Hey there. I own a 1988 Gulfstream Sunsport RV. When we first got it, it was having electrical issues which culminated in one of the posts on the house batteries completely melting. I just got a pair of replacement batteries and my question is this: How should I hook them up? When we got the RV they were wired pos to pos and neg to neg. I have heard from a variety of sources that this is right and not right. What do you think?

If you have 12v batteries, then pos-pos and neg-neg is correct.If you have 6 v batteries, then hook the Pos of one to the Neg of the other, and hook your RV up to the empty connections.

Wiring pos to pos and neg to neg will give you 6 volts with twice the capacity. What you want to do is hook a positive to the coach, the neg to the pos of the 2nd battery and the neg of the second battery to the coach, this will gove you 12 volts to the coach which is what you need. I am guessing that your first set of batteries were 12 volts each hence the pos to pos and neg to neg hookup.

It's not up for opinion! Parallel adds amps, series adds voltage. This tutorial may be of some help. 12v side of life.alpinedon wrote:it was having electrical issues which culminated in one of the posts on the house batteries completely melting. That sounds like a dead short.

So a further question I was wondering is this: Could it be that if my battery isolator was bad it might have caused the dead short?

alpinedon wrote:So a further question I was wondering is this: Could it be that if my battery isolator was bad it might have caused the dead short?I don't know, could be lots of things. I'm guessing there was no fuse on the 12v wiring.

Best way to hook up 6-volt batteries | Good Sam Community

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
it would help if we were told whether they were 6 volt or 12 volt
bumpy
alpinedon
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
So if they were just really old that might have been the cause of the short? I would imagine these old ones were at least fifteen years old
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 17, 2014
alpinedon wrote:
They were really old. I have replaced them with brand new ones.
Good. Keep an eye on the water.. very common mistake not to.
alpinedon
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
They were really old. I have replaced them with brand new ones.
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 17, 2014
Also, it may not be a wiring short, it could be a dead short internally in the battery. How old were they?
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 17, 2014
alpinedon wrote:
So a further question I was wondering is this: Could it be that if my battery isolator was bad it might have caused the dead short?
I don't know, could be lots of things. I'm guessing there was no fuse on the 12v wiring.
alpinedon
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
So a further question I was wondering is this: Could it be that if my battery isolator was bad it might have caused the dead short?
2oldman
Explorer II
Jul 17, 2014
It's not up for opinion! Parallel adds amps, series adds voltage.

This tutorial may be of some help. 12v side of life.
alpinedon wrote:
it was having electrical issues which culminated in one of the posts on the house batteries completely melting.
That sounds like a dead short.
Grandpere
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
Wiring pos to pos and neg to neg will give you 6 volts with twice the capacity. What you want to do is hook a positive to the coach, the neg to the pos of the 2nd battery and the neg of the second battery to the coach, this will gove you 12 volts to the coach which is what you need. I am guessing that your first set of batteries were 12 volts each hence the pos to pos and neg to neg hookup.
Alfred622
Explorer
Jul 17, 2014
If you have 12v batteries, then pos-pos and neg-neg is correct.

If you have 6 v batteries, then hook the Pos of one to the Neg of the other, and hook your RV up to the empty connections.

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