# Help



## willie226 (Apr 4, 2006)

Having a senior moment
sorry for the dumb question Is black the negative which you hook up first
than white

willie


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## W4DRR (May 17, 2005)

willie226 said:


> Having a senior moment
> sorry for the dumb question Is black the negative which you hook up first
> than white
> 
> willie


Black is Positive (hot), White is Negative (neutral). Just like a house.

Bob


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## willie226 (Apr 4, 2006)

W4DRR said:


> Having a senior moment
> sorry for the dumb question Is black the negative which you hook up first
> than white
> 
> willie


Black is Positive (hot), White is Negative (neutral). Just like a house.

Bob
[/quote]

Thank you I have blown 4 fuses now I know Why


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Follow one of them to where it is connected to the chassis and that is neg.

Follow one of them to where it is connected to the chassis and that is neg.


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## willie226 (Apr 4, 2006)

Now I have to go out tomorrow to get more fuses. Two 40amp and or course 
some spares. Thanks again for all of your help

Willie


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

You will also have blown the in line fuse for the radio when you hooked up the battery back-wards.


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## shaela21 (Aug 16, 2005)

Everytime I hook up the battery, I take a second and follow the leads back, and the one that is bolted to the frame of the trailer is always the negative (and always the white one







, go figure). But it never hurts to check twice, hook up once to prevent problems. My memory is slowly failing and I am learning to not rely on it all the time.

Cheers.


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

My trailer came with a sticker down near the wiring box that explains the color code. If yours doesn't have one, you might want to make one; I always forget when it is time to reinstall the batteries.

Ed


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

> If yours doesn't have one, you might want to make one;


I wrote on the battery with a marker......White >>>toward the TT.

Mark


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

shaela21 said:


> Everytime I hook up the battery, I take a second and follow the leads back, and the one that is bolted to the frame of the trailer is always the negative (and always the white one
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I do the same now that i am over forty









thor


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

For 12V batts, my OB came with a little white sticker with black type advising how to connect on the right side of the A frame near the battery box.

I am moving over to dual 6V's this season, so now I need to put up my own reminder sticker.

Btw, anyone want to point me to easy directions on how to connect dual 6V batts?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Mgonzo2u said:


> Btw, anyone want to point me to easy directions on how to connect dual 6V batts?


Easy way is to set the batteries in the trailer. Connect the ground of one of them to your trailer and the positive of the other to your trailer. Now go you your local NAPA or similar auto parts store and purchase a battery cable to join the 2 6 vdc batteries together. You can get them in many lengths with the eyes already installed on the cable. You will need something like a 30 inch cable but it depend on how you arrange the batteries. So measure what you need and then add 6 " just to make sure and you should be fine.


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

CamperAndy said:


> Btw, anyone want to point me to easy directions on how to connect dual 6V batts?


Easy way is to set the batteries in the trailer. Connect the ground of one of them to your trailer and the positive of the other to your trailer. Now go you your local NAPA or similar auto parts store and purchase a battery cable to join the 2 6 vdc batteries together. You can get them in many lengths with the eyes already installed on the cable. You will need something like a 30 inch cable but it depend on how you arrange the batteries. So measure what you need and then add 6 " just to make sure and you should be fine.
[/quote]

Just to be clear -- you will be hooking the "+" of one battery to the "-" of the other. Every time I hook up my 6V series, it still makes me pause a moment!


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

Map Guy


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

map guy said:


> Map Guy


Thanks to you last 3 posters for the wiring tips.

One last thing, do you really need to upgrade the TT OEM AWG wiring for use with the 6V batteries or is the change a personal preference?


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

map guy said:


> Map Guy


Couple of links for guidelines
Link 1
Link 2

Map Guy


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

Sorry Map Guy, that stuffs way over this dudes head.

In laymans terms, is the existing Outback 12V AWG wire sufficient to handle the move over to 6V's? If the answer is it could be better, what is the appropriate AWG size to use in the conversion?


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Mgonzo2u said:


> In laymans terms, is the existing Outback 12V AWG wire sufficient to handle the move over to 6V's? If the answer is it could be better, what is the appropriate AWG size to use in the conversion?


