battery terminals + or -

[strikeu]

New member and yes, this is my first post. I actually joined to ask this question. I searched the forums on this and other pages and can't find the answer. I did see where there were lengthy discussions on NO wiring diagrams, so here's my question.

Crusader 297RSK, of the 2 battery leads one of them is a single solid RED coated wire and the other consists of 2 wires, one red and black coated and the other one white coated. the wires that make up the "2 wire" lead are about half the gauge of the single RED coated wire.

which one is positive and which one is negative?

I ask this because while I am quite certain I know the answer they were hooked to the battery opposite of what I would think they should have been but the "reverse polarity breakers" were not blown.

thanks for the info.

[CHICKDOE]

use a multimeter (resistance setting) and put one meter lead on one of the cable connectors and the other meter lead on the trailer frame. the negative lead should show continuity. the positive should not. this is because the negative lead gets grounded to the frame.

[Flybob]

This is no guaranteed standard for DC wiring color code in RVs. The ground terminal usually has a single wire and that is connected to the frame. There may be multiple wires from the positive to items like the inverter/fuse panel, tongue jack, CO/Propane detector.

[5picker]

Welcome to the forum.

The R/V industry does not do anything to 'standards' so it may be very difficult for us to say for sure which post the wires go to since we can't be there to test them but based on your description and what I've seen on many other R/Vs (read guessing) I'd say the red was to connect to the negative and the red/black and white to the positive.

White is often negative and black sometimes positive (on the 12v side of the electrical system) but striped or multicolored wires are often positive so now you see why it may be hard for us to say.

Single, larger wires are often negative and multiple, smaller wires are often positive. So there we go again.

Have any photos of the connections and the wires?

[strikeu]

the main reason I thought the terminals might be crossed up was this: I plugged power into the rig for 3 days in anticipation of taking it out for the following week. after 3 days connected to shore power the battery (which has a date on it of March 2019) was totally dead.

I removed the battery and attached it to a garage charger for overnight. in the morning, it was fully charged with full power (enough to power a trolling motor for some time). So I am quite certain the battery is good.

I go out to the rig with the multi-meter and check the voltage to the leads to see if there was a charging voltage present (no battery but with shore power only). when I put the black of the multi meter to the "2 wire" terminal and the red of the multi-meter to the single RED wire, I get positive 13.5 voltage. when I swap the multi-meter connectivity I get - (negative) 13.5 voltage.

I call the dealership and they said yes, the single wire should be the positive and the double should be the negative, BUT if they were hooked up backwards you should have blown fuses in the box labeled "reverse polarity fuses" ...that wasn't true, no blown fuses.

totally confused

[Minthillbill]

My battery went dead , left it connected for a few weeks in the back yard. This was my pop up. So to raise top I jumped it. Dummy me did not look at + and - on battery but cable colors. BIG MISTAKE. Ran lift winch backwards, jammed cable, bent frame of winch. Fixed it all, and got new battery. All is ok now just a lot less weight in wallet. DO NOT LOOK AT WIRE COLORS IN RVS. At least I admit I screwed up.

[dalford]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

use a multimeter (resistance setting) and put one meter lead on one of the cable connectors and the other meter lead on the trailer frame. the negative lead should show continuity. the positive should not. this is because the negative lead gets grounded to the frame.

I have 2 black wires. One goes to chassis ground and the other goes to the - input on the inverter so it would not show continuity.

2 red wires, 1 to the converter the 2nd to the + input on the inverter.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by strikeu

I call the dealership and they said yes, the single wire should be the positive and the double should be the negative, BUT if they were hooked up backwards you should have blown fuses in the box labeled "reverse polarity fuses" ...that wasn't true, no blown fuses.

totally confused

Where did you look for the reverse polarity fuses?

[cavie]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Welcome to the forum.

The R/V industry does not do anything to 'standards' so it may be very difficult for us to say for sure which post the wires go to since we can't be there to test them but based on your description and what I've seen on many other R/Vs (read guessing) I'd say the red was to connect to the negative and the red/black and white to the positive.

White is often negative and black sometimes positive (on the 12v side of the electrical system) but striped or multicolored wires are often positive so now you see why it may be hard for us to say.

Single, larger wires are often negative and multiple, smaller wires are often positive. So there we go again.

Have any photos of the connections and the wires?

I agree on the no code in the RV business. However, in my business and experience I have Never run across RED negative and White Positive wiring.

If using black and red the black would be negative. If using black and white the white would be negative. If using red and white, the white would be negitive.

That's been my world for 69 years.

What I am not understanding is the OP's description. I read it a 3 battery wires. One Solid copper wire? Who runs Solid wire to a battery
Also confused by the red/black stripe description. Have not seen that configuration.

It sounds like a DIY job. I'm going to assume the rig has just 2 wire battery leads.
Black/red stripe and white being origional and the solid red being an ADDED ground wire to the frame for what ever reason done by a DIY'er.

Any other ideas??

[Bama Rambler]

The reverse polarity fuses may not be blown, but there could be resettable breakers near the battery that were tripped. They could have been auto-reset and may have reset themselves when you removed the battery.

You said that you used a multimeter and when hooking the red (+) lead to the red wire and black (-) lead to the other wires you read positive voltage. That tells you that the red wire is the positive cable, and the others are the negative.

P.S. The low voltage DC world is different than the AC world. In the low voltage DC world "White is positive". However, as stated above, the RV world isn't very good at following standard color codes on the DC side of things.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by strikeu

the main reason I thought the terminals might be crossed up was this: I plugged power into the rig for 3 days in anticipation of taking it out for the following week. after 3 days connected to shore power the battery (which has a date on it of March 2019) was totally dead.

