# Stupid Battery Tricks



## dherndonnc (Nov 11, 2008)

Well, I accidently hooked up the battery cables the wrong way on my OB 300BH (2009). Realized this when the slides went "IN" when you pushed the "OUT" button. ;-(

Anyway, once corrected, I found two 40 AMP fuses blown on the breaker/converter box. I replaced those and the converter fan came back on.

However, my radio/dvd player is not working.........everything else seems ok.

Does anyone know if there is another fuse behind the Jensen radio? I guess either way I need to take it out.....either to fix a fuse or replace it after my bone-head move........ (







!)

Dave.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

My Jensen (2009) has two fuses--one in the 12volt section of the converter panel, and one in the back of the unit. Hope it's the one in the converter panel. The one behind the unit is a bear to get at--gotta take the radio out from the front, and, of course, all the cables are really, really short, making it rather difficult! Good luck.


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## shaston (Jul 2, 2009)

There should be a 10amp blade fuse behind the radio. The radio needs to come out to replace the fuse. I know this because I also hooked the battery up backwards......


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## john7349 (Jan 13, 2008)

shaston said:


> There should be a 10amp blade fuse behind the radio. The radio needs to come out to replace the fuse. I know this because I also hooked the battery up backwards......


X2


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## studiomak (May 17, 2010)

I did the same thing and replaced the 40 amp at the main panel and the 10 amp in the back of the radio unit. Won't do that again.


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## CdnOutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Hey.. is this contagious or what?


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## dherndonnc (Nov 11, 2008)

Misery loves company..... ;-)

Thanks everyone, hopefully it's just the fuse.

Dave.


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## Just Add Dirt (May 5, 2009)

I hooked my radio up backwards and it blew the battery


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## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Just Add Dirt said:


> I hooked my radio up backwards and it blew the battery












Not sure if the battery deal is contagious, but it's definetly seasonal.....

The good news is most people don't do it more than once (or at least don't admit to it...)


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## Duanesz (Jul 10, 2009)

Need to make this a sticky for spring I just did the same thing a couple of weeks ago.


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## dherndonnc (Nov 11, 2008)

just keep repeating to yourself....black is NOT negative.......the funny thing is that there is a sticker right there on the frame telling you the correct connections........ (







!)

It was a 10 minute fix, back up and running. Luckily I didn't blow anything else up (I don't think).

Dave.


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Reversing the polarity on the battery cables can REALLY do disasterous things to sensitive electronics. Televisions get upset, Jensen stereos want to cry and various circuit boards can get fried. The power converter has a circuit board in it--did it survive? How bout the water pump? It's 12volts and hopefully didn't try to turn on with reversed polarity.

I recommend you check everything out because it would be a shame to get to your campground and discover that XXXX was damaged and you have no YYYYY.

The 120 volt stuff (air cond., microwave, etc.) should have had no issues, but 12 volt stuff like the television might have had circuits fried....

Don't shoot the messenger..


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## Just Add Dirt (May 5, 2009)

Musta been and engineer who decided Black is HOT or + in A/C, and is Ground or- in DC... Probably dates back to Nikola Tesla, Edison and Westinghouse...and their battle


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## slingshot (Aug 14, 2008)

Just add a battery disconnect switch of some sort. This will help with some of the silly mistakes we all make. My wife reminds me of some of my blounders from time to time but I just can't recall for some reason. But after all she does call me Mr. Perfect----- go figure.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

If you know anyone who has a P-touch labeler, make labels and wrap them around the appropriate wires to make little flags with + or - on them. Blue painter's tape and a sharpie works too.

If Tesla was responsible for the connections, there wouldn't have been any wires.


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## dunn4 (Feb 16, 2008)

dherndonnc said:


> the *funny thing is that there is a sticker right there on the frame telling you the correct connections*........ (
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Anyone have a picture of that sticker on the frame? Seems to have been left off my unit...I haven't fried anything yet, but I never seem to get the connections right for the trailer. The electric hitch works, but nothing else. Not the brightest bulb







when it comes to electronics...


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## DVL (May 11, 2010)

I started to do this, then instead I just grabbed the ground wire and followed it the 20 inches to the grounding point. I did have my mechanic friend walk me through it though.

