Hopkins 46365 Short Proof Power Converter

This is working great so far. Between my Toyota sienna and various boat trailers. It seems to have lots of power for lots of trailer lights. I'm not sure if this is true of the other converters, but the trailer lights only work when the car key is turned on to power the converter. (simply turning on the car parking lights without the key turned will light the car, but not the trailer).Update: Installed this converter in 2 Sienna's in a row, and I have found this converter to be the most reliable of any I have used over 30+ years of trailering. If the hitch place installs one, for me it typically has failed in 2-3 years. I'm on my 2nd one of these Hopkins (because we have a new Sienna). I've never had a problem.Installation Knowledge:1. You need to be comfortable figuring out which wire on your car is the right one to attach to each of the 4 converter light sensor wires.For my sienna, I removed the 2 tail lights, which is really easy: 4 quick bolts. Then disconnected the quick connectors Toyota uses. Then with my voltmeter while I had my wife sat at the drivers seat using each blinker, brake lights and tail lights it was easy to find which wire is which. Write it down! (white was ground)Here's what my Toyota Sienna 2016 LE has:Ground / negative (attach no wire to ): WhiteBrake: Blue on right tail lightTail Lights: Green on right Tail lightRight Blinker: Tan on right angle plug on right sideLeft Blinker: Yellow I think, on right angle plug on left sideThey include great 3M quick connectors that make attaching the converter wires to these car wires quite easy.And you need to be comfortable attaching the 12V POWER wire on the converter to a power source on your car. They say to run under car to positive terminal on battery (where you should use the included fuse too). But I soldered to the rear right cigarette lighter positive (black) wire. It was a little tricky getting the plastic plug off of the end of the wire with a tiny screwdriver, but then I just soldered to the end of the cigarette wire.

Pros:It works. The connection to the box has a built-in fuse.Cons:It's not "plug-n-play". Which should be obvious since it's a 'universal' system.Other Thoughts:I ran the power cable (long red one) along the inside of my car. basically I ran it through the trunk, under the back seats to the side, where I ran it under the trim at the bottom of the doors. Once I got it up to where the pedals are, I put it under the carpet and up through the access hole behind the brake (poked a hole in the rubber grommet). Then i just fed it through the engine compartment trying to keep it away from the heat.I also didn't use the given vampire plugs to attach to existing wires. when I needed to attach the wires, I stripped the wire back (without cutting the wire), wrapped the new one around it, and soldered it on. If you have the skills to do that, I'd recommend it. I did this on the main wire, prior to the plug that connects the tail light assembly to it.For the scoobie, the wiring was the following:[Left Side]Black/Green - Left Turn SignalWhite/Black - Parking LightRed/Yellow - Brake Light[Right Side]Light Green/Black - Right Turn SignalTo secure the black box inside the trunk, I just used a hot glue gun and glued it.To run the trailer plug under the car, I put a slit in the trunk drain plug (rubber grommet plug) and fished it through there.For the ground, instead of drilling a new hole, i just used an existing ground. I did have to make the hole in the provided ground bigger to be able to fit the existing screw.

Wish this had more light power. Seems the good old big current solutions are gone for slim transistor versions. This is ok but if a higher power unit was available I would rather have that. 12 amps for park lamps would be ideal design capacity and 8 amps for turn signals. This will not drive old school large # incandescent light trailers.

This is a great addition if you tow a trailer. I prefer this kit over others because it provides a solid 12Vdc to each of the outputs to the trailer wiring. I originally used the Hopkins universal 4-pin flat harness, which provided low voltage to the turn signals and brake lights. I was planning on building a relay box would provide battery voltage directly to each of the turn signals, brake light, parking light when needed. But the relay box would be much larger than this unit.This kit comes with everything you need to get yourself up and running. I installed this on my 1995 Nissan Hardbody pickup. I tow a custom-made trailer as well as a M101A1 military trailer.!!EDIT!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I hooked up my M101A1 trailer to my truck last night and noticed that the lights were constantly on, even when the truck's lights were off and engine shut off!I thought my M101A1 trailer wiring connector (7-pin round) had a shorted connection. I took apart this 7-pin round connector and noticed there were no shorted pins. I checked the 7-pin round connector on my truck and noticed that the several outputs at 12Vdc!The tail lights an right turn signal were held at a constant 12Vdc, proving that this unit was defective. Now I am unable to tow a trailer until I can replace this converter.I contacted Hopkins and they say this product only has a 90-day warranty! What junk?!?!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~October 8, 2015 UpdateHopkins was willing to warranty the original Hopkins 46365 Converter I purchased here back in May, even though the 90-day period has passed. I sent them the broken unit, and within 3 weeks, I got a replacement via FedEx! I did not think Hopkins was going to replace my unit, so I ended up buying another Hopkins 46365 Converter because:1. I couldn't find a satisfactory replacement from a different brand2. I re-read the Amazon reviews and thought to myself, I may have gotten a lemonSo I now have a spare Hopkins 46365 Converter.

Would have been better if it did not require splicing. I would have gladly paid more if it came as a plug and play harness

Easy installation. Works very well. Converts European vehicle-trailer wiring to flat 4-pin and protects vehicle power circuits from shorts and faults on the trailer at the same time.

Works good but the splice in connectors are too big for Audi wire harness, I had to buy 18-22 gauge splicers.

Don't buy !!!!I made the mistake of buying this unit in the winter to replace a converter that had died on me.I didn't get around to installing until a week or two ago.Worked fine for first use on my camper trailer, but when I hooked up my boat yesterday, it was done. Running lights were on all the time and signal lights don't work !!!! Tried pulling fuse (it's supposed to auto reset) still no luck. Amazon only has 90 day warranty so I'm out $90.00I don't know whose converter to buy now or are they all crap ??

Worked well on my audi a3 8p.