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robertel · 09-18-2010, 09:33 AM

As my wiring diagram shows the black,white and green wires coming to the R taillight going to more than one light on the assembly (except for the inner black wire which should go to brn) could all the black wires, white wires, green wires be connected in bundles or must they be wired separately?

(See my diagram for what exists

TG Twinkie · 09-18-2010, 01:56 PM

Is this a plastic tail lite assembly? Are there 3 or 4 fixtures? 3 large squares, one small square. I'll make an educated guess and say that the white wires are the ground (common) wires and could be bundled together and connected to the white wire in your cable. Are the 3 larger squares individual fixtures? Do the bulbs all have single filaments? They must since they only have a black and a white wire. If this is a metal fixture and there are dual filaments, then there must be a mechanical ground. If so then the black is the tail light and the white is the stop (brake) light. Can you tell is this is original equipment? Do the white wires connect to anything? According to your drawing, they don't. I'm confused about the black wire on the right connecting to two different fixtures and then to the green. If this is the case, then the green may be the brake/turn signal, but that doesn't make sense in looking at the your drawing. Again, How many filaments are in each bulb? Perhaps a PO installed new bases that use dual filament bulbs like 1157's but decided to only use one filament and the whites are not used.

robertel · 09-18-2010, 04:11 PM

-I will have to check tomarow whether they are single or duel filament bulbs.
-All the wires were at one time connected but I lost the diagram.
-Yes, they are 3 large fixtures and one smaller on the outside Right.
-The 2 back wires connected to green are as in the airstream manuel lighting diagram. (below)
-The 1 black connected to brn are as in the manuel lighting diagram. (below)
-As you see on the right there are 3 white wires, 2 black wires, and 2 green wires coming from the umbilical to the light.
-Would all the white wires join in a bundle or separately (as there are 3 white on the assembly and 3 feed wires)
-Would the 2 black wires going to green be bundled or wired separately (as there are 2 black wires and 2 green wires)
-The diagram only shows 1 wire of each color coming from the front (unless this is only to show the color of the wires not the number).

TG Twinkie · 09-19-2010, 01:28 PM

Yes, there is typically one wire going to the front of the trailer for each function, ie tail lights and marker lights is one wire, brake/turn signal lights is one wire for each side of the trailer.
I'm not sure if you understand the drawing you posted. Or even if this drawing matches your trailer. When you look at the drawing (schematic) you will note that there is what looks like a dot or a period on some of the wires where they cross other wires. This is an indication that these wires are connected together. If there is no dot, they are not connected. I can't make out the numbers or letters in the identifier bubbles on the drawing, but there should be an accompanying document that tells you what they are. I'm goig to post thia for now and go back and look at your drawing and see if I can be of more help. I'll post again later.

TG Twinkie · 09-19-2010, 02:18 PM

On the left side of the drawing are circles with numbers in them which identify the fixtures. #2,#3 and#6 are tail/marker lights, #4 is backup ?, #5 is right/left turn and #7 is the licese plate. It looks to me like all fixtures are single element. The small fixture on the outside is grounded to the trailer. The three larger fixtures are also single filament but the ground is isolated. Each one of the larger fixtures has a white wire, this is the ground or common wire. Connect all of the white wires together along with the white wire in the umbilical cord. Do this on both sides of the trailer. Then #2 and #3 black wires are connected together and then connected to the green wire from the cord, again on both sides of the trailer. I think #4 is the backup lights, and its black wire would be connected to the black wire in the cord. Then #5 on the lower left is the right turn/brake light and its black wire is connected to the brown wire from the cord. Finally #5 on the upper left is the left turn/brake and and its black wire is connected to the red wire from the cord. I'm 99% sure this is correct. The only question is the backup lights. I don't know if your TV is even wired to turn on backup lights on the trailer. Hope this works for you.

robertel · 09-20-2010, 02:18 AM

Thank you for your input. As you see in my drawing there are 2 black wires, 3 white wires, 2 green wires, and 1 brown wire. coming from the trailer to the light fixture. Should these as well be bundled and connected to the wires as you indicated?

