Who unplugs lights?

[Boatist]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

Buckstar<br />Better be careful with that paycheck. My light are "dry launch" they are not waterproof, in fact whole bottom is open but it traps air to keep water out. The package and instructions both say no need to unplug for before launching. Who need the pain of unpluging before launching then makeing sure plug back in before hit the road. I have replace about 2 bulbs and one screw in 23 years.

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

Thanks Lark, I'm gonna get some of those.

 

[ebbtide176]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

i unplug mine during prelaunch. if dark i use the pickup truck cargo light to see what i'm doing, plus its parking lights. i spray sockets with plain ole white lithium instead of dielectric, to keep rust down, and socket springs from rusting.<br /><br />i do end up with water getting into the submersible lights though, and sometimes forget to unplug. i guess i replace a bulb @ every 3-4yrs. if the LED's come down in price, i'll probably get some of those.

 

[62_Kiwi]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I never do. My trailer has watertight light units called submers-a-light and they never seem to leak or cause any trouble. I must admit however that the bulbs don't last as long as I would expect...possibly the rapid cooling by the water?

 

[shooter26]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I always unplug...Better safe then sorry.

 

[Big Al1]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I know from being in the electronics industry that electrical components, such as transistors and resistors, lose much of their lifetime from being heated and cooled many times. A light bulb is a resistor. Sure it may have a lifetime number in hours but when you constantly heat it and cool it rapidly the lifetime goes down very fast. I guess if water gets around your bulb, it will not pop, it will just cool it done very fast and then when it drains it will heat up very fast. Doing this about a couple dozen times and they burn out the filament. My lights have a leak in them and the bulbs never crack or pop, just the filament burns out after about 2 to 3 months. I bought some more cheap submersible ones but I am going to make sure they stay dry and see how long the bulbs last. <br /><br />LEDs on the overhand work by having slightly more than 0.7 volts across a junction of two different types of silicon substrates. Electrons jump across the junction emitting photons or light. It doesn't require a high voltage and current or does it require heat to glow. A common bulb requires a filament or resistor to be heated up in a bulb filled with gas to glow. A lot of current must be used to heat this thing up. Its the heating a cooling that lessons the life of any substance.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I have a suspicion that short bulb life may also be due to low voltage at the bulb, there will likely be some voltage drop at the car/trailer connector and again where the bulb contacts hit the socket, and due to any splices and the length of the wiring from the socket to the connection to the tow vehicle circuit, doesn't take much resistanmce to cause voltage drop problems, if you check the actual lights on voltage at the car, connector, and bulb, you might be surprised. The problems get worst when you consider the quality of some splices I see, twisting two bare wires together and wrapping with tape doesn't cut it for long, it's called a "temporary splice that I will fix tomorrow but somehow it becomes permanent", ha, ha, will the guilty please raise their hands, whoops, mine are up.

 

[Big Al1]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I always solder all of my connections. Soldering is just as fast as crimping. Plus it usually doesn't rust. Solder is lead and tin, crimps are some kind of metal. But I really need to fix my ground connection. Right now I have all of the ground connections grounded to the trailor but I have no ground wire connection from the trailor to the vehicle. I'm grounded through the ball of the hitch. Not the best connection but it works. I don't think it is the low voltage that harms bulbs, it could be the voltage fluctuating from bad connections that weaken bulbs.

 

[Seaboo2]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I always unplug the lights. Just makes sense and is cheep insurance (granted bulbs are cheep too but the ticket from the ramp to hme might not be.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

SlowlySinking<br />Actually low voltage will increase Bulb life a lot. High voltage will shorten Bulb life.<br /><br />I never use the quick connect connector like U-Haul uses as just asking for poors connection a few years down the road.

 

[SlowlySinking]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

The quantity of current running through a light bulb is determined by the applied voltage and filament resistance. If you check the resistance of a cold bulb with a digital ohm meter you will see that's it's zero or close to zero ohms, now apply a source of voltage and it sees the filament as a dead short and a significant amount of current flows through, if the filament were a fuse it would open and protect the circuit, but fortunately the bulb filament is made from tungsten material which instantly heats up and the resistance increases, this restricts the current and prevents burning out the filament, therefore, running a bulb at a lower than design voltage decreases the filament temperature which decreases the resistance and more current flows. This is the basis of my low voltage comment vs bulb life comment.

 

[ya mon]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

there are different quality of light bulbs out there avail. to you at better auto part stores. you are probably using an 1157 bulb. the replacement in wagner lighting would be an 1157ll (long life) they are made with a heavier filament. otherwise led's are the way to go .If the roads you travel to get to the launch are not the best that could also have a bearing on how long your lights will last happy trailering ya mon

 

[Richard Cavanagh]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I never unplug the trailer lights, but my son does! I just drive!

 

[wezie]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

Unplug them and anything else to make them work more times than not. Trailer lights are enough problem on a good day. I too use them for light at night, and they are sealed, but trailer lights get knocked about at times and if they leak, they will blow. There is a spare in the truck.<br />Some of the posts mention truck suppliers for LED lights at lower cost. <br />Getting stopped on the way home is not a lot of fun either, and despite all the legends, they will stop you for trailer lights and plates. Keep 'em bright.

 

[RICKRICK1]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

i always unplug unless I forget

 

[Redsfilthy]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

Unplug the lights? I have never done that in 14 yrs. of boating. If your bulbs are not lasting then you need to get some good quality lights.I still have the original bulbs in mine.Inside the red lens is a sealed chamber where the bulb resides, never had a problem.

 

[jgun]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

Another vote for LED's. I've been using them for over a year now and not a problem. I stopped unplugging when I switched over to the LEDs. THey are always cool to the touch.

 

[11 footer]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

On both of our trailers we unplug the lights.<br />On one of the trailers the lights are sealed and I know that water could not get it. The other trailer is unsealed and once I forgot to unplug the lights and I blew a fuse in the truck. It just makes sence to unplug them, I mean......why not!!!! better safe the sorry.

 

[Stratosfied]

Re: Who unplugs lights?

I had a house fire last April and as a result, My 95 Stratos 258V and the trailer got slightly burned. I needed to get an a round amber light for the portside of the trailer. It still worked just melted, anyway, the all the lights were marked Truck-Lite and I went to the local parts trying to find them.. No Luck.. Went to a heavy duty truck parts shop and they had a pile of all kinds of lights--Cheap-- I paid $3.15 for a round amber light, the rubber grommet and an amber reflector. The guy there said that they had so many light and such a demand that they could sell at lower prices. By the way, he had some of the lights like at the Wal-mart, For a THIRD of the price. The Lights on my Rig are led LED and I love them. And I Always unplug. I am in process of have boat repaired and will post before/after pics soon. An ounce of prevention..