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Battery Hook-up

Steve_B_
Explorer
Explorer
OK, I am almost embarrassed to ask this but I will. I just bought a new battery for my little trailer. Recently I was in contact with an owner of another trailer like mine and inquired about hook up. He stated the contacts are hooked up opposite of how I have always hooked mine up. I haven't had any issues so I'm wondering- how do you tell which goes to positive and which to negative? There doesn't seem to be any red wire to guide me. Is something supposed to be marked? It's obvious in cars but this isn't so clear. Go ahead, you can you can tell me the obvious answer that I'm supposed to know!
2000 Twister by Fifties Trailers,
2017 Honda Ridgeline
2003 Miniature Schnauzer, Meyer
9 REPLIES 9

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
I will warn you that with 12 volt batteries even pictures are not always the do all end all, You MUST mark clearly the POSITIVE and NEGETAVE in the photo,, Make a sign and lay it atop the battery before you click the pic.

Here is why

As I said before.. you can get a Group xx in, usually, 3 (or more) Configurations

|=====|
|A . .|
| . .B|
|=====|

|=====|
| . . |
|A . B|
|=====|

Now Depending on the battery group SUFFEX, A may be Positive or Negative,, This is why the passing RVer said "Mine are hooked up the other way" His battery is hte reverse of teh O/P's. so at a glance, it appeared to the other person the O/P's battery was backwards.

Happned to me when I bought a new battery for my car.. The specified battery was a different suffex, so they put it in backwards. Was kind of impressive, Still have not figured out what smoked.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times

CA_Traveler
Explorer III
Explorer III
OP BEFORE you take anything else apart take pictures.

I have pictures on my laptop of lots of equipment and labels. Handy reference and invaluable when something comes apart.
2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob

red31
Explorer
Explorer
Older power centers in small trailers isolated the internal converter from the battery and lights work fine reversed, the furnace doesn't.

Generally the fuse near the batt is the positive.

RJsfishin
Explorer
Explorer
Traditionally,........
If you have red & black, red is positive.
If you have white and black, black is positive.
Rich

'01 31' Rexall Vision, Generac 5.5k, 1000 watt Honda, PD 9245 conv, 300 watts Solar, 150 watt inv, 2 Cos 6v batts, ammeters, led voltmeters all over the place, KD/sat, 2 Oly Cat heaters w/ ox, and towing a 2012 Liberty, Lowe bass boat, or a Kawi Mule.

RoyB
Explorer II
Explorer II
Since AUTOMOTIVE WORLD battery cable colors and RV WORLD battery cable colors are not the same I always look at the battery case and find the WORD "NEG" or the symbol '-' and hand trace this connected battery terminal to make sure it is the one that goes to FRAME GROUND.

Some folks make a big mistake when they buy a new battery of the same brand and just hook it up like the old one was hooked up. Alot of times the newer battery will have the battery terminals relocated to the other side of the case which will make you rotate the battery in this case. Always checking the POLARITY words on the BATTERY case catches this situation pretty easy...

If you have two 6VDC Batteries connected in series then you have to look at the outside battery terminal connections for the NEGATIVE battery terminal going to FRAME GROUND.



If you have two 12VDC BATTERIES connected in parallel you should connect them in this manner to get best performance from the two batteries... This insures both batteries sees the same length of connected cables when producing load current and being charged as well. You wouldn't think a couple of inches in the LOAD path makes any difference but it most definitely does.


Just my thoughts
Roy Ken
My Posts are IMHO based on my experiences - Words in CAPS does not mean I am shouting
Roy - Carolyn
RETIRED DOAF/DON/DOD/CONTR RADIO TECH (42yrs)
K9PHT (Since 1957) 146.52M
2010 F150, 5.4,3:73 Gears,SCab
2008 Starcraft 14RT EU2000i GEN
2005 Flagstaff 8528RESS

Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Explorer III
Steve B. wrote:
OK, there is a fuse on the side I have hooking up the positive post to, so it sounds like that is the right thing to do. I will check for the ground wire ASAP, another great suggestion.
Thanks!


Sounds like you have them hooked up correctly.......otherwise the converter reverse polarity fuses would have blown.

Get some colored tape, spray paint etc. and mark the positive cable so you have a reference for next time you take cables off.
Is it time for your medication or mine?


2007 DODGE 3500 QC SRW 5.9L CTD In-Bed 'quiet gen'
2007 HitchHiker II 32.5 UKTG 2000W Xantex Inverter
US NAVY------USS Decatur DDG31

Steve_B_
Explorer
Explorer
OK, there is a fuse on the side I have hooking up the positive post to, so it sounds like that is the right thing to do. I will check for the ground wire ASAP, another great suggestion.
Thanks!
2000 Twister by Fifties Trailers,
2017 Honda Ridgeline
2003 Miniature Schnauzer, Meyer

wa8yxm
Explorer III
Explorer III
First, There is no STANDARD for color code, there is tradition, but no where is it documented, this can cause issues.

IF you have no problems, you are hooked up right, PERIOD, it's that simple.

NOW. Let us assume you have a Group 2N battery (24, or 27) or a 31.. All of these come in an "F" model and an "R" model, what is the difference.

The terminals are normally either at the front, or rear, edge of the battery, on (NOTE sometimes you get an "M" version too M is kind of like type O blood, universal donor) IF you put the positive terminal on the right, With one of the batteries the terminals will be near the front, and the other near the rear, IF you have an "F" and he has an "R" and he does not examine the battery (ALWAYS DO THIS) to find out which end is marked with a PLUS,,, he is simply wrong.

Page 2: Take a couple cans of spray paint and paint the wires red and black

IF.. you are putting a battery on a trailer with no clue...

Remove any and all fuses, MAKE SURE YOU LABEL THEM SO YOU CAN PUT THEM BACK.

ONE wires will show a dead short to clean metal frame parts (Hitch?)
Others will not.

Frame is Negative.

One way to tell if you have it right.

Negative probe or test lamp ground clip to the frame (Hitch?) positive probe or tst lamp tip to battery positive.

NOTE: with test lamp you can reverse connections. Either way if it's right it's bright.
Home was where I park it. but alas the.
2005 Damon Intruder 377 Alas declared a total loss
after a semi "nicked" it. Still have the radios
Kenwood TS-2000, ICOM ID-5100, ID-51A+2, ID-880 REF030C most times

lanerd
Explorer II
Explorer II
The best way is to see where each cable goes to. If it goes to the frame, it's a ground cable. If it goes through an in-line fuse and then into the trailer, it's a positive cable.

However, your best friend is a digital multimeter. Walmart, Harbor Freight, etc sells them for less than $20...the cheaper the better.

Take the meter and measure ohms and then put one probe on the cable connector and the other to ground. If it measures "1", then you have the ground cable...if it measures anything else, it's a positive cable. Simple, huh?

Ron
Ron & Sandie
2013 Tiffin Phaeton 42LH Cummins ISL 400hp
Toad: 2011 GMC Terrain SLT2
Tow Bar: Sterling AT
Toad Brakes: Unified by U.S. Gear
TPMS: Pressure Pro
Member of: GS, FMCA, Allegro


RETIRED!! How sweet it is....