Re: [SilverStreak] Newbie electrical ground question

["Bev Harris" <zia@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thought I'd follow up.  Turns out whoever wired the connection from the trailer to the auto 6-
way plug either had way too little information or way too much to drink!  Using a wiring 
diagram found on the web for the 6-prong connector, my trusty cheapo multi-meter, a 30 foot 
spool of wire, and the wiring I found under a screw-on cover at the front of the trailer, I was 
able to trace each or group of wires somewhere (except the 12V and the brakes ... but I 
figured them out too), by checking toninuity using my meter.  What I learned is that someone 
had done their best to match colors of wires, but then didn't necessarily connect them to the 
correct post on the 6-way connector.  As a result, I found things like a wire running from the 
Right Turn signal of the trailer to the Ground Post on the connector, and other similar 
wierdness.  No wonder it acted like a bad ground!  A hot wire was connected to the ground!!  
I managed to get all the wires figured out and connected to the right posts on the connector.

I also managed to check the connections by buying a couple 6 volt batteries in a battery store 
(relatively small sized) and connecting them together from negative to positive to create a 
small 12V battery.  Then I could use that power source to double-check each connection by 
shoving a wire from negative into ground on the 6-prong connector and a wire from positive 
into whatever I was testing on the 6-prong connector. I confirmed the brakes by hearing 
them.  AND I had been able to tell the yellow wires on the trailer was the 12V connection, 
since there were a bunch of them, and they had several screw down points.

Finally, I connected the connector 6-prong connector from the trailer to the car and double-
checked all the lights by working them on the car (e.g. turn signals, running lights, brakes, 
etc.).  There was one last problem which was the tail lights were very bright, but the turn 
signals were not.  I had to go back to the tail lights and reverse the leads.

We are happy campers!!!  We now have working lights on our new-to-us '64 SS.  Next, I'll 
start testing the rest of the trailer one system at a time.  

Bev

On 18 Mar 2008 at 21:46, Bev Harris wrote:

From:           	"Bev Harris" <zia@ix.netcom.com>
To:             	sslist@tompatterson.com
Date sent:      	Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:46:35 -0600
Subject:        	Re: [SilverStreak] Newbie electrical ground question
Send reply to:  	sslist@tompatterson.com

> Thanks for the response!  I'll double check both wires on both sides.
> 
> Bev
> On 18 Mar 2008 at 9:10, Jd Lyall wrote:
> 
> Date sent:      	Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:10:49 -0500
> From:           	Jd Lyall <news@lyalls.net>
> Organization:   	Not Hardly S.A.
> To:             	sslist@tompatterson.com
> Subject:        	Re: [SilverStreak] Newbie electrical ground question
> Send reply to:  	sslist@tompatterson.com
> 
> > Bev Harris wrote:
> > > I've been reading messages, and I'm hoping you folks can help.  We picked 
> > > up our "new-to-us"  '64 SS 19' Saber.  The tail lights were acting wacko and 
> > > after researching on the web, I have finally figured out that the left tail light is 
> > > not grounded.  The ground wire coming out at the fixture doesn't look bad 
> > > (there are 2 wires, one green and one black; since the black one is the 
> > > ground on the right side, I assume the black is the ground on the left side).  I 
> > > peeled back a little bit of the insulation on the black wire in "front" of the 
> > > crimped connector that creates the splice to the light fixture hoping maybe 
> > > the splice was bad and I'd find a ground connection, but I didn't.   I'd like to 
> > > ground it, but cannot for the life of me figure out how to do it without tearing 
> > > into the shell.
> > > 
> > > Any and all advice is welcome.
> > 
> > Black is supposed to be hot, white negative and green ground. You'll 
> > have to put a multimeter on it to check the black and white. Check the 
> > polarity. A radio shack meter has red for positive and black for negative.
> >