Northwest Fishing Reports

I have an EZ Loader trailer for my boat. I use it in fresh and salt water. The trailer and boat are a little over a year old, and I have already needed to replace two of the LED lights. One because of a defect in the lens, but the other because of corrosion at the terminals. Both lights had corrosion on the terminals/connectors. Anyone have any ideas how to minimize or prevent corrosion at the connectors? Thanks for any help.

Solder and heat shrink them with the good stuff. Also make sure and wash everything down after every salt dip. But make sure that all the connections are protected from the elements and you should be trouble free for a few years. They make some really nice thick heat shrink that I found on ebay had to use my propane torch for a really nice seal. Just make sure the size of the shrink is the size for the wire to big and it won't make a good seal and protect it.

Good luck hope you get it solved.

If the lights are supposed to be sealed (most LED lights for boat trailers are.), you shouldn't have any problems and I would suggest contacting the Mfg if they are leaking. Salt water, always unplug your lights when you back in. Salt water + electricity = corrosion. If you have to replace the lights with units that are properly sealed you will want to solder the replacements and use a good quality marine shrink tubing to seal your repairs. The shrink tube should be lined with heat activated epoxy. It's easy to tell when you're looking at it. Regular shrink tube will not seal out any water, its only meant to be insulation.

Bodofish wrote:If the lights are supposed to be sealed (most LED lights for boat trailers are.), you shouldn't have any problems and I would suggest contacting the Mfg if they are leaking. Salt water, always unplug your lights when you back in. Salt water + electricity = corrosion. If you have to replace the lights with units that are properly sealed you will want to solder the replacements and use a good quality marine shrink tubing to seal your repairs. The shrink tube should be lined with heat activated epoxy. It's easy to tell when you're looking at it. Regular shrink tube will not seal out any water, its only meant to be insulation.

^^^^ Ditto to this!

Marine grade heat shrink is adhesive lined and will "melt" as the tubing shrinks forming a watertight seal. It's the only heat shrink I keep on hand and use it for everything.

Here's where I buy all my marine wiring and accessories, good source, good prices, & free shipping - http://www.genuinedealz.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great ideas. Thank you for the responses.

If you cant find marine grade heat shrink, you can use regular heat shrink if you coat the bare wire with 3M 5200 marine sealant before you shrink the tubing. Its a messy process but works just fine. The marine heat shrink is the better option though. As said above, make sure its the epoxy type.

As others have said - no matter how you do the connections - you should always unplug the lights before backing into salt water. Actually thats a good habit even in fresh water.

If your plugs are corroding where the lights plug into the vehicle, spray the connections with CorrosionX every couple of years. There is also a Volvo/Penta version of the spray that works pretty well.

You can find it at many Marine supply places, hardware stores, aviation supply stores and sometimes at a lumber yard. Get the normal duty spray - not the heavy duty, as it is too thick to penetrate well.

Do NOT use WD40. Its useless at a water proofing/anti-corrosion agent.

I will look for CorrosionX. It is the connections that I am concerned with and want to prevent or control the corrosion. Thanks.

Billm wrote:I will look for CorrosionX. It is the connections that I am concerned with and want to prevent or control the corrosion. Thanks.

If your lights are properly sealed and the wiring is soldered and sealed, there's nothing to spray but the connection to your truck. I never spray goop on anything, just keep it clean and dry it out.

Bodofish wrote:If your lights are properly sealed and the wiring is soldered and sealed, there's nothing to spray but the connection to your truck. I never spray goop on anything, just keep it clean and dry it out.

The other thing you can do if you're having trouble finding marine shrink tube is use a couple coats of Scotch liquid mastic on the joints or the tape (a little bit faster). This is what we used on underwater cables for part of the repair or joining process but you always need something over the top to protect it as it's pretty soft, like regular shrink tube.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/e ... 059&rt=rud

I have a 2005 NR Seahawk and an EZ Loader trlr. I had the same problem when I first owned the boat. I replaced the lights around 2007 and I've had no problems since. I did use shrink tubes.

If you have a HarborFreight around you, they have a pretty nice set of LED lights you can buy. Granted, I don't use mine is SW, but they've been great for about 4-5 years now. I did open them up and apply marine silicone around the seams just in case.

Most definitely use lined heat-shrink tubing. GenuineDealz is great. But you can also buy a kit from HF for cheap. These are thinner than the ones from GD, but they seem to work just fine for other applications so far.