Travel Trailer Brake light wiring

[bsmith95610]

Hello,

I was working on replacing one of the brake lights on my travel trailer. I unscrewed my old brake light and thought I would use one of these butt splice connectors for connecting my lights but then I realized that these won't work since some of the current connections have three wires. I wasn't sure what the best connectors are for connecting three wires? I was thinking I could use wire nuts with electrical tape but that probably wasn't a good way. Should I use the T-Tap wire connectors like this since this is what was there previously?

Then I had to remove some white foam from the wires before I could get to the connectors. Once I get the wiring completed should I probably spray some of that foam back in there to make it more water proof? If so should I use something like this?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[BFlinn181]

Those T-Tap Wire Connectors will fail in the future. using wire nuts of the proper size and liquid tape with an electrical tape wrap would be the most secure. Using spray foam isn't a water-proofing strategy, using a gasket on the lens or butyl rubber caulk behind it would be more water resistant. I always leave a very small gap at the bottom caulk around the lens to allow any water that does get in to drain out.

[MtnTrek]

Welcome to the forum,


I think you're on the right track with your repairs. There really isn't a right or wrong method of joining these connectors. The main thing is preserve as much of the conductors and insulate it properly then protect it from air, moisture, and vibration as well as possible. The mfg. utilized the spray foam in that way to encapsulate the connection.
The T-taps work ok for low current applications as long as they are sized properly and don't damage the integrity of the conductors. That small blade often doesn't offer a lot of contact surface area, tension or vibration, oxidation will cause intermittent failures.
Some will go old school and solder their connections then wrap them with friction tape.
I use a silicone based "flowing" (windshield) sealant on splices to seal them.
We all have our preferences that seem to work for us over the yrs.


If you've ever found yourself on a windy cold rainy night at a "chicken coop" re-re-pairing one, you'll opt for a different method next time.


Be well.