I'd placed all my trailer's stock brake/light/signal wiring into conduit, then folded bubble wrap insulation into the upper corners of the trailer where the wiring originally lay, then placed the conduit into that insulation. End result: wires inside the conduit are pulled tight, which resulted in one butt connector losing its grip.
So my options are either to lay the conduit down in the existing tray before putting down the bubble wrap (not quite as good a seal for the bubble wrap) or to rewire the trailer and move the conduit to the furring strips. The benefit of that will be that it fixes the insulation issue and makes the wiring more accessible, but the drawback is that there will be more joints and the project won't be easy. Perhaps the best option would be to add a couple inches of extra wire to the existing wires, leaving it enclosed in the bubble wrap while at the same time reducing stress on the wires caused by the longer path they travel now. Of course, that adds 2 joints to each of the 6 or so long wires that go to the rear of the trailer, but that's not a big deal since they'll be in the horse section and easily repaired if the need ever presents itself.
Any electrical experts here? What do y'all suggest?
Posted 2007-01-04 9:27 AM (#53275 - in reply to #53266) Subject: RE: Wiring question...
Veteran
Posts: 167 Location: Monroe, WA
Tension on wiring is NEVER a good thing. Splice in enough length to allow the harness to lay relaxed in whatever route you put it, regardless of conduit - which BTW can hold moisture in and cause faults. Stretching wiring leads to failures in those infernal butt connectors, especially if the wires are tight enough to pull out.
FWIW, when I rewire a trailer (and I have done a bunch of them) I get my harness laid out for cut length, then ALL connections are soldered and then sealed with the "liquid tape" stuff to stop water intrusion and future corrosion. It's wet where I live....
Put a wrap of good electrical tape over the liquid tape sealant afterward to ensure that no little pointy wire end will short things out later on. Support the harness well enough along it's route that it can't slap or rub on the frame and wear on the insulation. At the ends where lights or accessories will be connected, leave a "repair loop" of a half foot or so extra wire, tuck it out of the way, tape it down if need be. You will be real happy you did this when you have to replace a broken light in a big hurry some day - just whack it off and have plenty of wire left to put in the new one!
Wiring question...
