wiring question - under sled deck compartment lite.

[ttpowersports]

[h=3]Details[/h]i have installed a snowmobile deck on my pick up. and have hooked up the clearance lites not problem. i want to install a cargo lite under the deck for nite time visibility. i have a new trucklite brand cargo lite. however it is a selfgrounding type with only one wire coming from the fixture. i screwed the lite on the bottom of the wooden deck and ran a ground wire to the deck. but it wont power up the lite,. it blew the fuse for the clearance lites... should i need to run a separate power line to the lite? i thought i should be able to tie in to the clearance lites. i could go and get a new two wire lite. but it would be nice to use what i have.

wired quite a bit of stuff before this ones a head scratcher...

 

[teeroy]

how is your deck grounded to the truck? by the wire harness or just through the securement system?

 

[ttpowersports]

how is your deck grounded to the truck? by the wire harness or just through the securement system?

deck is bolt to the frame..so it should be grounded, i can try a ground wire from the deck to chassis...? never know. i thought 4 mount bolts should give a good enough ground but i do have spray in liner.. hmmm

 

[teeroy]

deck is bolt to the frame..so it should be grounded, i can try a ground wire from the deck to chassis...? never know. i thought 4 mount bolts should give a good enough ground but i do have spray in liner.. hmmm

I had ground issues relying on the bolts and turnbuckles to ground my deck. but if your clearance lights are using your deck for ground and working fine then that shouldn't be the problem. mine has line-x coating as well, not sure if that was the issue but I ended up going with a grounded connector plug and running 2 wires to everything. weird that it keeps popping your fuse, that means a short is occurring somewhere.

 

[brian h]

popping the fuse is a sign of a short,not a ground issue,check your wires for a power wire being grounded

 

[zal]

I switched my wiring around to a box. When I did, had the ground as the positive and the positive as the ground. Unfortunately, it still works like it should. But when I hooked up my compartment light, its sparked like crazy. Knew something was wrong. Maybe check that out....?

 

[teeroy]

popping the fuse is a sign of a short,not a ground issue,check your wires for a power wire being grounded

perhaps he has confused the wires coming out of his cargo light, as his deck lights are still working until he hooks up the cargo light....it's why I asked where the ground was.

 

[New_M7_Ryder]

why dont you hook your cargo light to the clearance lights. they normally have a power and ground coming to them so you dont have to worry about finding a new ground as it will come from the wiring plug. the 20 amp fuse should be able to handle it as there are minimal lights on a deck.

 

[SNAFU]

I installed a flat 4 plug in my truck box. The deck running lights and my underdeck lights are wired to the brown conductor. I ran the ground wire from the lights directly to the white wire on the 4 prong plug. I did not ground the lights to the deck. This works well but the truck lights or marker lights have to be on use the underdeck lighting. Not that big of a deal and saves running another dedicated wire to power the lights.

 

[zal]

Yep, that way the compartment light isn't left on unless the park lights are on. Same way mine is. One way of doing it.

 

[ttpowersports]

Yep, that way the compartment light isn't left on unless the park lights are on. Same way mine is. One way of doing it.

thats what i tried but i tied into the wire off a marker lite which was working? wtf i can try before the splice.

the deck comes with a black/red two wire plug with booth ends and one end to wire into the harness.. because it s a new 2011 i didnt want to splice into the wiring... i just as mentioned above used a four prong trailer plug that i could plug in and yes i used the white as ground and the black and attempted to tie into the power off the closest marker lite on the deck... no go..., and i screwed it into the wood part of the deck and made sure was contacting the deck, tried to ground the lite to the deck as it is a self grounding one wire set up, still nothing, though maybe the lite was nfg but if i touch it to a neg bat post and wire to positive it works. it would be easier to get a two wire lite..fml...but im figuring this out now no matter what.... and the saga continues..

 

[goodngrubby]

Some cargo lights require a full time positive, and a switch activated ground...that's how most interior lights are. If it's just a regular aftermarket cargo light (Grote or Dominion) then it should be self grounding and require a switch operated hot lead. If you have a positive and negative feed from the deck into the truck plug, then screwing the light into the chassis of the deck, and running the single lead to the positive wire should work.

 

[zal]

What did you find out?

 

[ttpowersports]

What did you find out?

ha ha...i found out life is too short to dick with a 20 dollar light got a two wire one today hooked it up, done..... thanks for all the help people... i think it must have been a grounding issue , but more trouble than is worth... ill save them for another day... i now have lite under i can see all the ch!t i cant reach....next....a pole with a hook....lol

 

[Scuba]

get pipes to do the work for you, he's in the trade.