So last night as I pull my boat out of the water, hook the trailer lights back up. I smell the nice aroma of an electrical fire. I look down as I walk back to lock the gate of the landing and notice I have smoke billowing out of my 80" wide marker light. I run to the trailer connection and unplug it from the truck and it quickly goes out. I have no idea how it happened considering I had 2 layers of heat shrink tape on it followed by another layer of elec tape. These lights were fine for 2 years. I have noticed though that these so called "submersible" units are a joke as in it seems the LEDs are slowly dieing and that there is moisture inside the housing for the lights.

It boggles my mind that we can have a nuclear powered submarine, but cant design boat trailer lights to last more than 5 years. I know it is most likely engineered obsolescence at work here. It just gets me that these poor quality products get to see the light of day. I mean what if I was somewhere else and didnt need to lock the gate and just drove away? My boat and truck could very well have gone up in smoke. Im just venting, yes btw I unplug the wire harness before it goes in the water, just in case that comes up....

FWIW, in the days when I was trailering (sail boat) I mounted my lights and license plate on a 2x4 with a flexible cord that reached the outlet on the tow vehicle.  I mounted a gudgeon pin on it that fit the rudder socket and you may have to be inventive here to make a mounting that is quick and easy for your boat construction.  

When I got to the ramp I took it off and put it in the back of the truck so there was NO electrical equipment on the trailer as it went in the water.  When you load back on the trailer, hang the lights and plug them in.

Just unplug your lights when launching.  When you pull in, you unplug them while untying.  Then, when you are leaving, you plug them in after you have strapped her down.  Been doing it that way for a long while, and the first time we forgot to unplug them, something shorted, and it blew half the fuses in the truck, so on the way home, we had to drive home with no taillights on the truck or trailer, and half of the dash lights, and this was 9:00 on a winter night, so it was pitch black.

unplugging the lights would be the most cost effective. If you are going to change them I would reccomend commercial trailer lamps. they are sealed just plug em in, if they go out it just a matter of unplugging and plugging in a new one

Holy geeeeez,  I believe he said he DID unplug them.....

I just finished replacing my lights on my trailer. I was looking at the LED lights, but for the price I can replace with others twice. I live on the coast so this is a  yearly thing for me even with rinsing with fresh after every trip. I have had my boat since 04, and I am having to replace the leaf springs on the trailer this winter. The only thing that would make it better is to completely seal everything that deals with the lights. Then we would all cuss when a bulb blew. Once again the saying is true, the two best days of owning a boat is the day you buy, and the day you sell.

The issues I hear of people having with submersible lights when they do unplug them, is them leaking a tad, and filling faster than it drains.  Then, when you plug them in, it is full of water.  I have heard of people drilling holes in them for that purpose.

Holy geeeeez, I believe he said he DID unplug them.....

;D ;D

he sure did!

...and unplugging them will not do much good it they are getting water in them.

If the lights are getting water in unplugging does a world of good since it is cold water hitting a hot bulb that pops the light bulb. Corrossion from the water is a longer term problem.

Use sealed lights like all big trucks have.  Any wire connections seal up with liquid electrical tape.  Use heavy grease where lights plug into the pigtrail.  About any auto parts store should have what you need.  I get them from NAPA.    For wiring I use what I call Rhino wire.  Super tough outside coating on it.    IMO thats about the best combination of lighting and wiring you can use.  

Well pluging and unpluging is fine unless you have a leak.  I been doing what Ann-Marie said for the pass 10 plus years. The aonly time i replace a bulb is when one gets broken out due to miss halp either by someone backing in tome or vise-versa.  I welded a small piece of plate on to some vice grips and i take my lights off the trailer evertime.  Some what of a hassel but it beats repalce a bulb or a stolen licence plate.

Four things, Sealed trailer lights ( I don't unplug mine ), buy a soldering gun, solder and shrink tubing ( the kind you slip over your wires and use a lighter to shrink. On your trailer and in your boat there are probably a lot of quick connects and cheap hook ups. Trash all of those and solder all your wires and cover them with shrink wrap. I spent a Saturday doing this and rarely if ever have a problem in either my trailer or boat.

Four things, Sealed trailer lights ( I don't unplug mine ), buy a soldering gun, solder and shrink tubing ( the kind you slip over your wires and use a lighter to shrink. On your trailer and in your boat there are probably a lot of quick connects and cheap hook ups. Trash all of those and solder all your wires and cover them with shrink wrap. I spent a Saturday doing this and rarely if ever have a problem in either my trailer or boat.

I think I said it in the original post but I had greased the connections and used 2 layers of heat shrink tape and a layer of elec tape over that. My thoughts are that it is with the light and not my connections. I have yet to take it apart fully but plan to this week (hopefully).

It might seem like a little overkill but I use marine grade silicone and go over all seams on the lights and any other splices you might have. As always disconnect your lights

Ok guys here is an update. I finally got to take the light off the trailer. When I did it was very apparent that the internal workings of the light had indeed failed. No idea what exactly went wrong other than the apparent that the light short circuited and started to fry itself. I have 2 pics that are terrible quality(Cellphone) showing the burnt wires coming out of the light and the light itself with the melted plastic lens. I'm in the process of running ground wires from front to back, again doubling up on the heat shrink wrap wire covering. I will not you cant see it in the pics but the connections that I made to the lights were completely clean and still going strong. The connections made by the factory inside the sealed light are what failed.

Just as a side note I want all of you BR members to be aware that I purchased these lights at BPS. I am going to add a link to the fixture so hopefully you will steer clear of these defective fixtures. You can view the fixtures here. Once again guys these lights are not safe. I just wrote a glowing review for them. I also took the other one off as well. It looks as if they both failed. The one that I took off today the wires burnt a hole through the lens and casing. I will post pics of these later. DO NOT BUY THESE LIGHTS!!!

Anyone with trailer light problems due to them

being submersed in water should look into

setting them up so the lights are above the

water level.  Mine are like that and I have not

had a problem with them in the 5 yrs I've had

the boat.

My lights are mounted exactly like Zeta has them. I installed the cheepest trailer lights available at Walmart. They are not even watertight. I did do one thing that has ensured that they continue to work....I removed each bulb, sprayed silicone lubricant in each socket and reinstalled each bulb. I did have to replace one bulb in three years. Protecting the electrical connections ensures the reliability of the lights. Marine lights are preferred but I was itching to get out on the water. I do not unplug the lights when I put the trailer in the water.