Tail Light Monitor

[October]

We are restoring a 1974 23ft LY that we recently purchased, and would like clarification as to what is the purpose of the Tailight Monitor located on the Roadside of the trailer below the bedroom window. At the present it is just hanging there by two electrical wires. Looks like it has a couple of diodes and is about 1/2 " by 2" in size. Can I remove the monitor or will it affect the taillights?

[overlander63]

The taillight monitor is a pair of fiber optic lines going from the monitor back to the taillights. At the taillights, the light from the bulbs shines on the end of the fiber optic tubes, and shines at the other end, so you can see in your rear view mirror if the taillights are working.
If they don't work, you can cut them off and patch the hole in the side of the trailer. If they do work, you can get metal replacement monitor covers from the Airstream dealer of your choice, and re-install them on the trailer.

[Chuck]

the purpose of the tail light monitor is so that you can monitor your tail lights from the driver's seat of your tow vehicle. (you can see if your tail lights are working).
Its not electric, and those aren't "wires;" they're fiber-optic cables. The light from the tail lights shines through, and is visible in the glass lenses.
If you take the red lenses off the stop/turn lights, and look behind the bulbs, you'll see the other end of the fiber-optic cable's glass lens in the housing of the tail light fixture.
removing the monitor from the outside of the trailer won't affect the tail light operation at all...but it is a neat feature that you won't have anymore, and you've got to cover the hole in the skin w/ something.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by October

We are restoring a 1974 23ft LY that we recently purchased, and would like clarification as to what is the purpose of the Tailight Monitor located on the Roadside of the trailer below the bedroom window. At the present it is just hanging there by two electrical wires. Looks like it has a couple of diodes and is about 1/2 " by 2" in size. Can I remove the monitor or will it affect the taillights?

The "tail light monitor" as used by Airstream, is like many other neat things in life.

It lets you know what going on, or as the case may be, "not".

It's one of the best and cheapest gadgets that Airstream ever installed.

Those black colored cables "are not" wires, but they are optical cables. They cannot be spliced back together like a wire can, that was cut.

A definite safety tool.

Andy