hooking up a battery

[scwerl3]

I have a 1989 Rockwood Pop up (tent) camper and I want to get it set up to put a battery on. It looks like there was a battery at one time but the wires are cut. I didnt trace them back yet to see for sure, but will be able to check that next weekend.
Anyway, the wires that are there and cut are a black one, a white one, and then there is like a connector where a black one and green one are run into it together. (I hope that made sense). I should have taken a picture but wasnt thinking and I store it about 30 miles from home right now.
Anyone know how to get this set up to run on a battery and if there is a suggestion on a solar charger what would I need?
I don't want to spend a ton of money, but would really like the option of the lights on at night.
There is a little dorm room electric refrigerator (former owner put that in) that would be nice to use. I am thinking the fridge would run down the battery too much tho maybe?
And how long would I be able to get the furnace to run off a battery if I only used the furnace and lights? The fridge is a perk, so I can work around that, thats what coolers are for right? And the lights I do have lanterns, so that could be an optional thing too. But sometimes I like to camp late into the year and would like to maybe have the furnace be able to run.
Sorry for the long post, but any help would be great!
Thanks!

[2oldman]

RoyB wrote:
FOR RV HOOKUPs If the cables are BLACK AND WHITE then the BLACK CABLE GOES to the POSITIVE TERMINAL and the WhITE CABLE goes to the NEGATIVE TERMINAL.

Yah, that's the way mine is.

I recommend the fan test if you don't know which is which.

[RoyB]

Would you guys recheck your statement that the BLACK WIRE goes to NEGATIVE and the WHITE CABLE goes to POSITIVE.

FOR RV HOOKUPs If the cables are BLACK AND WHITE then the BLACK CABLE GOES to the POSITIVE TERMINAL and the WhITE CABLE goes to the NEGATIVE TERMINAL.

FOR AUTOMOTIVE HOOKUPs If the cable pair is RED AND BLACK then the RED CABLE goes to the POSITIVE TERMINAL and the BLACK CABLE goes to the NEGATIVE TERMINAL..

The absolute best way to determine this is to grab the cable that is connected to the MARKED WORDs on the battery case than says "NEG" or the symbol "-" and this cable should always go to the trailer FRAME GROUND if it is a 12VDC battery on the RV trailer hookups.

Maybe I missed something here about what is being talked about...

Roy Ken

[JLTN_James]

The black wire should connect to the battery POSITIVE terminal. The white wire should connect to the battery NEGATIVE terminal. (Edited per RoyB's correction!)

Before you connect the battery:
0. UNPLUG/DISCONNECT THE TRAILER FROM ANY AND ALL ELECTRICAL SOURCES!!!
1. Use a multimeter set to measure resistance (Ohms - the symbol looks like a horseshoe), set at the lowest value possible.
2. Put the two leads together to verify a ZERO or near zero reading.
3. Find a good point on the frame to touch the meter lead#1 to (it doesn't matter which one for this test). The frame point shouldn't have any paint, rust, mud; it should be nice clean metal. Hold it there during the following steps.
4. Touch the meter lead#2 to the WHITE wire's conductor. The meter should read ZERO or pretty close to it.
5. Touch the meter lead#2 to the BLACK wire's connector. The meter should read a really high value (or display no value at all).

This should verify that which wire is connected to the trailer's frame and will connect to the negative battery terminal.

If this is not the case, post back for further advice.

Welcome to the forum!

[Cape_Cod_Mounta]

Black is pos. White is neg. If there was a battery installed you might have an inverter on board already. That would be nice. Someone with a Rockwell will help you out there. If you are lucky you will be able to set it up and have it charge while you drive (through your wiring harness to the TV.
You can run the furnace with one battery for a night or two as well as the lights. Not the fridge - that one or any other. A lot depends on battery size and condition. Look for a size 27 deep cycle with the highest amps you can get.
If you can find a reasonably priced solar charger that actually recharges enough for daily use you are a fortunate owner. I'd love to get one but the one's with enough juice seem to be huge and expensive. I'll be following this thread to see if you come up with something.
We can go a week in one place with two batteries using them for lights(sparingly) and water pump as well as charging small electronics.

[2oldman]

Spent any time reading solar posts on here? They're in the Tech Issues forum.

one battery run furnace? 2011