Connecting the battery and....

[Bianchina3]

Every time I have connected my battery I get a spark and I blow fuses. I have tried positive last, negative last, main breaker off (didn't think it would work), main fuse pulled (just blows when I reinstall the fuse). I will install a battery disconnect switch which might solve the problem but my other camper never had a problem when I connected it. Should this be an issue?

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Bianchina3

Every time I have connected my battery I get a spark and I blow fuses. I have tried positive last, negative last, main breaker off (didn't think it would work), main fuse pulled (just blows when I reinstall the fuse). I will install a battery disconnect switch which might solve the problem but my other camper never had a problem when I connected it. Should this be an issue?

While sparking is bad (you should add a shutoff switch), it should not be blowing a fuse. You most likely have a short somewhere.

[R&J Silverback]

have you changed out any lights ?? I had same thing happen to me when I was rebuilding my old tt got a white wire mixed up and had had 110v hooked up as a ground wire on a clearance light. just a thought.

[fonzie]

Make sure negative cable is the one that is connected to the frame of the trailer otherwise you will blow the converter reversing fuses (usually 40 amps)

[Bianchina3]

Thanks for the input. I didn't describe the issue enough I think. The fuses do blow but as long as the battery isn't connected (i.e. shore power) everything works fine. I don't think the issue is a short. It happened when not connected to shore power and, not surprisingly, when connected as well. It has blown both the charging fuse and the reversing fuse. Hmmmm.....

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by Bianchina3

It happened when not connected to shore power and, not surprisingly, when connected as well. It has blown both the charging fuse and the reversing fuse. Hmmmm.....

The battery is backwards. You have the positive on the negative terminals.
You are shorting out to the converter.

[rana]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

The battery is backwards. You have the positive on the negative terminals.
You are shorting out to the converter.

X2. Your cables are backwards, or your battery was completely depleted at one time and stuck on a charger in reverse polarity so you battery itself is now reverse charged.

Stick a multimeter on the posts when disconnected. If the battery was reverse charged you'll be needing a new one.

[Charles Firth]

I was not aware that you were shorting out the converter when the battery is connected backward. I just put my fully charged battery back in the Jammer,as a test I operated the jacks, and found that the polarity was reversed. Pushing the up button was down, so I reconnected it and they work like they are supposed to. I need to mark my cables. hope I have not caused damage. Everything seem to work ok, except my radio.

[MC9]

I accidently crossed my battery wires once, blew the reverse polarity fuses and the little 5 amp fuse on the back of the radio.

[Bianchina3]

I feel like a complete idiot. It was hooked up backwards! DUH!

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by Bianchina3

I feel like a complete idiot. It was hooked up backwards! DUH!

I hope I never do but nobody's immune to stupid camper tricks.

Perhaps some bright red paint on one end of the battery would help?

[sparty047]

Live and learn....live and learn.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Charles Firth

I was not aware that you were shorting out the converter when the battery is connected backward. I just put my fully charged battery back in the Jammer,as a test I operated the jacks, and found that the polarity was reversed. Pushing the up button was down, so I reconnected it and they work like they are supposed to. I need to mark my cables. hope I have not caused damage. Everything seem to work ok, except my radio.

There's an inline fuse behind the radio.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "2 nights"

[TURBS]

Common mistake.
Black in this case is positive not negative.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "2 nights"

[Iwritecode]

Originally Posted by TURBS

Common mistake.
Black in this case is positive not negative.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "2 nights"

The positive battery cable is black? Why would they do that?

[pkenley]

Used my wife's red fingernail polish to color the positive terminal and some red tape on the cable.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by Iwritecode

The positive battery cable is black? Why would they do that?

The ground is white.

TURBS
08 duramax tuned n modded, 32bhok Sabre
2015 camping "2 nights"

[TGR]

It is the normal trailer wiring convention to have the black wire positive and the white wire negative for the battery connections with the negative circuit tied to ground.

This can be confusing because in modern automotive wiring red is to the battery positive terminal, black is to the negative terminal with the negative circuit tied to ground.

To confuse things further, AC electrical wiring has black the “hot” wire and the white wire is “neutral,” which is tired to ground at the source wiring panel.

Lastly, in electronics, the black wire is for the common circuit, usually ground.

If there is a convenient place near the battery to use a sharpie, write down “White to Batt. Pos. (+)” and “Black to Batt. Neg. (-).”

[Thurman]

This is one reason that I wish the manufacturers of ALL types of trailers would just send someone from each manufacturer to a meeting and they would decide which color wire to use for each circuit. My old TT did indeed have a black wire to the battery positive (+) and a white wire to the battery negative (-). My newer TT has a black wire to the (+) also but there is about four (4) inches of red shrink wrap on this black wire right at the terminal. The newer unit also has the white for battery negative (-). My cargo trailer has a red wire from the battery positive (+) to the circuit terminal and a black wire from the battery negative (-) to the circuit terminal. One thing I was going to mention as to the original posters message: I used to work in a plant that made lead/acid battery's. There was constantly about 3% of the battery's we made that had the terminal's reversed. There was a test machine which tested each battery made but for some reason it missed those 3% that got through. Many were later caught in manual battery voltage testing for QC.

[saltyman]

You are not an idiot, we have all done DUH things!!!