No 12VDC Power

Agree on pictures. I take them of everything before I disconnect or disassemble.

Also, black for positive is standard on most if not all RV’s. It follows the house 120V wiring idea of black for hot, white for neutral/common.

Fortunately it seems the only consequence was shorting positive to ground, which your clicking auto reset breaker was properly taking care of.

RV standard is black-positive and white-negative.

beemerphile1 wrote:
RV standard is black-positive and white-negative.

True for some DC lights. Not always for battery wiring. Red for pos and white often seen. DC battery chargers often have red and black where red is pos. Converters often have blue pos and white

Then you get a new water heater for the stick house and forget to take the photo! Heater has red and black wires to go to the black and white for the house (old house) So the Rver thinks red is hot. But wait--- hmmm. Google! Yep. Everybody is on there with the same question :) --which is hot, the red or the black? Answer -both are! 240 vs 220. So doesn't matter. I chose black to black and red to white.

So "standards" ? Look before you leap. :(

Rockwoody wrote:
You got to love RV manufacturers and their disregard to normal cable colors indicating +/-.

Actually that is not the case. You see the "black is negative/ground" is not a standard it is a TRADITION and one that is often violated for assorted reasons in electronics (NEVER trust color codes on military gear. in fact on military gear if a black wire enters a bundle of wires it may turn white before it exits or red, or yellow or green or _____)

But in HOUSE wiring Black is "HOT" and white is NEUTRAL (Hazard of cross training) and it is ELECTRICANS not Electronics Technicians who wire the RV's so hooking the White wire to teh "HOT" (Positive) makes absloute sense.

This is why you use a volt meter that indicates polarity or other polarity indicating device.

And a suggestion: Get two small cans of spray paint or two bottles of nail polish.. One black, one red

Red on the positive wires

Black on the negative IF doing this with spray don't be afraid to "over spray) onto the batteries...

Makes it so much easier next spring.> Re-paing before removal of batteries if needed. Colored tape or other indicators can also be used.

Tie all positive leads together and all negative as well (Except for the battery to battery jumpers) when removing batteries and insulate the positive (Wrap them in something even if it's just saran warp a few layers)

All good advise and makes sense!

I just had my Styker 2918 toy hauler serviced they had a white cable crimped with a red terminal connected to the POS, which caused me to not have battery power to the lights or jack. I traced this wire and found it to be a NEG grounded to the frame. When I switched it to NEG on the battery, power was restored. Everything works now. Take pictures of everything before you disconnect anything.

So ya they use all colors for whatever trace your wires and use a meter. Saved me couple hundred bucks and the hassle of dropping my rig off.

cybersarg wrote:
I just had my Styker 2918 toy hauler serviced they had a white cable crimped with a red terminal connected to the POS, which caused me to not have battery power to the lights or jack. I traced this wire and found it to be a NEG grounded to the frame. When I switched it to NEG on the battery, power was restored. Everything works now. Take pictures of everything before you disconnect anything.

So ya they use all colors for whatever trace your wires and use a meter. Saved me couple hundred bucks and the hassle of dropping my rig off.

Either the neg side of the battery(s) was disconnected from ground, or your story is incorrect. Unless you left the part out about the melted, burnt up white cable that was live shorted to ground.