? Battery Cables - Color ?

The negative will be grounded to the frame. On my TT it is within eyesight of the battery box.

I was talking to a electrician on a fishing trip this year. He says all you have to remember is "black is hot and white is not" Then he corrected himself and said not on twelve volt though. Then I corrected him and told him he was right when it came to RV 12 volt. :) One of them thought he was wrong but he was right things.

MrWizard wrote:
Yeah it's a stupid hold over from the early travel trailer days
When any electric lights were 120v
No batteries not even for break away Brakes
So when the stated putting in batteries, they didn't switch to re and black for DC
The kept white and black, and made white the ground/negative and kept black as hot
So in the RV house, black is always hot
12v hot or 120v hot

I guess this is really good information for new RVers - those who never knew better, or just had a niggle in the back of their head!

I remember calling my electrical friend in a panic while out on my Big Adventure in the NW last year - out in the middle of nowhere, I needed to charge my battery with the Honda and the colors just threw me into an absolute tizzy! With not a lot of experience or knowledge, who knows what kind of damage one can do...

I will maintain, until the day I die, that widowhood ain't for sissies...

Yeah it's a stupid hold over from the early travel trailer days
When any electric lights were 120v
No batteries not even for break away Brakes
So when the stated putting in batteries, they didn't switch to re and black for DC
The kept white and black, and made white the ground/negative and kept black as hot
So in the RV house, black is always hot
12v hot or 120v hot

If you hooked up the new battery backwards, even for an instant, you will have fuses to replace.

Leave it to the rv industry to do it different than most other common 12 volt systems of red + black -. The red wire is probably .0000002 more per foot.

smkettner wrote:
Yes white is commonly negative and black is commonly positive.
Similar to 120v wire with white neutral and black is hot.

Thanks.
It's all hooked up, power center put back together.
I'll walk back over there and pull the plunger!!

Yes white is commonly negative and black is commonly positive.
Similar to 120v wire with white neutral and black is hot.