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Susie410 · 09-03-2022, 06:33 AM

Our 2011 Jayco Octane marker lights are currently halogen. We switched all of the interior lights to LED years ago with no problems as it was just changing bulbs. . We lost a cover for a marker light on a recent trip and the light was not working. All others were functioning. . We bought a new marker light from Home Depot and installed the new light. Our TT light was 2 wire, a ground and a hot. The new light was a single wire. He followed the instructions, put an eyelet on the ground and placed it on the screw. Now none of the running lights work. They all worked before with the exception of the 1 light that originally failed. All other lights work (taillight, brakes, turn signal). If he has to change all the markers to LED that’s no problem, but we don’t want to go buy a bunch of new lights if we don’t need to. Our other thought was it was the mix of halogen and LED. Thanks in advance for any insight on this!

Argosy · 09-03-2022, 06:56 AM

I doubt if the markers were halogen, the heat from the bulb would destroy the plastic. Probably incandescent.

You say he put an eyelet on the ground and put it on the screw. What color wire did he put the eyelet on? Would that be one of the screws to mount the light? Was there metal from the light under this screw? Can he take a fairly close and clear picture of the light with no cover so we can see what you and the manufacturer are talking about?

OldWEB · 09-03-2022, 07:32 AM

Did you check if there is a fuse blown? If it was a two wire, I would stay with two wire light replacements. They use insulated ground wires to reduce electrical noise and other problems (like this).

dustyone · 09-03-2022, 08:41 AM

Remember the wire colors maybe different. They may be using the house wiring protocol. That would make the white wire the ground. If that was the case he may have shorted the system blowing the fuse. A picture would help to assess the problem.

Tomahawk · 09-03-2022, 05:35 PM

Almost for sure blown fuse. Most likely grounded the wrong wire. It is easy to mess up if it was tested and all the other bulbs on the circuit were not removed.

Persistent · 09-04-2022, 08:36 AM

Good advice above.

Probably grounded the wrong wire. Fuse in tow vehicle probably blew.

Disconnect the new light.
Find the fuse and replace.
Measure DC voltage accross the wires.
Do not allow positive and negative to touch each other or any other metal objects.
Mark positive wire.
Disconnect trailer from tow vehicle.
Connect positive wire to the wire on the new light.
Connect negative wire to the grounded screw.
Reconnect to tow vehicle.

rrsutherland · 09-04-2022, 08:38 AM

Hmm.....I'm horribly naïve when it comes to electrical stuff but wouldn't a single wire marker light require a chassis ground? I thought all travel trailers are grounded back to the battery therefore requiring a two wire light. There's some electrical genius types on this forum that could help us with this I'm sure. Thanks all!

Brentw · 09-04-2022, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrsutherland

Hmm.....I'm horribly naïve when it comes to electrical stuff but wouldn't a single wire marker light require a chassis ground? I thought all travel trailers are grounded back to the battery therefore requiring a two wire light. There's some electrical genius types on this forum that could help us with this I'm sure. Thanks all!

Yes you are correct, they still require a chasis ground. That style (single wire) has a ground strap built into the fixture that uses one of the mounting screws to make contact to the metal surface you attach to. Only works on metal skinned tralier or frame.
Common now (required for non metallic walls) to carry a ground wire to all 12V locations.

Jay D. · 09-04-2022, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brentw

Yes you are correct, they still require a chasis ground. That style (single wire) has a ground strap built into the fixture that uses one of the mounting screws to make contact to the metal surface you attach to. Only works on metal skinned tralier or frame.
Common now (required for non metallic walls) to carry a ground wire to all 12V locations.

The O/P says the trailer has a 2 WIRE oem marker light. they bought a new SINGLE WIRE light. first make sure you have power to one of the wires at the old marker light, at the trailer. as said above that NEW LIGHT will have one of the mounting tabs as a ground, a thin metal strip going to that mounting tab. determine for sure which wire from the trailer is ground, use a test light. then determine which wire on the new light is the ground if you can't do this visually you can do it with an ohm meter. connect the hot wire to the hot side of the light and the ground to the ground tab on the new light and it SHOULD WORK.
Jay D.

Susie410 · 09-25-2022, 06:47 PM

Problem solved! A sincere thank you to the members who commented and provided us a solution to the running light wiring issue. We purchased new 2 wire lights instead of trying to make the 1 wire ones work. They were NOT compatible despite what the instructions said. After wiring them up we’re we’re still not getting running lights but everything else worked. IRV member “Persistent” suggested a blown fuse in the tow vehicle. Found the 20 amp micro blade fuse in the tow package panel that was blown and everything works now. This forum is such a great resource and we are very thankful to be a member of this great group!