TG Twinkie · 09-20-2010, 08:15 AM

If by bundled you mean connected together the answer is yes, match the colors and connect them together, example: the 2 blacks you mention would be connected to the 2 greens. The reason there are 2 greens is one of them goes to the front of the trailer, the other goes to the opposite side of the trailer, the same is true for the whites and blacks coming into the tail light assembly. I gave explicit details one which wires should be connected to the cable wires in the post titled "I think I've got it". If you look at the Airstream drawing and refer to my post you should be able to get things working. Your sketch looks like you have it right as well, you have 2 black wires, one on each of the two outside fixtures, the 2 black should be connected together with the 2 green wires. The black wire in the fixture on the left is to be connected to the brown wire and all 3 white wires, one from each fixture (3 total) should be connected to the 3 white wires from the cable. The second fixture from the left in your sketch appears not to be connected to anything, that's probably for backup lights and has never been used. If you have more questions, let me know.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 05:49 PM

I have the same type of problem.
My setup looks like this.
The wiring is according to the diagram in the service manual, which doesn't show the salmon colored (the second wire) on the lights second from the outside.
These have the backup light lens and a bulb with the two points on the bottom.

the wiring diagram from the 7 pin tow connector has:
green - running and tail lights
brown - right turn/stop light (innermost wire on left side of pic)
black - backup light (second from the inside on both sides of pic)
red - left turn/stop light (innermost on right side of pic)

What I am missing is..
1) The black (according to the wiring diagram) is not hooked to the light with the backup lens)
2) The extra wire (salmon color in the pic below) has no reference in the wiring diagram for the tail light assembly.

Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks.

TG Twinkie · 03-10-2011, 05:55 PM

The salmon colored wires look like backup lights.
The black wires are brake lights from the 70's.
The 2 center fixtures could be left and right turn.
In order for you to have backup lights you would have to wire the center pin of your TV and locate the wire in the trailer. But it is used already. The drawing below shows wiring for a '75, don't know if it is the same as your manual. No backup lights are shown.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 06:01 PM

Observation..

if the black are indeed the backup lights then they would go where the salmon colored wires are.
The wiring diagram for the 7pin says the turn signal lights are both turn signal and brake lights (weird), then that leaves the two in the pic with the black wires with nothing going to them. Hmm..

TG Twinkie · 03-10-2011, 06:10 PM

No; the black wires in your drawing are probably stand alone brake lights not backup lights. This brake and turn signal circuits are the same. When you put the turn signal on in the TV it flashes the same filament as the brake light uses when the turn signal is off.
If you want to use the black wires in your drawing for brake lights, they would have to be wired to the cyclops light circuit in your TV but you don't have enough pins on a 7 pin connector to wire all that stuff up. It might be possible to wire these lights to the same circuit as the brake solenoids. I've never tried that. Other than that you could just wire them in with the tail lights. Or just leave them disconnected.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 06:18 PM

That is the same diagram that I have, it shows the BLK as the backup lights. and it shows the turn/stop as being the same wire. Weird.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 06:40 PM

Correction. The bulb with the two wires is not the back up light. I was mistaken. The backup light has the black wires, which matches the wiring diagram.

Everything matches up except the salmon colored wires.. don't know what they are. They are the lights that have the fish-eye thing on the back, which I think is where a fiber optic wire used to come out of for the side light indicator things.

The salmon wire mystery..

TG Twinkie · 03-10-2011, 07:27 PM

I think you have it correct. The fiber optics were for monitoring the lighting system I think. So it looks like you are on the right track.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 07:32 PM

I appreciate your interest in this. If (when) I find the answer, I will post it here. Thanks!

pgr32e · 03-10-2011, 07:35 PM

I think your right, the salmon coloured wires are the indicator fibre optics for the tail light indicators on the side.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 07:49 PM

I don't think so. I was reading on another thread.. the fiber optics don't use wires, just light. I got that they plug into the fish-eye things on the back of the light fixture and the light just beams through the fiber without any electricity.

The salmon colored wires (not really salmon colored) are one of two wires that drop down into the top of the light fixture... some electrical (second) source to the same bulb it looks like.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 08:14 PM

I found the fiber optic lines. I was wondering what those things were. Black lines that plug into the back of the light casement and both run up to the front streetside to a small hole there.. for a light I surmise.

pgr32e · 03-10-2011, 08:15 PM

Can you see the ends of the salmon coloured wires? Are they wires or salmon coloured fibre optics. I'm going on memory here, (the AS is up to the bottom trim in snow) but when I had my lights apart two years ago I remember the indicator lines as a faded salmon colour....Or maybe it's my memory that's faded.........Phil.

DanielB · 03-10-2011, 08:47 PM

Salmon is just a color i made up for contrast in the picture. The actual wires are black. The light fixture(s) (one on each side) have the two pronged bulb and two wires (instead of one) coming out of the top. They are both black.

The fiber optics are also black, but they attach to the back of the fixture into this glass fish-eye looking thing.