Battery connection

[Cravenj18]

Hi getting into camping this year. Hooking up battery and their are 4 wires. Red and black in the same conduit. And two different shades of white in another conduit. Camper is a 93 salem by cobra. Im assuming red is positive whites are negative. Should both wires be hooked up to their respectice sides? Why is their 2 on each side? Any answers would be great

[Bobbo]

mike-s wrote:

seaeagle2 wrote:
In marine wiring, since they also can have AC and DC wiring, the "new" convention for ground is green with yellow stripe.

Green/yellow matches NEC for earth ground, but ground is different than neutral.

Ground is definitely different from neutral, but alternating current ground is exactly the same as direct current negative. Both are connected to the RV frame, so they are electrically identical.

[mike-s]

seaeagle2 wrote:
In marine wiring, since they also can have AC and DC wiring, the "new" convention for ground is green with yellow stripe.

Green/yellow matches NEC for earth ground, but ground is different than neutral.

[seaeagle2]

In marine wiring, since they also can have AC and DC wiring, the "new" convention for ground is green with yellow stripe.

[CavemanCharlie]

Lynnmor wrote:
Is there an echo in here? I said trace the wires in the first reply.

Is there an echo in here? I said trace the wires in the first reply.


Is there an echo in here? I said trace th...

Is there an echo in here?

Is there an

Is ther

[GrandpaKip]

Lynnmor wrote:
Is there an echo in here? I said trace the wires in the first reply.

Things often need to be said several times before the message actually arrives?

We thought you needed backup?

Some people just read part of the thread?

[Bobbo]

It has been my experience that whoever throws out his "credentials" first has already lost the argument.

[drsteve]

"Trust me, I'm an electrical engineer"

I heard a guy say that at work one day, right before he started the transfer line and broke it. After being told not to.

Live and learn.

[Lynnmor]

Is there an echo in here? I said trace the wires in the first reply.

[CavemanCharlie]

jimlj wrote:
My current trailer has red, black and white factory wiring going into the battery compartment. When I bought it the battery had been removed. I traced the wires back to where they were hooked into other factory wiring. Both the red and black went to positive and the white went to negative. My old camper had black wires for both. Trace the wires to find out where they go. Oh, and as a retired electrician with 40 years experience, I have found electrical engineers to have been wrong on occasion. TRACE THE WIRES TO THEIR SOURCE TO FIND OUT WHERE TO PUT THEM ON THE BATTERY.

Yup

[jimlj]

My current trailer has red, black and white factory wiring going into the battery compartment. When I bought it the battery had been removed. I traced the wires back to where they were hooked into other factory wiring. Both the red and black went to positive and the white went to negative. My old camper had black wires for both. Trace the wires to find out where they go. Oh, and as a retired electrician with 40 years experience, I have found electrical engineers to have been wrong on occasion. TRACE THE WIRES TO THEIR SOURCE TO FIND OUT WHERE TO PUT THEM ON THE BATTERY.

[mike-s]

wnjj wrote:
As mentioned, 120V uses black for hot and white for neutral contrary to DC where black is usually ground. Since RVs have both systems they tend to have a mix of “standards”.

I suspect that's exactly why they use white for ground. I'm pretty sure that's required by code for AC. So they also use it for DC, otherwise the trained monkeys would get confused with some black wires hot and some ground. Really bad if they "grounded" a 12V appliance/outlet with a black AC wire.

[dave54]

I helped a fellow RVer who was having electrical problems. When I poked my head around his battery compartment I saw the wires were blue and yellow. And this was factory wiring!

So no -- never assume an RV meets any standard code.

[wnjj]

westend wrote:

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

Piling on to this because the message is worth it: Color schedule of wiring may be different in an RV from a vehicle and from 120V residential wiring.
This is one instance where someone waving a sheepskin and proclaiming superior knowledge is incorrect. Always, check polarity with a meter for continuity to frame ground before connecting wires to the battery. If it's confusing, get help and mark wires so future battery connecting isn't a mystery.

Me too. As another EE the worst thing you can do is suggest something is always a certain way. It’s a sure fire way to be wrong. Electricity doesn’t care what color the insulation around the wire is, people do. Those people follow all kinds of conflicting conventions and sometimes none at all when making those choices.

As mentioned, 120V uses black for hot and white for neutral contrary to DC where black is usually ground. Since RVs have both systems they tend to have a mix of “standards”.

[westend]

Trust me. As an electrical engineer, this person knows nothing about electricity. Black is ALWAYS negative and red is ALWAYS positive during my 40 years of RVing. Other colors are questionable.

Piling on to this because the message is worth it: Color schedule of wiring may be different in an RV from a vehicle and from 120V residential wiring.
This is one instance where someone waving a sheepskin and proclaiming superior knowledge is incorrect. Always, check polarity with a meter for continuity to frame ground before connecting wires to the battery. If it's confusing, get help and mark wires so future battery connecting isn't a mystery.