Trailer lights

[Sts85s]

I'm looking to replace the incandescent lights on my trailer. I'm going broke replacing them. Can anyone recommend a LED set of lights? I've researched amazon and eBay, and to be honest the reviews scare me. Products are advertised as submersible, but aren't. Products work until they back into water.....I need HELP!

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome aboard.

Going broke replacing the bulbs? Unplug the trailer connector before backing down the ramp.

Click the link for iboats LED kits, many with 4-5 star reviews.

 

[82rude]

Somethings not right.Ive never unplugged my trailer and ive yet to replace a old style bulb,until this year when i rewired.

 

[Horigan]

I've had good luck with Optronics LED lights, but I'm only on my second year on them.

 

[fhhuber]

The bulbs shatter when they are hot and suddenly cooled by water. That typically happens when you have a cracked lens or other failure of the watertight boat trailer light.. The brake light heats the bulb and then the leaking light lets water in and the glass bulb shatters.

All LEDs will survive immersion. Most will suffer from corrosion if not protected, so they still seal the submersable trailer lights using LEDs. They don't get hot though so they don't shatter on contact with water if the light assembly leaks.

Most of the problems with the LED boat trailer light sets come from installation errors. There's not much that an go wrong without "help" from the installer.

 

[Silverbullet555]

I replaced all mine with LEDs from the same company that made my incandescent lights. Everything fit perfect on the original spots.

Rewired the trailer at the same time. Ran grounds to every light.

 

[gm280]

You can always just replace the incandescent bulbs with LED replacements. And then you won't have any more problems....until corrosion sets in. You have to keep the bulb sockets clean and corrosion free for everything to work without ant problems. You can even use some light grease on the sockets to help with that issue. JMHO

 

[mike_i]

The word submersible means nothing, look for the word "sealed". I learned this when replacing my lights last month.

 

[On Holiday]

I replaced my incandescent bulbs with LED at a minimal cost. The red and yellow marker lights were pretty inexpensive, the following year I did the brake lights. The 3 bulb center set of lights is still incandescents.

 

[fishrdan]

Seal the incandescent light housing and you'll probably stop popping bulbs, seal it with engine silicone sealant. Works well until the housing gets cracked and it's no longer sealed.

For LED lights, make sure the LED array is epoxy encapsulated. I had cheap $20 Harbor Freight LED lights that were not epoxy encapsulated, lasted 2 years or so until the board components corroded. Next $50 set was epoxy sealed and lasted 5 years, until I ripped a light off. I'm now replacing them with a cheap $15 Ebay set that's not epoxy encapsulated, but encapsulating the boards in epoxy myself before installing them, save myself $30....

 

[Scott Danforth]

Problem

I'm going broke replacing them.

Solution (at least for the past 60+ years)

Unplug the trailer connector before backing down the ramp.