Dave


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## CautiousCamper (Jun 27, 2006)

On the 25RS, the battery is most accessible on the right hand side (passenger), thus Keystone put the sticker on the left side. That's where the ground wire is fixed to anyway. Not the most logical.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

CautiousCamper said:


> On the 25RS, the battery is most accessible on the right hand side (passenger), thus Keystone put the sticker on the left side. That's where the ground wire is fixed to anyway. Not the most logical.


Yup! There's a white sticker on my trailer tongue (left side, by the ground wire anchor point) that says "White = Ground." I know that is backwards from all other vehicle standards, but it seems to be the standard for the RV industry. Not sure why.

A disconnect switch will not prevent this mistake, though. You just won't cause any damage until you close the disconnect.









You said that the slide operated backwards. Did your pump shoot water out of the inlet when you turned it on?







Just kidding!









Mike


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## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

White = Ground is that way in TTs because the TT has both 120v ac circuits and 12v dc circuits running in close proximity. Think of the wiring near the power converter--nearly everything in the TT arrives there--both the 120v ac circuits and the 12v dc circuits.

The 120v circuits are wired in accordance with the National Electrical Code, your house wiring code, i.e., black is hot and white is ground. This makes it safer for repairs, etc.

To maintain consistency, the 12v dc circuits are wired with the same "code": black is hot, white is ground.

That way, when a repair person is probing a circuit, and makes a mistake and touches the white wire of a circuit, he/she is touching the ground wire, not the hot wire. All black wires in the TT are "hot"--it's only the voltage that differs. (And yes, the frequency!)

There is method in their madness.


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

hautevue said:


> White = Ground is that way in TTs because the TT has both 120v ac circuits and 12v dc circuits running in close proximity. Think of the wiring near the power converter--nearly everything in the TT arrives there--both the 120v ac circuits and the 12v dc circuits.
> 
> The 120v circuits are wired in accordance with the National Electrical Code, your house wiring code, i.e., black is hot and white is ground. This makes it safer for repairs, etc.
> 
> ...


This website never ceases to amaze me. There always seems to be somone who can answer questions.









Thanks!

Mike


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## GarethsDad (Apr 4, 2007)

The sticker is on the drivers/curb side on our outback.James


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## Trucker Lou (Nov 27, 2011)

Hey, I made extra pos/neg labels and posted them in all areas there are wire connections. hope to prevent "senior moments"


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## bbwb (Apr 4, 2008)

Because I suffer from CRS (Can't remember S#@t) I wrapped the positive leads with red electrical tape so when the battery goes back in, I can get it to the right post.
bbwb


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## Creativebush (Jul 11, 2011)

I just took a photo of the batteries with my iPhone before I removed them. That has worked well for me


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## KTMRacer (Jun 28, 2010)

When I converted to 4 Golf cart 6V batteries on my trailer tongue and added a 1000W inverter and a bigger deck mount charger in the pass through, I upgraded the wiring with welding cable. To avoid a senior moment, ALL ground wire connections have a piece of white adhesive lined heat shrink over the wire lug and a wrap around label with a ground symbol on each end of the cable. ALL 12V connections have a piece of RED adhesive lined heat shrink on the wire lug and a wrap around label with a big + symbol at each end of the cable.

the labels were made with a P touch labeler, using RED text on white background. Once on the cable I put clear heat adhesive lined shrink on the cable to protect the labels. And in many cases I put a label lengthwise on the cable indicating what it goes to. e.g. to inverter, and again covered it with clear adhesive lined heat shrink.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Creativebush said:


> I just took a photo of the batteries with my iPhone before I removed them. That has worked well for me


This is exactly what i did too...except used my Samsung Galaxy SIII.


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

I keep a binder in the trailer with a few helpful images due to my advanced CRS syndrome.


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## JDStremel3 (Sep 18, 2012)

I like the photo album for the CRS syndrome!!! One can also install a 20-30 amp Diode (DC only can only flow one way, AC will flow right past a diode) on the + side of the battery connection which would correct this issue in the future if someone was to accidentally do it reverse again.


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