latchkey Posted August 31, 2011 Share #1 Posted August 31, 2011 (edited) noticed my brake lights on trailer not working nor turn signals but had running lights. read all the forums but didnt run across my problem. checked power going into 5 to 4 connector under back seat and had all,everything right. checked power coming out and only had the running light wire hot. so bought a new 5 to 4 connector and installed it way and had power for a bit till i touch brown and green or something and had a spark while wiring trailer plug back up and now the outlet on the new connector is the same as old one, only running light wire hot.it blew a fuse[head] when i did that, can you fry the 5 to 4 connector that easy? for now i took connector off and wired brakes to red and running lights to brown right off bike wires so i at least have running lights and brakes.want to fix it right but need to know if that spark could take out my new $28.00 5 to 4 connector. help! before i spend $28.00 again and blow it. Edited August 31, 2011 by latchkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Haywood Posted August 31, 2011 Share #2 Posted August 31, 2011 noticed my brake lights on trailer not working nor turn signals but had running lights. read all the forums but didnt run across my problem. checked power going into connector and had all,everything right. checked power coming out and only had running light wire hot. so bought a new one and installed it way and had power for a bit till i touch brown and green or something and had a spark while wiring trailer plug back up and now the outlet on the connector the same as old one.it blew a fuse[head] when i did that, can you fry the 5 to 4 connector that easy? for now i took connector off and wired brakes to red and running lights to brown so i at least have running lights and brakes.want to fix it right but need to know if that spark could take out my new $27.00 5 to 4 connector. help! If you are trying to go from the bike (5 Plug) to a trailer (4 Plug) it won't work. You need to get an adapter that you wire into the bike that tells the lights that the trailer doesn't have a seperate turn signal like the bike does. If the bike has a brake light and seperate turn lights and the traile doesn't it won't work. Napa has the adapter for around $28. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latchkey Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted August 31, 2011 i have the adapter, $28.00 5 wire to 4 wire , thats what i fryed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condor Posted August 31, 2011 Share #4 Posted August 31, 2011 i have the adapter, $28.00 5 wire to 4 wire , thats what i fryed. It's possible you have a bad adapter... Warantee?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Haywood Posted August 31, 2011 Share #5 Posted August 31, 2011 i have the adapter, $28.00 5 wire to 4 wire , thats what i fryed. Either bad adapter or it is wired in wrong or the trailer plug is wired different that the bike plug. Could also be a wire somewhere in the trailer grounding out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted August 31, 2011 Share #6 Posted August 31, 2011 noticed my brake lights on trailer not working nor turn signals but had running lights. read all the forums but didnt run across my problem. checked power going into 5 to 4 connector under back seat and had all,everything right. checked power coming out and only had the running light wire hot. so bought a new 5 to 4 connector and installed it way and had power for a bit till i touch brown and green or something and had a spark while wiring trailer plug back up and now the outlet on the new connector is the same as old one, only running light wire hot.it blew a fuse[head] when i did that, can you fry the 5 to 4 connector that easy? for now i took connector off and wired brakes to red and running lights to brown right off bike wires so i at least have running lights and brakes.want to fix it right but need to know if that spark could take out my new $28.00 5 to 4 connector. help! before i spend $28.00 again and blow it. You should not be connecting brown to green. depending on the specific controller that could blow it out. You "should" not have to rewire the trailer to change the converter on the bike. Which 5 to 4 converter do you have? Does it have a separate fused power wire? Is everything fine till you plug in the trailer? If all is good till you plug in the trailer then the problem is in the trailer wiring. You can test the trailer wiring using a separate battery or even a battery charger, at least that will stop you from blowing the "$28 fuse". Connect a ground wire from the battery negative to the trailer white wire and then using an inline fuse (7 amp max) for safety, connect the battery positive to the brown, verify that the running lights of the trailer light. Then move the POS wire to the green and verify that the right turn signal lights. then move the pos wire to the yellow and verify that the left turn signal lights. If any of these connections light anything other than what they are supposed to or the fuse blows than you have identified the bad wire or cross connection. start crawling around under the trailer to find the problem. Are your connectors correct, the connector on the bike should be the side with just 1 exposed pin which is the white wire, and the white wire is ground. The other 3 contacts on the bike side should be sockets. The trailer wiring should be, in order; white - ground brown - running yellow - left turn / brake green - right turn / brake I prefer the type of converter that has a separate power lead with its own fuse so that all power for the trailer comes direct from the battery. also this will isolate the bike from the trailer so that any electrical issues on the trailer will not affect the lighting on the bike. Also you want to make sure that the 5 to 4 that you get is reated for LED and/or incandescent trailer lights. Not all 5 to 4 converters will work with LEDs. If you do not have LEDs now, you may want them in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latchkey Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share #7 Posted August 31, 2011 i guess iam not writing want iam wanting to say. i`ll try agian. the trailer is wired right,tested on my truck and all is good with lights and signals,brakes-trailer good. i have 5 wires out of bike battery area going over my back fender-blue-red-brown-green-yellow-white. this goes into a connector or relay which ever but on the box its called a 5 to 4 connector. out of this connector is four wires that lead down to my 4 wire flat plug.white-brown-green-yellow. this is common trailer hook up. after sparking wires on plug end,by accident i now have power on all wires going into connector but only one wire [brown] is hot coming out. running light wire! so being my power wont come out of connector but goes into it ,it must be fryed or at least turn signals and brakes are. right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyinfool Posted August 31, 2011 Share #8 Posted August 31, 2011 Lets start at the beginning. What is the brand and model of the 5 to 4 that you are using? If we know what you have it is easier to figure out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latchkey Posted August 31, 2011 Author Share #9 Posted August 31, 2011 hoplins i think ,not were i can look at box. if not that something in h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarges46 Posted August 31, 2011 Share #10 Posted August 31, 2011 If you "sparked" something then I am going to venture that you have fried the thing. You may have to get a new one and start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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