No exterior lights

[ToddK79]

I'm a newbie and my stepdad was always my wiring guru, but since.he passed away I'm having to learn. I have determined that I have no power coming from the plug. I'm not sure if it is a bad ground as it is under a rusted bolt, or if my plug might be bad.

This trailer had been sitting for 6 years in a barn and has all kinds of dirt in the plug itself. I don't know if I should buy a new plug or if I can clean it out somehow. Here are a couple of pics of what I'm looking at.

[rodsterinfl]

My step father is my wiring guru too. When I had the exact problem he took his small knife extension on his pocket knife set and scraped all the contacts in the first picture- all the metal plates then looked at the other end for tab pinch (making sure they were not smashed together too much as to not spread and hold in the plug end. It worked after that- maybe for you too.

[DryFly]

I would buy a new plug, clean up the end of the wires and put it back together. A pretty easy fix. Make sure you know which wire goes where though. Some of the older trailers had wiring that didn't meet up with a modern 7 way. Here's how my 72 Argosy is currently wired to match my 2011 Ridgeline

[DryFly]

I just took another look at the photo. Besides replacing the plug, you should at some point replace the rusted bolts, although you probably are still getting adequate ground to the frame. More importantly though is that I think the box shown on the right hand pic is your break away switch. If it looks like that it's a good bet it's bad and needs to be replaced. Both the plug and break away switch are pretty inexpensive - I think a $20 will cover the costs.

[ToddK79]

Yeah, I was working on trying to get the rusted bolts and screws out tonight, but didn't have much luck. I plan on getting out the wd40 tomorrow and trying again. I have only had Argosy for about a week, but so far all that isn't working are the lights. I know where to get the plug, but where can I find the box?

[cwf]

If the wd40 fails, get some aerokoil...PBBlaster, those really attack rust. If you can touch the rusted screw with one end of continuity tester and the other on the + post of the battery and it lights up, then the battery is connected and the bolt/screw is conducting.

I am with previous poster that you should clear up the umbilical cord plug end.

[DryFly]

Just about any RV parts supplier will have the break away switch. Camping World, Out Of Doors Mart, Vintage Trailer Supply, etc, etc, etc. Oh, and Amazon and Ebay

[ToddK79]

I got the plug replaced last night, haven't checked it yet, but the old plug basically fell apart when I opened it up. Hopefully I got it wired right.

[xrvr]

Good job! Jim