Troubleshooting Trailer Running Light Circuit that Gets Hot

Updated 11/22/2021 | Published 11/20/2021

Question:

Hello,Could you tell me what might be making the pin on my trailer plug for my trailer tail lights and running lights get hot. I can see where the plastic on the male and female sides have been hot. I cleaned the connections a few times but now everything works except the tail lights and running lights. If I bypass the plugs the lights work fine. This has happened many times over the past few years. Help ! Thanks

asked by: Bill W

Expert Reply:

If a trailer wiring circuit is getting hot that means it's either over drawing or there's a short on the circuit. Since this is the trailer wiring circuit and you've already tried cleaning up the wiring it's most likely that the circuit is trying to draw more than it can provide. One way to reduce the load on the circuit is to convert some of the taillights to LED which only draw a fraction of the amperage as incandescent bulbs.

I attached a link to a page that has all of the trailer taillights we offer that are LED for you to check out as well.

expert reply by: Jameson C