Help for the stupid

[soccerloco]

Tried to replace 2 6 volt batteries on my rv today and have f Ed up. On my unit in the battery storage compartment on one side there is a black and red wire large on the other side black and white large also there are two jumper wires one red and one black can any one direct me with a schematic for proper hook up. At this point I think I have them in parallel as I can only measure 6volts.

[OldCoot]

To make (2) 6 volt batteries produce 12 volts, the positive of one battery has to be connected to the negative of the other battery and you measure across the remaining positive and negative posts.

[tanddc]

I don't have a schematic but you want your batteries in series, not parallel. That means you will have the plus of one hooked to the negative of the other. Hope this helps.

[bikendan]

that's your problem, parallel is for two 12v batteries, not 6v.

you should have gone to this website:

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

[soccerloco]

Ok. Now I see what's up in past rv's I've owned they came with 6 volt batteries this one has two 12 volts. I purchased 6 volts. Am I better to go with 12 volts or keep the 6 volts I have purchased?

[Timtation]

Not a big deal, today you can get 12V with reasonably deep cycle capacity. Some time ago if you wanted capacity for loads you would use the 6V golfcar batteries. Just make sure your batteries are willing to be discharged as much as you may require. They probably are willing to be discharged to 11.6VDC if deep cycle but should be recharged to 13.8VDC without penalty.

[soccerloco]

So I've got the series and parallel down. Next question am I better just to stick with 12 volt batteries or is it advisable to use the 6 volt batteries I have purchased. If so my next question I have two sets of cabling ( large battery wires) coming into the battery compartment. On one side typical 1 black 1 red. On the other side another set 1 red and one white. Not sure how I should make connections

[Frankm2]

My last trailer had two batteries. If you stick with the six volts you have, one of your two big wires to the main battery needs to be adjusted. Depending on the setup and extra wire length, I'd leave the + cable on the same battery position, and run the - cable to the - of the second battery. You will probably need to create a new cable to connect the two batteries together. See previous post. This new cable needs to be the same size as your existing big cables that you just hooked up.

Mine old trailer had smaller wires to connect the second battery to the main battery, which is why I'm pointing this out.