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R&R of an INOP (or at least I thought so) License Plate Light...


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OK, so here's a good one...

One of the discrepancies I noted on a "walk-around light check" during a recent weekend trip was an INOP license plate light.  I checked the DC power at the pigtail connection behind the spare tire cover with the trusty multi-meter - good battery voltage.  No biggie, right?  Called up Ryder at Oliver parts department and he shot me a new light assembly (just south of 20 bucks, FYI) which arrived in about 3 days time.  Did not bother testing the light - connections appeared totally correct.

After removing the wire loom from the 2-wire harness, I noticed "white to white" and "black to red":

Original wiring.pdf

R&R'd the assembly, connected power and energized the circuit.  Nothing, nada, zero light.  Hmmmmmph?  Double checked all my splices with the MM, all good - but still no light.  HMMMPH, again.

So, using the plug-in type splice connectors, I reversed the wires from the assembly to the pigtail to:  "white to red" and "black to white"...  The light fired right up.

New Plug In Connectors.pdf

I can only guess that either from the factory, or at some point in time, a previous owner miss-wired the assembly.  I connected the original light reversing the polarity and found it was good to go all along!  So, Hull #226 has been running around for quite some time without an operational license plate light.

A major "AssUme" error on my part thinking the wiring was correct because it "looked" correct.  Could have saved $20 if I just tested the light before talking to Ryder.  I got a spare light now.  Lesson Learned.  

Fix Issue.pdf

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Art, Diane, Oscar & Magnus (double-Aaarrf!)

  • 2022 TUNDRA w/Airlift Load Lifter 5000 kit/2017 LE II; Hull #226 "Casablanca", 12VDC Starlink kit, 3x Battle Borns; Victron Cerbo GX, SmartShunt, MPPT Solar Controller, & DC-DC Charger; HAM call-sign:  W0ABX
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58 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

A major "AssUme" error on my part thinking the wiring was correct because it "looked" correct.  Could have saved $20 if I just tested the light before talking to Ryder.  I got a spare light now.  Lesson Learned. 

That is too bad about the unnecessary purchase, but now you have a spare bulb you can add to your box of fuses!

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Bryan & Sondra

2023 Elite II Twin Bed, Hull #1358

2022 F-150 5.0L, long bed w/ Heavy Duty Payload, Max Tow, and FX4 packages

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The wire color coding of the early trailers like yours and mine is VERY mysterious, it does not match industry standards. I am glad you fixed it so easily.

John Davies

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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1 hour ago, John E Davies said:

The wire color coding of the early trailers like yours and mine is VERY mysterious, it does not match industry standards. I am glad you fixed it so easily.

 

Yes, I've found the wiring in my 2010 LE2 to be very mysterious myself.  No manuals or wiring diagrams available for it either. So far, no issues with troubleshooting, though I do have a couple of switches that I have no idea what they control...  I'll eventually get around to labeling all the wiring and building my own diagram.

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2010 Elite II, Hull #45.  2014 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD 5.7 with tow package.

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9 minutes ago, CRM said:

I'll eventually get around to labeling all the wiring and building my own diagram.

CRM and JD:

What labels or product do you use to label them?

I have see JD's many times and wondered where I could get them.

GJ

 

TV:  2019 F-150 SuperCrew Lariat, 3.5L EcoBoost, Max Tow, FX-4, Rear Locker      OLLIE:  2018 OE2 Hull 342, Twin Bed.    OLLIE DYI’s:  BB LiFePO4's, Victron 712 Smart, 350 Amp Master Switch, Houghton 3400, Victron Orion DC - DC, 3000-Watt Renogy Inverter, P.D. 60-amp Converter, Frig Dual Exhaust Fans, Kitchen Drawer Straps.    TV DYI’s:  2 5/16" Anderson System, Timken Bearings, Nitto recon’s, Firestone Rear Air Bags, Bilstein 5100’s, Mud Flaps & Weather Tech all.

  image.jpeg.9633acdfb75740f0fd358e1a5118f105.jpeg

 

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, CRM said:

Yes, I've found the wiring in my 2010 LE2 to be very mysterious myself. 

We've talked about this before - 

Prior to sometime in 2017/18 there was no standard wiring harness.  All wiring was done on an individual trailer basis by one (or more) of what I believe to have been three different "electricians" who used what wire and wiring they thought best.

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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I make a placard on my iMac, print it out, laminate it and stick it down with double back clear tape.

I try to make them all look alike with equal sized fonts.

John Davies

Spokane WA

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SOLD 07/23 "Mouse":  2017 Legacy Elite II Two Beds, Hull Number 218, See my HOW TO threads: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/john-e-davies-how-to-threads-and-tech-articles-links/

Tow Vehicle: 2013 Land Cruiser 200, 32” LT tires, airbags, Safari snorkel, Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon RTT.

