered and heatshrunk into back of rear jeep light. Only thing is you'd have to keep the trailer attached to the jeep!!

49801

Muckit wrote: »

I wouldn't agree with this. Everywhere you have plugs/connections you will have potential problems. Now you've just added two more.

The ideal would be to run a straight cable from the rear, up into the boot and soldered and heatshrunk into back of rear jeep light. Only thing is you'd have to keep the trailer attached to the jeep!!

No prob with diff of opinion. The objective of the idea is to increase your compliance rate. Damaged sockets are a prime reason for lighting not working. Simple to have a spare lead around for those occasions rather than trying to fix on the spot which in all honesty is not that likely to happen.

Limestone Cowboy

Muckit wrote: »

I wouldn't agree with this. Everywhere you have plugs/connections you will have potential problems. Now you've just added two more.

The ideal would be to run a straight cable from the rear, up into the boot and soldered and heatshrunk into back of rear jeep light. Only thing is you'd have to keep the trailer attached to the jeep!!

I'd be inclined to agree with you. Last trailer I wired I did away with the corrosion box and soldered all the connection's. Plug socket is hand enough to change if a new one is needed at any stage.

Nekarsulm

I found that the wires from the LED are very very fine. Only a third of the thickness of normal side.

_Brian

Nekarsulm wrote: »

I found that the wires from the LED are very very fine. Only a third of the thickness of normal side.

Yea, need to carry less current so smaller wire. Bit harder to handle but soldered joints.

gctest50

49801 wrote: »

No prob with diff of opinion. The objective of the idea is to increase your compliance rate. Damaged sockets are a prime reason for lighting not working. Simple to have a spare lead around for those occasions rather than trying to fix on the spot which in all honesty is not that likely to happen.

better trailer socket/plug maybe ?



http://shop.ezconnector.com/p/r7-01-bumper-version-hardwired-2truck-4-trailer

mechanical_me

Go with some reputable brands like Trucklite or LED Autolamps, They give a 5 year warranty as far as i can remember
There is a lot of cheapo lamps on the Irish market like 247 Lighting, which i would stay away from

Halford might have some of what your after but you will have to dig deep in your pockets

There is a company called Truck Electrics i have got stuff off & they are pretty good,

With regard to the socket you will need a 24N socket instead of a 12N socket
Wiring diagrams are available online id say if you google them

Smalltom

There's a lad in the midlands we used to rewirethe slurry tank. Put 4 led lights on rear, spotlight, side markers and said if they go to ring him and replacement is free. Very neat so we got him to do cow box and low loader and no issues. Can't remember how much but thought at the time it was very reasonable considering the time he put into it. Not sure if I'm allowed to recommend/name him here though.

zetor 4911

Smalltom wrote: »

There's a lad in the midlands we used to rewirethe slurry tank. Put 4 led lights on rear, spotlight, side markers and said if they go to ring him and replacement is free. Very neat so we got him to do cow box and low loader and no issues. Can't remember how much but thought at the time it was very reasonable considering the time he put into it. Not sure if I'm allowed to recommend/name him here though.

Smalltom,
Can you PM me his name and number.

Thanks.

lakill Farm

Smalltom wrote: »

There's a lad in the midlands we used to rewirethe slurry tank. Put 4 led lights on rear, spotlight, side markers and said if they go to ring him and replacement is free. Very neat so we got him to do cow box and low loader and no issues. Can't remember how much but thought at the time it was very reasonable considering the time he put into it. Not sure if I'm allowed to recommend/name him here though.

can you send me his name also

Smalltom

PM sent to both of ye there folks.

MfMan

Of late, the LED lights on the cattle trailer aren't coming on when turning on the jeep lights, though they come on instantaneously when plugged into the tractor. They then switch on after a short interval, about 5-10 minutes. This would indicate (sorry!) that the problem is on the jeep (Landcruiser) side. Any ideas?

quietsailor

MfMan wrote: »

Of late, the LED lights on the cattle trailer aren't coming on when turning on the jeep lights, though they come on instantaneously when plugged into the tractor. They then switch on after a short interval, about 5-10 minutes. This would indicate (sorry!) that the problem is on the jeep (Landcruiser) side. Any ideas?

Could you borrow a different trailer and see is it the same problem? If the problem is the same you'd nail it to the Jeep and no second guessing about the trailer.

Dirty contacts at the Jeep socket is the easiest check. If dirty clean them lightly with Emery paper and a spray of contact grease (sorry I don't know trade names for them ) to keep the contacts clean.

After that - can you plug in the trailer some day when the Jeep is running with the lights on? Do the Jeep lights dim at any time?

Muckit

A bad earth. If all lights on trailer are not working when pulled to jeep then more than likely you have a bad earth on jeep socket.

Either where its wired at socket or where it is grounded.

SuperTortoise

Sorry for digging up an old tyhread, but i've a trailer to rewire, what size cable should i be getting, is the 1mm 7core rated for 16 amps overkill?, What about marker lightsd and cable size? would 5amp rated 2 core be ok?