I removed the battery and attached it to a garage charger for overnight. in the morning, it was fully charged with full power (enough to power a trolling motor for some time). So I am quite certain the battery is good.

I go out to the rig with the multi-meter and check the voltage to the leads to see if there was a charging voltage present (no battery but with shore power only). when I put the black of the multi meter to the "2 wire" terminal and the red of the multi-meter to the single RED wire, I get positive 13.5 voltage. when I swap the multi-meter connectivity I get - (negative) 13.5 voltage.

I call the dealership and they said yes, the single wire should be the positive and the double should be the negative, BUT if they were hooked up backwards you should have blown fuses in the box labeled "reverse polarity fuses" ...that wasn't true, no blown fuses.

totally confused

You've solved it. your multimeter showed you which was pos and which was neg by the voltage you measured.

Your red is pos your "2wire" is neg.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

The reverse polarity fuses may not be blown, but there could be resettable breakers near the battery that were tripped. They could have been auto-reset and may have reset themselves when you removed the battery.

You said that you used a multimeter and when hooking the red (+) lead to the red wire and black (-) lead to the other wires you read positive voltage. That tells you that the red wire is the positive cable, and the others are the negative.

P.S. The low voltage DC world is different than the AC world. In the low voltage DC world "White is positive". However, as stated above, the RV world isn't very good at following standard color codes on the DC side of things.

I agree and had we had that information in the original post, the guessing would have been simpler.

So... to the OP... do we get the rest of the story?

Since the battery didn't charge after three days of being plugged into shore power, were these wires connected incorrectly from new or was this after you had disconnected/reconnected the wires?

Is the converter putting out charging voltage?

Paul Harvey minds are wondering...

[strikeu]

Originally Posted by ependydad

Where did you look for the reverse polarity fuses?

they are inside the normal fuse box, 3 fuses all separate from the rest and all 25 Watt fuses (my rig is a 60 watt rig)

[strikeu]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I agree and had we had that information in the original post, the guessing would have been simpler.

So... to the OP... do we get the rest of the story?

Since the battery didn't charge after three days of being plugged into shore power, were these wires connected incorrectly from new or was this after you had disconnected/reconnected the wires?

Is the converter putting out charging voltage?

Paul Harvey minds are wondering...

so yes when I tested the voltage being supplied to the terminals it was 13.5V. And so as the general consensus seems to be that the single RED is positive and the "2 wire" is negative, which means it was hooked up to the battery backwards (which is why it didn't charge over the 3 days)- all that makes sense-- HOWEVER the thing that doesn't make sense is even in the owners manual it says "if the battery is connected with reverse polarity the 3 "reverse polarity" fuses will be blown..." and that didn't happen. so that the baffling part

[strikeu]

Originally Posted by Mike134

You've solved it. your multimeter showed you which was pos and which was neg by the voltage you measured.

Your red is pos your "2wire" is neg.

yes I agree, so the battery was hooked up backwards but the reverse polarity fuses weren't blown..

[strikeu]

Originally Posted by cavie

I agree on the no code in the RV business. However, in my business and experience I have Never run across RED negative and White Positive wiring.

If using black and red the black would be negative. If using black and white the white would be negative. If using red and white, the white would be negitive.

That's been my world for 69 years.

What I am not understanding is the OP's description. I read it a 3 battery wires. One Solid copper wire? Who runs Solid wire to a battery
Also confused by the red/black stripe description. Have not seen that configuration.

It sounds like a DIY job. I'm going to assume the rig has just 2 wire battery leads.
Black/red stripe and white being original and the solid red being an ADDED ground wire to the frame for what ever reason done by a DIY'er.

Any other ideas??

OK here's some clarification: yes- 2 battery leads, and the RED wire is a single wire (not solid- my mistake) it is a larger single wire whereas the other battery lead consists of 2 completely separate wires (each smaller than the RED) but secured together. one of the "2 wires" is wrapped solid white and the other one is wrapped black/red striped.

everything you said about the wire coloring seems to be the case here. it isn't a DIY job.

[Bama Rambler]

All I can think of is that it tripped the resettable breaker near the battery and as I said, if it's an auto-reset it would have reset itself when you disconnected the battery.

[Mike134]

Originally Posted by strikeu

so yes when I tested the voltage being supplied to the terminals it was 13.5V. And so as the general consensus seems to be that the single RED is positive and the "2 wire" is negative, which means it was hooked up to the battery backwards (which is why it didn't charge over the 3 days)- all that makes sense-- HOWEVER the thing that doesn't make sense is even in the owners manual it says "if the battery is connected with reverse polarity the 3 "reverse polarity" fuses will be blown..." and that didn't happen. so that the baffling part

You got lucky, maybe the battery was so discharged (which is another problem in itself) you never tripped the polarity protection. Consider yourself lucky and call it a day.

[CHICKDOE]

are you sure you actually had power going into the trailer for those three days and converter was on? fuses would not blow if no power. also, was the battery disconnect switch open (ie batteries were disconnected)? if so no power would flow to batteries and fuses would not blow.

[strikeu]

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

are you sure you actually had power going into the trailer for those three days and converter was on? fuses would not blow if no power. also, was the battery disconnect switch open (ie batteries were disconnected)? if so no power would flow to batteries and fuses would not blow.

yes there was power. I don't know where the "battery disconnect switch" is in order to check it.