Jayco 1206 - Electric Brakes?

[Adios Pantelones]

Sorry, I'm having trouble following what you are doing. Here's how I would do it (it maybe what you already did). You will need an ice pick style test light.
1. With trailer harness unhooked test vehicle to make sure everything has power as it should on the vehicle and that left and right blinkers blink the test light.
2. If that all checks out hook up the trailer harness. Using the tester, poke the wires on the down stream side of the harness.
3. If that is good remove the lenses and make sure you have power to the bulb socket and that the bulbs are good. If they are old style they will have dual filaments. You can burn out blinkers and still have stops. If they are 1157 bulbs the socket is ground and the nipples inside are power. One for tail lights and one for stop/blinker.
4. If there is no power to the socket I would remove the light assembly and test the wires themselves.
5. After all that if you have power at the trailer side of the harness but none at the light then a wire is broke somewhere.

[Covington]

I will try to explain a bit better I read through all of my stuff and I can see how it was pretty confusing.



1. I used a jumper from the 12VDC of the battery to the Running Lights pin (on the outside of the camper hitch - no vehicle involved). The lights all turned on except the right rear.

2. I used the same jumper and now tied to the Right Blinker pin. the right rear light lights up (solid of course since no blinker relay is involved).

3. I used the same jumper and now tied to the Left Blinker pin. The left rear light lights up (solid of course since no blinker relay is involved. At least double the brightness of the left rear in step 2.



Now... that is the camper side of things. When I had my vehicle connected, the right blinker did NOT work. I will have to test again when I take the camper back down (we were prepping it for travel next week). I will likely take it down tomorrow and find out more from the vehicle side. But, I know the vehicle 4-pin works with every other type of vehicle - so I don't think the wiring is wrong there.

[Adios Pantelones]

That makes sense. I wouldn't rely on past towing as a measure of things working though. If you haven't tested the vehicle side I would start there.

[Covington]

Originally Posted by Adios Pantelones

That makes sense. I wouldn't rely on past towing as a measure of things working though. If you haven't tested the vehicle side I would start there.

ok. no problem. will do that soon. But - based upon the information in my last post it is easy to see something isn't quite right. All the lights should light up with the Running Lights pin. And it is surprising that the lights light up at different brightness with the blinker pins.

[JFlightRisk]

Do the taillamps have 1157 bulbs, or the newer 3157? If they're 1157s, is there a possibility the bulb was installed backwards on the right rear lamp? I've seen that happen before on trailers. The sockets for those style bulbs aren't of the best design.

[Covington]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

Do the taillamps have 1157 bulbs, or the newer 3157? If they're 1157s, is there a possibility the bulb was installed backwards on the right rear lamp? I've seen that happen before on trailers. The sockets for those style bulbs aren't of the best design.

Both are 3157 GE bulbs. I have an extra and tried that also just to be sure. I even swapped it around both ways to see if there was any difference (none)

[JFlightRisk]

I understand. These electrical issues can be very frustrating. It would be nice if those electrons weren't so invisible, and elusive. I eliminated most problems on out TT by changing them out for LEDs. I didn't give problems a chance to crop up.

[Covington]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

I understand. These electrical issues can be very frustrating. It would be nice if those electrons weren't so invisible, and elusive. I eliminated most problems on out TT by changing them out for LEDs. I didn't give problems a chance to crop up.

ha. true enough. Surprisingly, I'm an EE. But I'm used to tracing things I can see, having a wiring diagram that is accurate, or designing myself Maybe LED isn't a bad way to go - I really want to just rewire this whole damned camper to be honest... but I also don't want to spend a ton during this crazy time either.

[Covington]

When I look at the following schematic (generic, not Jayco-specific) and the right-side tail light in the corner that I put a purple square around - I would assume that the Orange wire (Running Lights) is broken. I would also theorize that there is a voltage drop on the green wire which would be powered by the blinker pin (possible corrosion or mouse-work?).




The problem here is that I don't see any way to get to that wiring at all. I may have to take apart the inside of the camper to get to it, which is tough with the bed there.

[JFlightRisk]

Your schematic looks spot on. Being 15 years old, either's possible, but I'd lean towards the corrosion/bad connection idea. We've all seen some pretty iffy connections on the 12 volt side of campers made with household wire nuts, instead of crimp connectors, and ground connections on the frames loose, corroded, or broken off. My junction box is on the front frame crossmember, and is just an unsealed steel box, right where it gets a bath from the truck on wet roads. I've sealed it the best I can, until it gets replaced by a weatherproof junction.

[Adios Pantelones]

Normally lights that are dimmer than others point to a loose or bad ground. Just for giggles run a jumper from the ground on the TV to a good bare spot on the trailer frame.

[Covington]

Originally Posted by Adios Pantelones

Normally lights that are dimmer than others point to a loose or bad ground. Just for giggles run a jumper from the ground on the TV to a good bare spot on the trailer frame.

No difference from what I could tell in brightness with the right blinker pin and jumpering to ground on a good spot (cleaned and sanded slightly to ensure good connection). Also - light still didn't turn on with running lights. Will look into it a bit more again tomorrow.

[spark of insanity]

We got one of those things that helps slow the tow and the trailer down when braking. I thought it was an electric brake thing too. But I guess it doesn't hurt to have one inside the tow vehicle and on the trailer. No problems so far. I have camping world check it all out in April. Good luck.