Miata Mailing List: October 1999, Message #236

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At 10/01/99 09:54 PM , William Schenker wrote:

>Prey tell, what is a "Hoppies isolator"?  And where is it installed?

The isolator isolates your cars wiring from the trailers wiring.  What it 
does is provide dc power to the lights from the car battery by sensing what 
lights are in operation in the car.  Therefore, there is no extra load on 
the cars lighting to operate the additional lights on the trailer.  (Does 
that make sense?)

You will notice how it works when you install it in your car, next to your 
battery.  The big wire goes to the battery to provide the juice for the 
lights on the trailer.  Other leads go to stop, turn and license plate 
lights to sense when these are "on" on the car.  Then theirs a set of leads 
that go to the trailer's stop, turn and running lights, powered by the battery.

The isolator also provides a conversion from a 4 light stop/turn system 
(what your Miata has) to a 2 light stop/turn combination system (what the 
trailer probably has).

Stop by Pep Boys (or wherever, but probably not Home Depot <g>) and check 
out the diagram on the back of the package.  It will make sense when you 
see it.



Paul (mailto:williamp@bit-net.com)
Never drive any faster than your guardian angel can fly.