Battery connection

Follow the wires to see which ones are grounded to the frame, that would be negative, never depend on colors. As far as the extra set, perhaps a power jack and/or the breakaway switch for the brakes, again follow the wires.

Connect the black to negative and red to positive.

Use an ohmmeter to determine which of the white wires is connected to the chassis. (One lead on a non-painted nor rusty part of the frame and the other on the wires.) The one with near zero ohms should be connected to the negative terminal and the other to the positive.

jwandvassie wrote:
Connect the black to negative and red to positive.

Use an ohmmeter to determine which of the white wires is connected to the chassis. (One lead on a non-painted nor rusty part of the frame and the other on the wires.) The one with near zero ohms should be connected to the negative terminal and the other to the positive.

Noooo , not always on campers. Things can get weird and people can have messed with stuff.

I wouldn't' hook up anything until you do some checking !!!!!

CavemanCharlie wrote:

jwandvassie wrote:
Connect the black to negative and red to positive.

Use an ohmmeter to determine which of the white wires is connected to the chassis. (One lead on a non-painted nor rusty part of the frame and the other on the wires.) The one with near zero ohms should be connected to the negative terminal and the other to the positive.

Noooo , not always on campers. Things can get weird and people can have messed with stuff.

I wouldn't' hook up anything until you do some checking !!!!!

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

jwandvassie wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

jwandvassie wrote:
Connect the black to negative and red to positive.

Use an ohmmeter to determine which of the white wires is connected to the chassis. (One lead on a non-painted nor rusty part of the frame and the other on the wires.) The one with near zero ohms should be connected to the negative terminal and the other to the positive.

Noooo , not always on campers. Things can get weird and people can have messed with stuff.

I wouldn't' hook up anything until you do some checking !!!!!

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

Nope! On my new trailer Black is positive and White is negative at the battery.

jwandvassie wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

jwandvassie wrote:
Connect the black to negative and red to positive.

Use an ohmmeter to determine which of the white wires is connected to the chassis. (One lead on a non-painted nor rusty part of the frame and the other on the wires.) The one with near zero ohms should be connected to the negative terminal and the other to the positive.

Noooo , not always on campers. Things can get weird and people can have messed with stuff.

I wouldn't' hook up anything until you do some checking !!!!!

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

It would be delightfully rational and consistent if black was always ground.
But no.
On my present and previous rig, black is the hot wire, white is connected to the frame.

jwandvassie wrote:
Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

I hope you're not trying to claim that you are an EE, because you're completely unqualified to offer advice on practical electrical matters and are giving not only incorrect, but dangerous info. It's very common for RVs to use white ground, black +12. I know you will also be surprised to learn that the same applies to household wiring - white is neutral, black is hot. On many European cars, ground is brown.

Gosh, look at that:

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is always the same on RVs.
As mentioned, follow the wires to their origins.

jwandvassie wrote:
Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

mike-s wrote:
I hope you're not trying to claim that you are an EE, because you're completely unqualified to offer advice on practical electrical matters and are giving not only incorrect, but dangerous info. It's very common for RVs to use white ground, black +12.

Gosh, look at that:

And here are a couple more 7-pin Bargman wiring configurations commonly found on the net, both also with different colour codes ...





NEVER trust wire colour codes - always trace every circuit with a multimeter, never ASSume, even if a "qualified" electrical engineer tries to tell you otherwise. :W

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

Piling on to this because the message is worth it: Color schedule of wiring may be different in an RV from a vehicle and from 120V residential wiring.
This is one instance where someone waving a sheepskin and proclaiming superior knowledge is incorrect. Always, check polarity with a meter for continuity to frame ground before connecting wires to the battery. If it's confusing, get help and mark wires so future battery connecting isn't a mystery.