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Old     (axeman)      Join Date: Aug 2009       04-02-2013, 7:21 PM Reply   
All,

I've run into an issue with my new boat trailer. It is a 2012 BoatMate trailer for my Super Air Nautique 230. Since the trailer has LED lights, whenever I hook it up to my SUV (Mercedes ML) and I turn on the headlights all the lights on the trailer start flashing. If I press the brake pedal all lights work as expected. As soon as I let go of the brake pedal the lights start flashing again.

I've contacted BoatMate and they say its a vehicle issue. I've contacted my mechanic at the local dealership and he says they've never had that issue. I've called e trailer.com to see if they have a variant of the following adapter for my vehicle with no luck:

http://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Tow-Ready/TR20141.html

The issue is that the trailer has a 7 pin adapter tied to the wiring harness so it doesn't require a 4-pin -> 7-pin adapter like most older trailers do (at least that's how my previous Dorsey trailer was). When I spoke to the boat dealership, they said people with Land Rovers have run into this issue but they didn't have a fix readily available.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Old     (rickB52)      Join Date: Mar 2012       04-02-2013, 7:32 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by axeman View Post
All,

I've run into an issue with my new boat trailer. It is a 2012 BoatMate trailer for my Super Air Nautique 230. Since the trailer has LED lights, whenever I hook it up to my SUV (Mercedes ML) and I turn on the headlights all the lights on the trailer start flashing. If I press the brake pedal all lights work as expected. As soon as I let go of the brake pedal the lights start flashing again.

I've contacted BoatMate and they say its a vehicle issue. I've contacted my mechanic at the local dealership and he says they've never had that issue. I've called e trailer.com to see if they have a variant of the following adapter for my vehicle with no luck:

http://www.etrailer.com/Wiring/Tow-Ready/TR20141.html

The issue is that the trailer has a 7 pin adapter tied to the wiring harness so it doesn't require a 4-pin -> 7-pin adapter like most older trailers do (at least that's how my previous Dorsey trailer was). When I spoke to the boat dealership, they said people with Land Rovers have run into this issue but they didn't have a fix readily available.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Sounds like you may have a ground problem - similar problem below:

article from http://hitches4less.com/troubleshooting-trailer-wiring.html#6


Q: When I have my headlights on and apply the brakes all my lights on my trailer go out. What causes this?
A: You have a ground problem. In your situation, you have a ground that is strong enough to provide some lighting functions but not all. This is called a weak ground. When the taillights and brake lights are used at the same time it creates the maximum amp load of lights on the trailer. If a ground problem exists it will show at this point. The places to check grounds are as follows:

The connector on the vehicle should have a ground wire secured tightly on a clean surface to the frame. A wire attached to the body or a surface with undercoating, paint, or rust can cause a ground problem.
The connector on the trailer should have a wire from the connector secured tightly to a clean surface on the trailer.
Each tail lamp assembly at the back of the trailer also must be ground. This is done in one of two ways. The first is by a separate wire coming from the back of each tail lamp assembly and being secured to the frame. The second, and most popular, ground is achieved through the bolts of the tail lamp assembly. In this case, the lamp housing must be attached to the frame of the trailer. If the lights are mounted on wood or PVC material, the lights will not receive ground.
The last possibility to explore is in the trailer design. If the trailer has a tilting bed, it is possible the ground is not passing through the pivot point resulting in a poor ground. The solution to this is to route a ground wire from the connector at the front of the trailer to each lamp assembly at the back of the trailer bypassing this pivot point.
Old     (jrw160)      Join Date: Oct 2006       04-02-2013, 7:52 PM Reply   
It's the bulb failure monitoring system causing the lights to flash. The led lights don't have enough resistance, so the vehicle thinks the lights are blown. You need to add some resistors. I think audi, vws, and land rovers have the same problems with trailers with led lights. You can wire in your own resistors or use something like this: http://www.ledlight.com/led-light-load-equalizer.aspx
Old     (tyler97217)      Join Date: Aug 2004       04-02-2013, 8:17 PM Reply   
What Justin says is right. It is not a problem with your boatmate trailer.
Old     (axeman)      Join Date: Aug 2009       04-02-2013, 8:27 PM Reply   
Ok so do I just purchase the 6ohm one for each tail light for a total of two?
Old     (jagermeister)      Join Date: Sep 2007       04-02-2013, 8:28 PM Reply   
It's the German engineering.... They're messing with the americans again...
Old     (whiteflashwatersports1)      Join Date: Dec 2012       04-03-2013, 12:16 PM Reply   
This happened with our 2012 boatmate for our 2012 RZR . Press brkae no lights, one blinker works other doesnt lights on on truck not on trailer, etc etc. Dealer said "oh thats a ground problem easy fix". They found the ground issue fixed and no problems since. That was back in the fall.

