Replacing Electrical Pigtail on Trailer

[joy-rick]

I goofed! On Monday I hooked up in our storage yard to haul the TT one mile to my SIL's house to wash it and wax it. When I returned the TT to storage I noticed that I had inadvertently allowed the pigtail to drag on the ground. And, as you can imagine, I wore a flat spot on the insulation. It could probably be repaired but I would rather replace it. I have ordered a new one from RVUpgrades.com. It doesn't look to be too difficult to replace, but I wonder if anybody had done it and can offer any advice.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Rick

2007 Flagstaff 831BHSS

[sherdep]

should be very easy to replace

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DISCONNECTED ANY ELECTRICAL TO TRAILER.

need to know if it is a 30 amp or 50 amp service

This is for a 30 amp service -
Black wire - goes to Gold
White wire - goes to Silver
Green wire - goes to Greenish Blue

How I remembered for a long time was - Black Hills Gold and white is silver

I am not that familiar with a 50 amp service but am pretty sure it isnt that much diffrent other then you have two seperate hots instead of one (Two Blacks versus one)
50 amp service would be similar except you have two seperate hots (Black wire) - and they are not the same as a 220 circuit since they are seperate or out of phase.
I am no electrician but I know enough to get it fixed -
I try to stay out of Panel's though unless I absolutely have to get into them -

If I feel I cant do the job I have a buddy that is a certified electrician to help me - good thing about bartering my computer services.

[joy-rick]

Sherdep,

Thanks for the reply. It is 30 amp.

I too have bartered computer services for "stuff". In fact I managed to maintain an airplane for 30 years by providing computer services to the FBO.

[sherdep]

no problem - if you run into a bind just send me a message and I can assist you
If you need to install a new end as well - camping world sell's them

[comish4lif]

Originally Posted by sherdep

no problem - if you run into a bind just send me a message and I can assist you
If you need to install a new end as well - camping world sell's them

Quick question, I just did the same thing, let my pigtail sag and scraped through the outer cover.

When replacing it, how difficult is it on the camper end? Is it a matter of unplugging it or disconnecting it from the camper side, or will there be real re-wiring involved?

[joy-rick]

On my trailer there was "real re-wiring" involved. The camper pigtail is attached to the camper electrical system via a junction box located just beyond the a-frame on the underside of the trailer. But the task is not too difficult if you are able to handle some basic wiring skills, i.e. cutting large gauge wire, stripping the wire, and installing twist nuts.

My first issue with this project was that, while the new cable was color coded, the camper wiring observed inside the junction box was not.

Here is how I went about replacing mine so that I didn't mix up any of the color coding.

0) Be sure your battery is completely disconnected from the circuit before beginning this process!!!

1) Instead of just opening up the junction box and de-installing the old cable, I cut the old cable about 6" from where it entered the junction box.

2) I removed all of the old cable forward of the cut.

3) I opened the junction box and pulled the remaining 6" pigtail through the opening of the junction box. Hopefully you can picture the 6" pigtail just hanging there but all of the 7 wires still connected inside the junction box.

4) I then stripped all 7 of the wires coming out of the new cable.

5) Then I installed the new cable and routed it all the way to, and into, the junction box.

6) I then proceeded to connect the new wires by detaching a single wire from the old 6" pigtail and attaching the same color wire from the new pigtail.

7) I followed this process until all 7 wires were reattached inside the junction box.

I'm not sure if that description is clear, but, if not, just ask and I'll try to be clearer in my explanation.

Good Luck!

Rick

[OldCoot]

First off, we need to know if it is the 110v power cord or the one from the tow vehicle to the trailer.

[jd-ford-hd]

I too was confused. The original post had me thinking turn signals, taillights, etc. Then poster said his was 30amp. Then mentioned stripping 7wires...!!

[comish4lif]

Originally Posted by jd-ford-hd

I too was confused. The original post had me thinking turn signals, taillights, etc. Then poster said his was 30amp. Then mentioned stripping 7wires...!!

That's the one that I scraped up. No taillights, no signals!

Does Forest River have their parts catalog online? Or just hats and t-shirts?

[sherdep]

when I saw pigtail I assumed it was the power cord for the electrical
not the cord to the tow vehicle - sorry

the 7 pin cord is easy to replace - Northern Tool sell's a pre-assembled cable

Most of the cable's use the same color coded wires

you can also google the 7 pin wire and it will diagram out what what position is the cord end.

Compliments of etrailer.com
7-Way Molded Trailer Wire Connector, 8' Long Hopkins Wiring H20046

they show what color does what function
and sorry for posting the wrong info about the pigtail - didnt mean to confuse any of you guys

on the same page they have a video on how to replace it as well - http://www.etrailer.com/tv-Trailer-r...ng-H20046.aspx

[comish4lif]

OK, so, rather than buy and install the new cable, I figured I'd give it a try and patch it up. Didn't work. So, some of the wires were undamaged. A few had some of the insulation/coating scraped off, and the white wire was completely worn through the wires.

So, I wrapped the lightly damaged wires with electrical tape.

And "patched" the white wire as pictured below. The tail lights/running lights work. But, the signals and brakes didn't work. Any thoughts about what to check next?

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by comish4lif

OK, so, rather than buy and install the new cable, I figured I'd give it a try and patch it up. Didn't work. So, some of the wires were undamaged. A few had some of the insulation/coating scraped off, and the white wire was completely worn through the wires.

So, I wrapped the lightly damaged wires with electrical tape.

And "patched" the white wire as pictured below. The tail lights/running lights work. But, the signals and brakes didn't work. Any thoughts about what to check next?

Check your truck's fuses since each wire has it's own fuse.

Seriously, a dead short in the cable can melt insulation inside the cable shorting wires out of sight. Replace the entire cable as suggested previously.