trailer lights keep blowing my harness fuse

[bman5150]

Each time I turn on my headlights for my truck, within 5 minutes the trailer running lights go off. I'm blowing a 7.5A fuse that's part of my Honda Pilot's wiring harness. Brake and turn lamps still work. Any thoughts/advice?

[Tritonbmc]

You have a short to ground somewhere. Start checking wires for wear through the insulation.

[Mike Long]

+1

[bman5150]

I appreciate the reponses, but here's some additional info:

The trailer is brand new and so is the harness. I double-checked all visable wiring and found absolutely no wear areas or any real opportunities for a short.

I replaced the 7.5 amp fuse again today, hooked up the harness to the boat trailer and left it on for about 1/2 hour with no problems. Only issue I see as a potential problem is that fuse socket + the wires coming out of it going to the truck harness adaptor is VERY hot. The wires also look smaller/dinky compared with the trailer harness wires. Wonder if my truck harness is just not intended for so much lighting/amps?

Should it be so hot to the touch? It's hot enough that I can't hold onto it for more than a few seconds. Can't imagine that's right.

[Fish TR19]

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bman5150 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I appreciate the reponses, but here's some additional info:

The trailer is brand new and so is the harness. I double-checked all visable wiring and found absolutely no wear areas or any real opportunities for a short.

I replaced the 7.5 amp fuse again today, hooked up the harness to the boat trailer and left it on for about 1/2 hour with no problems. Only issue I see as a potential problem is that fuse socket + the wires coming out of it going to the truck harness adaptor is VERY hot. The wires also look smaller/dinky compared with the trailer harness wires. Wonder if my truck harness is just not intended for so much lighting/amps?

Should it be so hot to the touch? It's hot enough that I can't hold onto it for more than a few seconds. Can't imagine that's right.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sounds like that might be where the problem is.......It should not be that hot.
could be shorting out right there. Have you tried hooking up to another tow vehicle to see if the same thing happens. The problem may not be the trailer.
Welcome to BBC

[bman5150]

Update - it's fixed. Swapped all but the tail/brake lights for LEDs and reduced the amp load so its's under 7.5 amps. The harness and fuse are now cool and I've had no more problems. The problem was my wimpy 4-pin Honda OEM harness - only allowed 7.5 amps for the running lights circuit and I was drawing close to 10 amps. WIth the LEDs, I'm no more than 5 amps Problem fixed! Plus the LEDs look pretty cool!