Good luck
Old     (axeman)      Join Date: Aug 2009       04-03-2013, 2:09 PM Reply   
Jerry @ BoatMate has been very helpful with this. It turns out the adapter that comes with the trailer is 7-way on one end and on the other end a 5-way with an 8 ft cable in between. I will be replacing this with the following from Wesbar. Then I should be able to use the 7-way to 5-way adapter from etrailer.com to make this all work.

http://www.wesbar.com/content/produc...75&part=787194

I will report back to let everyone know if this worked or not. By the way, if I wouldn't have been able to find this cable online Jerry @ BoatMate was willing to create a custom cable for me (I know it's pretty straightforward and I could do this myself but that's good customer service IMO).
Old     (axeman)      Join Date: Aug 2009       04-27-2013, 4:42 AM Reply   
This worked for anyone that may run into this issue in the future. You definitely want the cable that is 4 ft long. I've seen shorter 3 ft cables but they won't work as they will be too short.
Old     (qiang67)      Join Date: Oct 2013       10-10-2013, 12:51 AM Reply   
You guys must all be psychic. I was just starting to research suppliers of LED cabin light bulbs for my Sig 330. I did find a few sites but now that you guys did the work already by finding the correct bulbs, I can just fork out the money for these

RGB full color laser show disco light
Old     (DealsGapCobra)      Join Date: May 2010       10-10-2013, 5:50 AM Reply   
"Jerry @ BoatMate was willing to create a custom cable for me"

BoatMate is top notch. Glad to hear you have a solution figured out.
Old     (MIKEnNC)      Join Date: Nov 2012       10-10-2013, 6:20 AM Reply   
ive had two dealers for different brands tell me that boatmate builds a sexier trailer than others but their service and quality don't match the looks of it.... I like boatmates trailer appearance however have been skeptical after talking to the two different dealers that had similar stories about service to their customers that had problems... they had some pretty specific stories as to different times their customers had issues with boatmate and both said the service was terrible... one thing u could have done to test their vehicle theory is to simply hook it up to another and see if problem continues, if it does it obviously isn't the vehicle, good luck with everything and please advise if problem is solved
Old     (Iceberg)      Join Date: Dec 2011       10-10-2013, 7:03 AM Reply   
Here is why many newer or more sophisticated vehicles have this problem.

Quote:
"Please note that as yet Land Rover vehicles with bulb failure monitoring systems for trailer light failure sensing are not compatible with trailer light boards that have LED based illumination. As a result of this the LED lighting on the trailer board may flicker during the sensing function. (This issues will also present itself if fitting LED rear light clusters available in the aftermarket(Non-Land Rover approved Accessory)

Based upon this we recommend that trailer light boards with standard incandescent bulbs only are fitted."

you can wire in some relays at the connections in the left rear to put load on the circuit so the LED's wont blink.
So to fix the problem, you can put one old style bulb in the circuit and that will solve the feedback/grounding problem. The other option is to ensure your LED light clusters are compatible or buy an adapter that uses relays to transfer power to the trailer.
Old     (DealsGapCobra)      Join Date: May 2010       10-10-2013, 6:00 PM Reply   
Mike, I can tell you from personal experience that BoatMate showed amazing customer service in my situation and it looks like another case here. Others may have had problems, but in my experience, they were top notch.
Old     (hunter660)      Join Date: Aug 2007       10-10-2013, 8:03 PM Reply   
I have had nothing but great experiences with Boatmate. They have gone beyond what I expected to help me out.
Old     (ttduncan)      Join Date: Jan 2008       10-11-2013, 2:24 PM Reply   
I have had great experience with boatmate trailers. One torsion axle failed, after the 5 year warranty had expired. They sent me 2 replacement axles at no cost. I did pay shipping, but i think I would have had the warranty been in place.
Old     (rickB52)      Join Date: Mar 2012       10-24-2013, 8:20 PM Reply   
Quote:
Originally Posted by ttduncan View Post
I have had great experience with boatmate trailers. One torsion axle failed, after the 5 year warranty had expired. They sent me 2 replacement axles at no cost. I did pay shipping, but i think I would have had the warranty been in place.
agree…

Had multiple issues with Fulton dual wheel jack - spoke with Fulton no help…
spoke with Boatmate - new one (newest model - large single wheel) delivered to the door in a week no charge….

awesome customer service

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