Fitting New Tail Lights

JRH · Guru

Fitting New Tail Lights

dave06 · Guru

john you mentioning tailights, prompted another memory from arkaroola, val the solo traveller, was pulling out from the campground when she found that she had burnt about a mtr and a half of her traler wiring, the cause, according to the experts, was that the nissan patrol was 24 volt and the camper trailer was 12,she had neglected to put the compensator in the plug, a new one for me

Ole Grizzly · Senior Member

JRH wrote:

G'day all,
A short while ago I had a professional caravan repairer fit two new Tail Lights to my 1986 Jayco Songbird, had a pro do the job as the old ones were well and truly corroded and I wanted to make sure all was done right.
I noticed he used about 3/4 inch self drilling screws to secure the backing plate in position. A few days later I connected the 240 volt to get the fridge cold before our trip and tripped the switch, it turned out that he had inadvertantly put a screw into the 240 volt cable in the back of the van, on the advice from a sparky I replaced the screws with shorter ones and am now back in business.
Not complaining about the work done by the repairer, could have happened to anyone I suppose, just a heads up to anyone fitting new tail lights or drilling into the outer skin for any reason.
Best Regards and Safe Travelling.
John

WOW..is that what is called "seeing the light"..a good post for the unwary..Thanks.

twobob · Guru

That brings back an old and distant memory.

The very early Nissan's had a 24v "start", but were 12v - maybe something happened to the "12/24 Volt" switch

I do not believe the later model Nissans have the same issue - ie all 12volt

Dont get me wrong - dislike Nissans anyhow

dave06 · Guru

I also assumed that the nissan was 12v as well but one of the locals stated the 24v/12v thing and I assumed he new what he was talking about, otherwise the burnt out wiring remains unexplained

Basil Faulty · Guru

I learn from mistakes.... I installed a washing machine in my last van and it was held in situ with nylon straps with plastic clips. I only put one screw into the wall and it found the 240V cable.
I love those self drilling screws....I replaced all the filament globes on the van with the LED variety simply because they have a longer life expectancy, don't use as much power and they look tres cool....

dave06 · Guru

you talk about mistakes Basil that reminded me of the time when my b/law took the sender unit out of his commodore, started to unscrew the unit, noticed a heap of dust that he didnt want in his fuel tank, went and got his wifes vaccuum cleaner, placed nozzle up against sender holding assembly, turned vaccuum on undone sender unit, blew the backside of the cleaner out, stretched the four holding screws, replaced the 4 screws and you know that bloody vaccuum never missed a beat, scared the bejabbers out of me though

Wombat 280 · Guru

That's why they should put a fuse on each circuit and fuse on high drain appliances just in case. Easier to replace a fuse than a circuit or in some cases the entire rig .

To find the circuit power up the van and use a pencil detector to locate power leads , most electrical wholesalers would be able to put you onto a reasonably prices unit to detect 240 volts .

The independent fuse approach is by far safer