Vampire clips suck

[bobdoo]

After 5 years in the deepest recesses of my 3-car garage, it's time to get the little fishing boat back on the water. Today's plan was to get a spare wheel/tire, check the lights, and run the engine for a bit.

I lucked out with a great local tire shop, who had a take-off wheel.

I did NOT luck out with the trailer lights. Last time I used the boat, I rewired the hitch connector, and put new taillights on. Every thing worked great.

Today-no light at all. I checked resistance on the trailer, and things looked good, with single-digit resistances. Then I spent an hour freeing up a lightbulb that had corroded itself into the socket. Both bulbs' filaments looked good, and resistance was futile... I mean almost non-existent.

OK-so it's got to be on the car side... Well, maybe I better put a battery on the trailer connector, first. And, we have success! By that I mean the lights worked. GRRRReat! NOT. VOM on the car connector showed 5ish volts on running lights, and 40! on flashers... I don't know what those wiring connector boxes do, but that seemed quite strange. I spray-cleaned both connectors, and when that didn't work, I used a diamond fingernail file and appropriately sized drill to clean both connectors. No dice!

I next pulled every fuse (cabin and engine) to check them out. Good news, they were all fine. OK, the harness box must be bad. The wiring exited under the spare tire well, so I backed the CX-5 onto ramps, and traced the wiring to a hole, sealed with silicone... Time to pull the back panels off the hatch. I found the harness box, took a pic, looked online for a new one, and then realized that it was past 5pm, and Mazda doesn't have parts open on Saturday. I looked over the T-clip? connectors that were installed when I bought the car, couldn't see much, but I decided to rotate them on the wires, in case I could knock off any corrosion.

Much to my surprise, this worked. After my fishing trip, I'll be back at that wiring, to t-connect/wrap them correctly. Any one have suggestions on a good tape (other than Scotch Super 33, which I already have?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Much to my surprise, this worked. After my fishing trip, I'll be back at that wiring, to t-connect/wrap them correctly. Any one have suggestions on a good tape (other than Scotch Super 33, which I already have?

If you’re actually intent on doing it correctly, never speak of using these connectors again.

Remove your current clip, cut the wires and strip back the insulation. Slip on heat shrink with sealant. Join and solder the wires, then slip the heat shrink over the joint and shrink/seal it. Any other way, and you’ll be repeating the fiasco you had today at some point, guaranteed.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

of course they suck! That's why they're called vampire clips

 

[Chris142]

Those things are terrible. You should get rid of them.

 

[atikovi]

Title mentions vampire clips but no mention of them in the post. Pics?

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Title mentions vampire clips but no mention of them in the post. Pics?

They can’t come out in the daylight, or the connection gets burned up by the sun.

 

[Kira]

Another reason for "Vampire clip hate" is that they're made from, "Transylvaniaium".

 

[javacontour]

Title mentions vampire clips but no mention of them in the post. Pics?

Given my background, I first thought of this 1980s Ethernet device.

But I think the OP means:

 

[supton]

I think of those as scotchlocks. I used them on my cheapo HF trailer. Seems like I was redoing the wiring every other year, would snag the wiring on something and tear it up--last time I messed with it, I resorted to household wire nuts. On the latest trailer I put together, I spent a whole lot more time securing the wiring so I'd quit dragging it on the ground; we'll see if it holds up better. The wiring is cheap and not going to last, so I'm not going to go overboard on it.

[Not a fan of using trailer ground for ground return, great idea, as long as it works... on a welded trailer probably ok but on my HF trailer I gave up and ran a dedicated GND wire.]

I like insulation displacement connectors (IDC) at work but only for low current, low voltage, cheap connections--that won't see environmental issues outside of "room". I'll solder when necessary but copper to copper via crimp (or better, welding) is best.

 

[Kira]

I spent a whole lot more time securing the wiring so I'd quit dragging it on the ground; we'll see if it holds up better.

I bet it does.

 

[supton]

I bet it does.

It might. But I retired the old trailer and use that around the yard, use the new one for leaving the yard. I suspect not dragging it around will do wonders for it. The old trailer can now get beat on with no worries.

I still think the cheap wiring will degrade from UV, and rust will creep in, and I'll still be replacing it all in 5 years though. Just a guess.

 

[Kira]

Once at work a stout, 12 circuit cable got abraded (torn, really) and replaced.
Each circuit was 3-wire and each wire was 12 ga.
It was 50' long and I took it from the trash and got it to my rural friends.

That one multi-cable has provided wiring for lots of trailers. To make termination easier, each wire was color coded.
Very good to see it reused.

 

[D60]

Yep, Scotchloks. I've been preaching this for years. Every trailer manufacturer uses them-- just like trailer manufacturers are allergic to box tubing and want to use angle or channel everywhere. Also allergic to grommets, running wires through torch-cut holes that are surrounded by jagged slag.

ANYWAY, I know it's still not "right" but I use heat shrink butt connectors. I just cram two wires into one end and a single wire in the other end (if necessary I strip the single twice as long and fold over on itself to increase the diameter, depending upon connector size necessary to accommodate the dual wires at the other end). Then heat shrink.

I think you could use liquid electrical tape at the dual end to improve the seal if concerned. And if you use the clear connectors you can visually inspect for corrosion in the future.

Here in arid SW CO this works very, very well. In humid or rainy environments it may still prove problematic after a number of years??

Regardless, basically anything is better than ScotchLoks. It's a low bar as you'd be ahead with wire nuts or just twisting everything together and wrapping with electrical tape. I'm NOT recommending either of those options but they provide a more solid connection than Scotchloks

If anyone is EVER having electrical troubles on a trailer, eliminate all of these and there's a 99% chance it'll fix all your issues.

 

[JohnnyG]

There is a brand of tap/connector out there that is filled with silicone grease. Their not perfect, but seem to hold up against corrosin a lot longer than the bare ones.

 

[cb_13]

I’ve had great luck with the non insulated metal connectors and heat shrink. I used to believe solder was the only way but with a proper crimping tool and sealed with heat shrink these work great.

There’s a ratcheting crimp tool that insures you get them tight enough but I prefer one like pictured.

 

[paulo57509]

Captain obvious here...I'm not a boat guy but I always figured you did boat trailer wiring the same as you would wiring on the boat. Both enter the water at some point.

 

[bobdoo]

But I think the OP means:

Yup! That's what I'm referring to. Thanks for the pics.

 

[bobdoo]

liquid electrical tape

Thanks - that's what I want.

 

[bobdoo]

I’ve had great luck with the non insulated metal connectors

The boating community absolutely demands that crimp connectors be used, and absolutely NO solder. They cite wire breakage with soldering, and oxidation problems.

 

[bobdoo]

I'm not a boat guy but I always figured you did boat trailer wiring the same as you would wiring on the boat. Both enter the water at some point.

If water finds it's way half way up the height of my car, and flooding into the hatch area, I'll have much bigger problems to worry about! (The wiring adapter is mounted above the left rear wheel, inside the car...)