I wasn't paying attention

[ronc2500hd]

Last night I went to connect the battery wires, to get ready to go camping. I wired the battery the wrong way. I unhooked the batteries and while the trailer was still plugged in to the house I had no power inside. I hooked the battery up correctly and I had lights and everything seemed to be working except the refrigerator. I usually hear the fan on the converter come on but not this time. Could I have burned the converter up? 2013 bullet premier

[ronc2500hd]

An update on my battery cable switch. I got home on Wednesday and with some help we were able to find that I had blown the two fuses on the convertor and a 3amp fuse on the refigerator. Changed the three fuses and all is well. No other issues, I got lucky.We made it to the camp ground at 8:45pm the park closes at nine on Wednesday. Thanks for all the help from RV.NET. We had a good trip the 3days we were at Somverville Tx Overlook park. Last night we had a nice long rain and I noticed water on the floor in the front bedroom where the wall meets the floor. I'll be taking the TT back for warranty work again.

[old_guy]

I use zip ties to keep all the wires together and separate them to one side or the other and use zip ties to keep them there just so I don't get them mix up. tt don't use red and black, most of the time it is white and black so it is very confusing so you just have to use your wits and use a method that works for you to NOT cross the wires up and hook up wrong.

[thomasmnile]

Been there done that with our new TT. Stangely, my goof took out only one of the 2 reverse polarity fuses on the converter, and one 30 amp fuse on the wiring harness at the battery that goes to I have no idea what................. :S:S:S

[W_E_BGood]

Let's see, when I did that to mine :S it popped the main breaker off and saved everything except the AM/FM/disc player mounted in the kitchen...but the little 5 amp in-line fuse inside the mounting box for the radio stepped-in and saved it.

[ronc2500hd]

Thanks so much for the replies! This is all good and helpfull information. It's nice to have a place to come to and get help so fast.I have a few things to go home and check. I do not have the two fuses as shown in the picture. I'll have to go look for the hidden fusees. I hope that is all it is.Hopefully I can get it fixed and make it to the campsite while some daylight is left. I'll let ya'll know what happens after I look at it tonight.

[Bonefish]

“I wired the battery the wrong way.”
“I unhooked the batteries and while the trailer was still plugged in to the house I had no power inside.” Fuse or converter already blown. Shore power should run all 12 volt systems without a battery.

1st The 12v power coming from the converter goes through one of the 40amp fuses. Need to check if lights run without the battery and both 40amp fuses are good.

“I hooked the battery up correctly and I had lights and everything seemed to be working except the refrigerator.” Sounds like at least one fuse is OK.

2nd The 12v power to and from the battery goes through the other 40amp fuse.
Lights running on battery and generally do not care if voltage reversed. All 12volt controller boards DO NOT like having their voltage reversed. Examples – refrigerator control board, water heater igniter, TV antenna power board and any 12v use electronics. 12v volt lights do not care if voltage is reversed but some LED light systems do.

[dodge_guy]

Came close to doing this once before. Always remember an RV is wired like a home, black=hot, white=neutral(ground).

[Selkie]

I did the same thing this summer. Everything worked but the fridge. Fuses were fine. Turned out I fried the fridge control panel. $220 repair. Ouch! Hooked it up correctly for last weekend trip-working great now.

[TucsonJim]

On my converter, there are also two fuses on the side of the converter frame itself. If the visible fuses are okay, pull out the converter (disconnect the AC and battery first) and check for "hidden" fuses.

[boosTT]

I have done this before too. Blew the two fuses shown in the picture above AND my brake controller!

[naturist]

Hope the problem is as simple as a blown fuse, which is most likely the case. Can we chalk this "adventure" up to God's way of reminding us to always Pay Attention?

[RoyB]

Look for blown fuses in the power distribution panel labeled REVERSE POLARITY. The older trailers usually had these two fuses off-set from the regular Dc fuses. My setup also has an IN-LINE fuse located real close to the battery install that would blow as well...

You can see the two large current fuses off-set to themself in this photo..


I dabbed each of my POSITIVE Dc cables with RED FINGERNAIL polish to keep me straight on which battery cables goes to the POSITIVE TERMINALS... Very easy to mess up with the RV trailer batteries that uses the same size terminal for both NEG and POS connections. The automotive industry uses a larger connector for the POSITIVE side...

Should be no harm done as fuses protect everything when this happens...

Roy Ken

[RV_CONUS]

2edgesword wrote:
There may be a fuse or circuit breaker in-line with the converter that blew/tripped. Check the documentation for the trailer and converter to detemine if this is the case. It may just be a matter of replacing a fuse or resetting a circuit breaker.

X2

Depending on your converter there may be one or 2 fuses in back of the converter. Screws may have to be loosened to remove them.

[WayneAt63044]

If you mean converter (120V AC to 12V DC) rather than inverter (12v DC to 120V AC), a fuse probably blew in the converter. Locate the fuse on the converter chassis and replace it. It will probably be the largest amperage fuse like 40A. There may be 2 of them. It is possible you damaged another 12V item (like the refrig control board, water heater control, etc) as the converter fuse(s) only protects the converter. Other devices may also have a reverse connection fuse which means you'd have to replace them too.