Trailer Electrical System

Overview of Trailer wiring

Modern vehicles are usually fitted with 13 pin female euro connector to provide electrical power to trailers and caravans. This is intended to meet the needs of caravans with the usual lighting system but also a reversing light, auxiliary batteries, fridges etc. A boat trailer is usually fitted with a 7 pin male connector, and this is the case with the Snipe trailer provided with the RS Venture boat. A 13 -> 7 pin adapter is therefore needed to connect these different types of system.

The main lighting connector mounted on the trailer splits the power supplied from the car towing connector into two systems.

The main system enables a lighting board to be mounted on the rear of the boat using the rudder mounting pintles and to be plugged into the main lighting connector. The secondary system powers a couple of white riding lights on the front face of the trailer mudguards via an additional small cable exiting the rear of the main trailer connector.

Note that the 13 pin adapter has an improved attachment system, requiring the connector to be twisted into position, preventing the connector from simply falling out.

The white riding lights mounted on the front face of the mudguards are powered by a flat 2 core cable (white / earth and brown / tail light). The cable takes power from the main lighting connector and is fed through the right hand trailer frame emerging at the rear of the frame. Connectors then split the cable into leads feeding the off-side and near-side riding lights. The connectors are concealed in the off-side mudguard frame and cannot be taken apart. The near-side cable is strapped to the cross frame with nylon cable ties and travels directly to the near-side riding light.

Mounting the lighting board

The lighting board support also doubles as a support for the rear section of the mast when towing. The support is fitted with a gudgeon and pin to match the rudder mountings on the rear of the boat. It is essential that the lighting board support is strapped down to the stern of the boat using a bungee cord to avoid the possibility of the support being catapaulted out of the rudder mountings as the trailer goes over road humps or bumps. A useful tip is to glue a sponge on the rear of the lighting board at each end to act as a spacer between the board and the boat. Most lighting boards are also fitted with holes at each end of the board to accommodate a rope or bungee to fasten the ends of the board to the boat or trailer.

The cable linking the board to the power connector should be fed through the boat and looped under the toe straps and through the front under deck space emerging from the gennaker mouth (peel back the chute velcro fastening to enable this) to ensure the cable remains in the boat during the journey.