HELP PUP is hooked up and ready to go but NO LIGHTS

[FlaFortCampster]

Hi all. Need some help. Everything is hooked up and ready to go early in the AM, BUT when I connected the popup plug to the SUV, no lights. They worked fine Sat. when I checked everything, but now NOTHING. Cleaned connection end, checked all visible wires, and checked under pop up at the rear where I did find a ground wire that was in good shape and connected solidly to the camper frame. I'm not very good at electrical stuff, so go real slow if you have any suggestions.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Have about 1 hour of daylight left before I'll unhook camper so I can at least get to work on time (was leaving for the Fort from work tomorrow morning, but sure can't tow a camper with no lights in the dark.

Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

 

[LONE-STAR]

Check the fuse in your truck. Then make sure you have power getting to the camper.

 

[medic9016]

Check your ground on the PuP.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

check any fuses in the tow vehicle, some will have separate ones for the trailer.
check that you plug on the tow vehicle isnt damaged or has any loose wires.
Look for obvious damage to any visible wiring.
Try to check the plug on the TV with a test light, you need to determine that you have power to that point before looking at the trailer.
look for damage on the trailer cord, any area that look rubbed or smashed is suspect.

barring any of that I would take it to a trailer repair facility

 

[disney4dan]

Did you check the bulbs?

 

[FlaFortCampster]

First, thanks for the quick replys. Second, I'm electrically challenged so go S L O W.
OK, how do I check the ground for the pup??? The diagram says the white wire is the ground and then the cord from the plug disappears into the frame. So how would you check that.
Next, when I plug in the connector, my brake controller shows .c., so there must be power at the TV plug.
Next, most of the lights look like they are sealed, so how do you check them?
Lastly, if I do get it to the repair shop, how do you do that if you have no lights, do the brake lights still work????
If nothing else, I'm learning about the PUP.

 

[Disney Bunny]

Make sure all connections are corrosion free. Also, is the battery in the pop up working?

Also take a look at the problem in this link: http://www.fixya.com/support/t2078633-early_90s_starcraft_pop_up_camper

Is this the same problem you are having? Maybe this will help explain.

Double check your ground connection and the pins.

 

[MadFF]

Did you, and I am serious, try jiggling the hitch? If the wiring is using the hitch itself as a ground to the tow vehicle, sometimes just jiggling the hitch will get things working.

As to driving to a repair shop without lights..... is it close? Can you take side roads to it? Can you go at an odd, less traffic time of day? Yes, you are not supposed to tow without lights, but if you are doing it as safe as possible in order to get to a repair shop.... you kind of have some wiggle room there.

And double check your fuses -- carefully look over your owner's manual, some vehicles (trucks especially) have more than one fuse box, and the "trailer" fuses can be in different places.

 

[stacktester]

Did u drive the pop up down the road yet? Sometimes it takes some rubbing to get the hitch and ball to make contact and ground good.

 

[mikeymouse1]

No lights would be no lights If you half to tow it to a shop I would get someone to follow behind you. Have you tried to hook it to another vehicle , if they work then its your rig. We had a similar problem and I went to a chain auto parts store and the guy fooled with our vehicle plug until he broke it! And it turned out to be a fuse under the hood. I would check your car manual and go through the fuses and check them first and remember a lot of new vehicles have a fuse panel under the hood and one around the dash.

 

[stacktester]

No lights would be no lights If you half to tow it to a shop I would get someone to follow behind you. Have you tried to hook it to another vehicle , if they work then its your rig. We had a similar problem and I went to a chain auto parts store and the guy fooled with our vehicle plug until he broke it! And it turned out to be a fuse under the hood. I would check your car manual and go through the fuses and check them first and remember a lot of new vehicles have a fuse panel under the hood and one around the dash.

The left brake and blinker light on my 5'er stopped working and it turned out to be a fuse. There was a left and right fuse which I was surprised by.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Typically a ground problem would still have the lights illuminating dimly on the trailer (but not always) Most trailers that have odd light flashing when you put a turn signal on have a ground issue.

I really think you need to start at the TV and work from there, make sure you have power there first.

If you post the make of the TV it would help with troubleshooting.

Automotive electrical problems are best solved by process of elimination, start with the fuses on the TV, look for damage, test for power on the plug, then move to the trailer.

You can get a simple automotive 12v test light at any auto supply or walmart, they are easy to use, if you have access to one I can walk you through checking the plug.

 

[Bearikens]

One other thing to try is to clean both sets of electrical contacts in your pigtail. I had a similar problem (tail-lights wouldn't work)and nothing appeared to be wrong. I went to an auto parts store and bought a can of electrical contact cleaner. After spraying both sides of the connector and letting it fully dry (just a few minutes), I plugged the trailer back in and everything started working. I carry a can with me whenever we tow the PU.

 

[retired and happy]

It's now the next day. Was the problem resolved? If so, how. If not what did you do instead? Best of luck.

 

[caveat lector]

Same problem. Turns out that my F150 has an additional fuse block under the hood. Replaced the fuse and good to go.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

sure would be nice to have a status update from the OP ?

 

[MomofSixinSC]

sure would be nice to have a status update from the OP ?

I am hoping he is at FW and having too much fun to update.

 

[FlaFortCampster]

Hi All,

First of all, thanks for all the input. I worked on the lights until 11 pm that night which was really tough as I was due into work at 4 am. UGH. I would run inside, check for posts, go back out and try the latest suggestion, etc.
Finally, unhooked the PUP and headed for bed.
The next AM, had someone at work who checked the connection on the TV and couldn't get a good reading. So now it's getting way to late to go to the Fort, but wanted this problem resolved. U haul put my hitch and brake controller on and did a beautiful job so I headed over there to see if they could just check out the connection. The guy who had put the brake controller in was there and took a look at everything. Within 10 minutes, he had found and fixed the problem. At the back of my TV, a RAV4, inside the back is a panel and behind the panel is what he called a conversion box. One of the diodes had gone bad on the brown wire, so he just bypassed that. When I finally made it home, backed up to the PUP, plugged it in a YES, LIGHTS ALL THE WAY AROUND.
So, I came in and tried to get ressies for October, GOOD LUCK RIGHT!!!!!
Yes, very good luck, I got my 2 days in October at a great price.
In conclusion, what seemed like a bad deal turned out to be pretty great. I got the lights fixed, which by the way, U Haul charged me nothing and I have ressies in October at the Fort which is much better than Sept. at the Fort.
Thanks again all for the input and sorry about the delay in responding.

 

[bama_ed]

Wow - when you're luck turns like that all kinds of good things happen!

BTW, tell me that you did buy a lottery ticket right after you booked those October ressies....

Bama ED