Scotch lock venting

[ineedanother 1,369]

I usually don't vent on this site but it's Friday eve and I'm three rums in...bear with me and there's no need to punish yourself with the read or respond for that matter.

 

I recently bought an 18' morgue trailer (for work, I'm an emergency manager) and had it shipped on a rollback from Idaho to NC. It's been deployed 4 times and I haven't even gotten tags on it yet and it blows the running light fuse on my 550. I had a tow package installed on my 450 and apparently that isn't fused because it melted the wires in the seven pin connector when one of my guys plugged it in 

 

Brown wire (clearance) and electric brake (blue) on the trailer both go to ground  . Clearly shorted somewhere. The manufacturer was helpful today and really good folks but as I got into it, every splice (probably 50 or more) are Scotch locks wrapped in electrical tape and there's little to no excess wire to allow for corrections. Beyond that, it was spray insulated after being wired (insert ultra-frustrated meme here).

 

I re-wired the plug for the 450 this evening and will get that truck back in service tomorrow but WTH? No picture of the burnt harness but here is what I rewired. Do I expect too much? The trailer was >$45,000.

 

My apologies for the rant. I won't make a habit of it 

[ri702bill 8,316]

Did your F550 come with a Factory installed 7 way or 7 and 4 way Connector ??

[ineedanother 1,369]

7 way, but not factory installed. We bought 8 chassis and had the beds made with tool boxes and fifth wheel mounts.

 

[Rick3478 428]

Scotch Locks are horrible.  They damage the wire going on, then shake loose and get hot and/or intermittent.

[ebinmaine 67,421]

I have never ever ever not one time met someone that thinks they're a plausible long-term usage piece of hardware... Yet... They still get used. 

 

When I find scotch locks on anything we own they get ripped out and replaced with proper connections.  Always.   

[squonk 41,067]

I rewire every trailer I get. They are mass produced by using folks who's skills are suited for an assembly line and not electrical work.. Scotch locks are cheap and fast. They usually run a tail light wire to the back and scotch lock off of that for running lights. Open trailers aren't so bad to fix but enclosed trailers are tough and add in insulation for a reefer trailer you got a mess.

[ineedanother 1,369]

35 minutes ago, squonk said:

I rewire every trailer I get. They are mass produced by using folks who's skills are suited for an assembly line and not electrical work.. Scotch locks are cheap and fast. They usually run a tail light wire to the back and scotch lock off of that for running lights. Open trailers aren't so bad to fix but enclosed trailers are tough and add in insulation for a reefer trailer you got a mess.

That's exactly where I am with this and it gets worse but then it got a bit better, sort of. Since it's a cold storage unit, spray insulation was added after the unit was wired. What a mess although the wiring was intentionally kept away from the insulation to an extent. That is where I thought this got worse, but not too much worse.

 

The good part is that I found 3 wires in the harness running to ground (not what I expected). White (ground, expected), brown (running lights, my problem), and blue (electric brake), this was a surprise but ended up being a blessing since I figured that both circuits must have suffered the same fate at the same point and the brake wiring would be the shortest circuit on the trailer, and not in the walls .

 

To verify this, I have continuity between the brown and blue at the plug (double ). I didn't have time today to find the exact point, but I'm nearly certain that one of the metal clips that hold the flexible wire covers to the frame has cut in and essentially spliced those two together as well as grounded both to the frame. Thank goodness!!! Rant over (for now)