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13 hours ago, CRM said:

I use labels similar to these. Have boxes of them left over from back when I was working in communications cabling.

Cable Labels

Just bought some.  I'll slowly knock out labeling the cables/harness system as I go through the systems.  This could become mind-numbing....🤪

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Art, Diane, Oscar & Magnus (double-Aaarrf!)

  • 2022 TUNDRA w/Airlift Load Lifter 5000 kit/2017 LE II; Hull #226 "Casablanca", 12VDC Starlink kit, 3x Battle Borns; Victron Cerbo GX, SmartShunt, MPPT Solar Controller, & DC-DC Charger; HAM call-sign:  W0ABX
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On 4/15/2023 at 2:54 PM, MAX Burner said:

After removing the wire loom from the 2-wire harness, I noticed "white to white" and "black to red":

I had an opportunity to check my tag light wiring yesterday. and it matched your wiring before your repair.  And I found it also matched the wiring diagrams in the 2017 LE2 manual, although the manual diagram does not show a tag light.  It is not much of a guess that they used the tail light circuit to power the tag light.  So I have a question for Art, were there any wiring instructions with the new light you installed that designated the positive and negative wires?

And the next question is for John Davies.  I have been looking for RV wiring standards and the ANSI RVIA Low Voltage Systems for 2020 costs $45.00, which I did not choose to pay.  You have made reference to this documentation before and thought you might be able to share your source of information for the rest of us.

MosseyIMG_1107.thumb.jpeg.83cfb81b84cc7c0e2162598726723d8d.jpeg

 

IMG_2366.thumb.jpeg.d5cf7a7a573f51aae63a41f0560bc4cf.jpeg

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Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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@mossemi  Hey, Mossey:  No wiring instructions in the packaging for the tag light from OTT.  But... both the original light and the new light would illuminate when reversing the wiring shown in my picture above in your post.  For clarification:  the light worked correctly when I connected the light assembly's WHITE wire to the OTT's RED wire and the assembly's BLACK wire to the OTT's white wire.

100% concur with your assessment of the tag light circuit as being connected to the 14ga Street Side Tail Light RED wire.  OBTW - when placing a 15amp fuse between the charge wire and marker light circuits on the 7-pin connector, marker lights, brake lights (low mode) and tag light illuminate.

After some sleepless nights thinking about this, I can only come up with the explanation that somewhere in the OTT's wiring harness the  WHITE and RED wires were wired incorrectly.  Also, the PO just lived with no Tag Light or never realized it was INOP.  

Bottom line is that it's all good now and I've got a spare!

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Art, Diane, Oscar & Magnus (double-Aaarrf!)

  • 2022 TUNDRA w/Airlift Load Lifter 5000 kit/2017 LE II; Hull #226 "Casablanca", 12VDC Starlink kit, 3x Battle Borns; Victron Cerbo GX, SmartShunt, MPPT Solar Controller, & DC-DC Charger; HAM call-sign:  W0ABX
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7 minutes ago, MAX Burner said:

OBTW - when placing a 15amp fuse between the charge wire and marker light circuits on the 7-pin connector, marker lights, brake lights (low mode) and tag light illuminate.

That is an old trick that has been around for a while, but some here may not be aware of it.  Thanks for mentioning it.

Mossey

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Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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57 minutes ago, mossemi said:

That is an old trick that has been around for a while, but some here may not be aware of it.  Thanks for mentioning it.

Mossey

We keep an old "under the dashboard" flasher module in my tool box in case we break down on the road and need to leave the trailer w/o the TV.  It will flash the position lights as a safety precaution in low-light and at night when connect that way on the 7-pin plug. 

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Art, Diane, Oscar & Magnus (double-Aaarrf!)

  • 2022 TUNDRA w/Airlift Load Lifter 5000 kit/2017 LE II; Hull #226 "Casablanca", 12VDC Starlink kit, 3x Battle Borns; Victron Cerbo GX, SmartShunt, MPPT Solar Controller, & DC-DC Charger; HAM call-sign:  W0ABX
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That’s a great idea!  Can you take a few pictures of your flasher in operation and maybe include a part number?  I’m sure there are others interested in this tool/mod.

Mossey

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Mike and Krunch   Lutz, FL  
2017 LEII #193 “the dog house”

 

 

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1 hour ago, mossemi said:

That’s a great idea!  Can you take a few pictures of your flasher in operation and maybe include a part number?  I’m sure there are others interested in this tool/mod.

Mossey

Will do!, Mossey!

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Art, Diane, Oscar & Magnus (double-Aaarrf!)

  • 2022 TUNDRA w/Airlift Load Lifter 5000 kit/2017 LE II; Hull #226 "Casablanca", 12VDC Starlink kit, 3x Battle Borns; Victron Cerbo GX, SmartShunt, MPPT Solar Controller, & DC-DC Charger; HAM call-sign:  W0ABX
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