It's great you found the culprit! Just cut it out and splice the four to the four and you should be good to go!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ex-Rocket
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It's great you found the culprit! Just cut it out and splice the four to the four and you should be good to go!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ex-Rocket
You found the culprit. Just cut it out and match the wire colors. The red will not be needed.
As for wire splices. See how it was done before. With insulated butt connectors. That leaves the connections open to water and can cause corrosion. That can give you trouble down the road. I use butt connectors too, but I fill them with dielectric grease before I crimp them on and cover with heat shrink tubing. That's just a suggestion.
Glad you found it. As Billybovine said, use dielectric grease or buy marine butt connectors that are pre filled with grease and have longer sleeves. Personally I solder and heat shrink but that's not for everyone. Enjoy your trailer!
I usually solder wires together and seal them with heat shrink tube. Solder is cheaper than connectors, and more guaranteed to have good electrical continuity.Quote:
Originally Posted by billybovine
I will be soldering the wires and using heat shrink tubing. I want to thank everyone for all their help. I will get back when I get a chance to solder all the wires and make sure all the lights are working. Thanks again.
I bought an old trailer a Goldwinger was getting rid of. My RT has the CAN AM hitch and trailer plug installed by the local dealer. What I don't understand is
how does the Brake/Turn signal work off of the same wire. The old trailer has separate wires for break and turn and the Can Am plug has one wire for both.
I dont want to try and hook up the two until I understand it fully. Any help would be appreciated.
Rear turn signal lights in North America can be red or amber in color since sometime in the 1960s I think. In general most trailers in North America, no matter their size, have red turn signal lights. For some reason makers of trailers to pull behind a motorcycle use amber turn signal lights. This makes motorcycle trailers incompatible with most tow vehicles. Since almost all tow vehicles are wired with combined brake/turn signal wires. When the turn signals are red, there is no need to keep the brake lights and turn signal lights separate on the trailer. So they use the same wire, bulbs and reflector fixture for both brake and turn signal. Less wire, less bulbs, cheaper fixtures.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4boywonder6
So as to how brake/turn signal work off the same wire. Very simple. Instead of 3 wires, combining them makes 2 wires, left and right. When the brake is pressed. Both left and right wires are energised and both lights come on. When the turn single is on. Depending on the side, that side flashes.
That's probably because historically trailers were pulled only by big bikes, of which most of the long lasting ones were of Japanese or European origin. Those two countries mostly, if not exclusively, use amber rear turn signals. I suspect the bike designers liked the amber rear turn signals for greater visibility. Hence the trailers were made with amber turn signals to keep the wiring connections to the bike simpler. Compatibility with other tow vehicles was a non-issue since the small trailers would seldom, if ever, be towed by anything other than a motorcycle. In a sense BRP is the one that has bucked the tradition. I wonder why. Maybe North Americans just don't like amber rear turn signals. I wonder if it's a reflection of an attitude, "We didn't have amber turn signals 50 years ago, we don't need them now!"Quote:
Originally Posted by billybovine
I like amber rear turn signal lights. I specifically ordered a pair with them when I made my trailer!
so is that what the converter does, takes the single signal and breaks it out to 2, one for brake and one for signal?
so is that what the converter does, takes the single signal and breaks it out to 2, one for brake and one for signal?
There are several types of units involved in motorcycle trailer wiring. One, and a critically important one, is an isolator. That unit takes the signals from the bike wires to trigger relays or solid state switches that feed power to the trailer lights. The power comes directly from the battery. This protects the bike wiring from any kind of short or other mishap in the trailer wiring. There are two types of isolators. One connects to a bike five wire system, i.e., left turn, right turn, brake, tail, ground and feeds a trailer 5 wire system, left turn, right turn, brake, tail, ground. Another is 5 wires in but converts the 5 wire signals to a 4 wire system, i.e., left turn/brake, right turn/brake, tail, and ground. That is the isolator BRP is using. There is 3 to 2 wire converter available that takes the right turn, left turn, and brake signals from the bike and converts it to left turn/brake, and right turn/brake. The tail and ground wires go around that converter. Another converter does the opposite, takes the left turn/brake and the right turn/brake and changes it to left turn, right turn, and brake. There is a 5 wire to 4 wire converter that does the same thing as the 5 to 4 wire isolator except it does not connect to battery power. To make it more clear, an isolator separates the trailer light wiring from the bike light wiring. A converter simply changes how the turn and brake lights work. The 5 to 4 wire isolator is also a converter.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4boywonder6
There is also a 5 to 4 wire converter that is often used to convert 5 wire car lights to 4 wire trailer lights. There's no need to use one on a motorcycle unless you already have a 5 to 5 wire isolator installed and need to convert to 4 wire trailer wiring.
Have I got you confused real good now? :gaah:
Thanks, (I Think) . So the bike wiring is isolated, and the converter will switch the CAN AM brake/turn to separate brake and turn signal in the trailer,
.Quote:
Originally Posted by 4boywonder6
A 2 to 3 vehicle converter will separate left turn/brake and right turn/brake into left turn, right turn, brake lights.
great, thanks for all the info.
could someone tell me what size BALL on the hitch is needed for the Freedom trailer....thanks