Reverse Polarity of Batteries

ppine wrote:
Thanks to most people who responded. Years ago I was an electrician for a few years. Ground wires are green, sometimes white, sometimes black but never red. The sticker on the rig was correct. Some meth head wired the trailer wrong. I never thought to check it.

More likely than the trailer being miswired initially, in my opinion, is that the original ground wire wore out or corroded away or something and needed to be replaced, and the only switch-to-starter wire of an appropriate length and gauge that was readily available at the time was red in color.

Salti,
Trailers change hands. The trailer is new to me. It was the first time I had taken the batteries out of it to store them in the garage over the winter.

Many feel that RED/Black Positive/Negative are a "Standard"

What those of us with training know: THERE IS NO STANDARD

Applies to the Nozzle at the Fule pump as well.. Green is OFTEN Diesel.. but there is no standard, so at a BP (As an example).. they are all green. and may be at other stations as well.

You need to think color blind.. I do.

DrewE wrote:
More likely than the trailer being miswired initially, in my opinion, is that the original ground wire wore out or corroded away or something and needed to be replaced, and the only switch-to-starter wire of an appropriate length and gauge that was readily available at the time was red in color.

What he said.

Change the wire color to help with future issues or service.

My battery cable color code

Red + positive

Black - negative

Green battery series interconnect

Inside the rig

BLACK IS RESERVED ONLY FOR 120vac line voltage whether switched or not
WHITE for neutral
GREEN for earth ground

RED small wires for power before switch
VARIOUS COLORS except red black, white for switch to load.

When Krylon first brought out their paint for plastic. I purchased enough spray cans to paint every one of the series interconnect (12-2V cells). Sister cells are paralleled with massive lead straps.

ppine wrote:
This spring I brought the batteries out of the garage after winter storage and hooked them up to my hybrid trailer. There is a sticker on the front of the trailer indicating the standard red for + and black for - just like a battery charger. Immediately it was obvious something was not right, with massive sparks and the melting of the insulation on the cable between the two batteries.

I looked under the trailer and sure enough the red cable is grounded to the frame. Some of the people that build trailers are ******** or on drugs. Don't assume anything.

Now the charger shuts off and restarts every 10 seconds on shore power. The radio doesn't work. Several lights like the refrigerator don't work. I am thinking about upgrading the charger which is a single stage old Magnetek 6332 and 32 amps. Any thoughts?

PP,

You wrote batteries... Are they each 12V jars?
If so, you probably hooked up the first one backwards. That probably took out the radio and the control broad for the reefer. You may have done less damage that you believe because many things (not knowing anything specific here) have reverse polarity diodes included to that are there just to blow the included supply fuse in the event of reverse voltage.

If you have a good free standing charger, try charging each battery and letting it sit a day and then check the terminal voltage on both. If they do not come up to be the same. Do not replace just one. If you need two, get a pair of 6V golf cart batteries and connect them in series.

The Magnetek is not just old and obsolete, it is also bad for your batteries. It is probably doing the stop-start because it is trying to recover a shorted cell. There are many available now that are much better. Two you can count are are Progressive Dymanics or Iota.

Now, you definitely are the first person ever to hook up a battery backwards. (If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. You may be one of the few to do it and not done more damaged than just a radio and a reefer board. - and that may just be fuses.) If you buy the beer, I can tell you stories about same as long as the beer lasts.

So, replace the batteries, get a new converter and enjoy the season.

Matt - I did a lot of boat work before the depression,