How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

[CaptainHook]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I changed mine over to LED 2 years ago but still have to "fix" them here and there as i run into corrosion/grounding issues or wiring. It seems to always be something!!

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I always unplugged my lights before the led's it wasn't water that killed them it was vibration.... my utility trailers always ate bulbs faster than the boat trailers....

 

[Fl_Richard]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Trailers have light bulbs... not in the year 2000+ It's all LED

Zilch, nada, nyt, none,zero replacement bulbs.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

sounds like led is worth the extra money.

Yup, I had the same problem with my jon boat trailer. Water would get into the lights and either corrode the connection or pop the bulb. After changing a bulb at home and then at the lake later that same day I ran down to Harbor Freight and picked up a set of LED lights for $29.

It was the best $30 I spent on that boat!

 

[Wee Hooker]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Been in the Bulb per launch club before. Never again. Raise them up out of the water and/or replace them with LED's. You'll likely wear the boat out before you replae another bulb.

 

[45Auto]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

What do you guys do to your lights???

I've been boating since 1997, 3 different boat trailers, usually launch at least 3 or 4 times a week 9 months out of the year in either very brackish water or the Gulf. All my trailers have standard old light bulbs (not sure what type of bulbs but they're not LED's) and I've NEVER replaced a bulb or unplugged before launching.

 

[boatsarefun1]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I have two trailers, one with LED that are dying a slow death, and another with bell jar type tail lights. The bell jar lights are out performing the LED.

 

[ddrieck]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I put new ones in at the beginning of the season and usually never have to replace them.....unless.....I forget to unplug the pigtail before dunking the trailer.

Hot bulb + cool water + burnt and broken bulb.......

 

[DJ]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I can count the number of bulbs I've replaced, in twenty years, on one hand.

I do unplug before dunking. I also make sure my grounds are good. Poor connections build heat.

 

[reelfishin]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I went to all LED light assemblies a few years ago, since then I've not had to touch them.
One place where I fish includes a 4 mile ride along a washboard dirt road full of ruts and holes, if the bulbs didn't break, the whole light would fall apart with all the bouncing around. Not to mention how many would die when the hit the water, whether plugged in or not.
I had tried just about every style of light, including guide post mounted lights, they held up fine but that road would even end up cracking the PVC guide posts.

I also fish mostly in saltwater, so if the wetting the hot bulb didn't kill the light, corrosion did.
Even on trailers with guide posts, just sitting there all day next to the saltwater and in that environment, the lights would corrode away beyond use after a season or two. Even as it is now, I have to swap out the nuts and bolts that come with the LED lights for Stainless steel ones or have them rust beyond recognition.

 

[DJ]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Two years ago I happened upon a set of Peterson truck 4" LED's. There was no way to mount them so I JB welded them to the brackets. No screws/nuts, no fuss no muss. They're bulletproof-I think.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Since 1990 with 2 boats and trailers I have never replaced a bulb. The old trailer had the bell jar type that were open on the bottom and the current boat has the sealed oval bulbs where you replace the whole housing when they burn out. I NEVER unplug my lights at the ramp.

 

[boatsarefun1]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Since 1990 with 2 boats and trailers I have never replaced a bulb. The old trailer had the bell jar type that were open on the bottom and the current boat has the sealed oval bulbs where you replace the whole housing when they burn out. I NEVER unplug my lights at the ramp.

Bingo! A good set of bell jar lamps will outperform LED. Now here is an interesting fact: LED tail lights are NOT as bright as a single 1157 bulb! I know you are saying "What? They sure look brighter!" But the fact is that LED bulb manufacturers admit their lights produce less lumens, but appear bright at close range due to the narrow band width of the light spectrum produced by LED bulbs. A single 38 watt 1157 bulb will produce more light than a multi-arrangement of LED's.

Also, if you want to replace the standard bulb in your bell jar light with a LED replacement, be sure to buy a RED led and not a WHITE led because the white light has practically no red in it. The red filter on the lamp housing will filter out a majority of the white light, and leave the tail lamp dim. Red lenses do not filter out red light, so that is why red LED's are needed behind a RED lens.

If you don't believe me, do a search on LED lights and their application in auto tail lights and they are very "clear" (pun intended) about color choice and lumen levels.

One thing I really do love about LED's is the super low current draw. That means that no upgrades to the towing vehicle wire harness is needed. The stop/tail/turn circuits can be spliced into without worry about overloading the circuit. Especially helpful on vehicles that do not have a "standard" connection that allows for the after market interface cables.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

1 in the last 8 years.

 

[Thundra]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Sierra Dry Launch lights, the "old reliables" SP 701 or 702 I think they are, the Bell Jar design. No issues whatsoever. Probably the last lights I'll ever need as they came with the trailer in 2007.

Unless I back into something and break them.

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

Three full seasons with regular 1157 bulbs and never have replaced any. I check them quite often but no corrosion, rust...nothing.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

I launched about 2 times with non submersible housings and cracked a bulb the first time and unplugged the second time, after that I threw the wrong housings away and got bell jar style and have had no need to unplug before dunking and no water in the housing.
Trailer lights on in the water is nice for guiding on after darkness.

 

[diesel5599]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

sounds like led is worth the extra money.

I have had my problems with LED assemblies as well. I went through 3 in 3yrs. Corrosion kept getting into the assemblies from the salt water and slowly LEDs would burn out until only a few in the middle were left. Not a good situation when LED's are a good $40-$60 per kit.

My fix was to get aquarium glue, take off the outer cover and put a thin bead of glue around the whole perimeter then put the cover back on. Also put a big bead of glue at the hole where the wires come out the back. Finally all problems solved, haven't had to replace them since.

Now if I can just figure out how to corrosion proof the wiring. I'm still going through wire harnesses at the rate of about 1 per yr.

 

[reelnative]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

mmmmm we are supp to have lights on the back of our trailers, I thought a red flag was all we needed,hahahaha if everyone went and got sealed leds the world would be a great place also try to unplug your lights before you dump her that way you wont mess up your grounds one or twice a yr

 

[180shabah]

Re: How many trailer lights/bulbs do you go thru each year?

this is year 5 on regular bulbs with ZERO failures. I have a full set of LED's (they are MUCH brighter) in the cabinet, just haven't made it onto the trailer yet.....