As long as you are using the trailer stock and just upgrading the batteries then the stock wires are fine. The 6 vdc batteries will give you endurance and high amperage if you needed it but mostly it will give you the power you need but for a longer amount of time.

If you plan on adding solar or a big inverter inside the trailer then you would need to upgrade the wiring to suit. As it is it will be large enough to handle the full output of the converter into your batteries and that will be your largest current flow from an otherwise stock trailer.

As far as the stock wire being 12 awg, that would surprise me unless it is the wiring the dealer did to connect a pair of 12 vdc batteries. Mine is 6 awg.


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

Thank you Andy.

I am not certain of the stock AWG of the OB but it is stock.

Sounds like I'm good to go with just going to the auto part store and buying that extra connector as was previously indicated.

Thx again


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

Mgonzo2u said:


> Sorry Map Guy, that stuffs way over this dudes head.
> 
> In laymans terms, is the existing Outback 12V AWG wire sufficient to handle the move over to 6V's? If the answer is it could be better, what is the appropriate AWG size to use in the conversion?


Sorry,
Glad someone else chimed in to help before I returned. As state by CamperAndy if you are not increasing the load driven by the batteries the current cable size is ok and the cable needed to complete the 6 v wiring just needs to be the same size or bigger. Also, agree that Napa is a good place to get a quality cable that is already terminated.

Map Guy


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## renegade21rs (Oct 8, 2006)

So ... which would be better for longevity: 2 - 6-volt or 2 - 12-volt batteries??







Seems to me 12's would last longer ...


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## Humpty (Apr 20, 2005)

Mine has a sticker to reming me too. It is on the side opposite of the battery box. Thanks "Little Buddy". Very Helpful!


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## beachbum (Nov 27, 2006)

renegade21rs said:


> So ... which would be better for longevity: 2 - 6-volt or 2 - 12-volt batteries??
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry no one got back to you sooner. There are 2 opinions about this. Mine is.....2-6V. Do a search in this forum and there is a ton of info.
david


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## Bill H (Nov 25, 2006)

map guy said:


> Map Guy


I would put either a fuse or breaker between the 2 12v batteris in parrellel..... If one battery shorts, oh boy.....


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

OK folks. The transformation from dual 12V batts to dual 6V's is complete.

Question: Both 6V's are brand new and were allegedly fully charged per the Interstate Battery Rep that sold them to my brother's auto shop. My brother also confirmed this statement with his testing equipment.

Why then does the TT battery monitor indicate the batteries are at 2/3rds just after being installed?

Any insights?


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## Kyoutbacker (Apr 26, 2006)

As far as I know, deep cycle battries are only charged to 80% before being sent out by the factory and stored. Some dealers will usually charge them to 90 with a quick charge when sold. The last charge is supposed to be a slow charge to 100% by the owner.


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I think it is stupid that the trailer manufactures use black for Pos+ they could use red for the Pos+ instead and still be covered by the code. The hot lead in house wiring can be any color but White, green or maybe yellow. I use black, red and blue for the hot all the time. It would help with the confusion if red was used for plus connection. I plan on changing my black to red.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

N7OQ said:


> I think it is stupid that the trailer manufactures use black for Pos+ they could use red for the Pos+ instead and still be covered by the code. The hot lead in house wiring can be any color but White, green or maybe yellow. I use black, red and blue for the hot all the time. It would help with the confusion if red was used for plus connection. I plan on changing my black to red.


It is more of a house on wheels, so think of it in those terms and all neutral/grounds are White.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I liked the one from "12 volt Side of Life" the Mapguy posted, but I still created my own, as it really helps when I reinstall my 2x 6volt batteries.


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## JimBo (Oct 20, 2003)

Andy, where is the inline fuse for the stereo?

I connected the battery backwards and now the stereo is gone kaput. I had checked all the fuses on the panel but they look OK.

Thanks


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

JimBo said:


> Andy, where is the inline fuse for the stereo?
> 
> I connected the battery backwards and now the stereo is gone kaput. I had checked all the fuses on the panel but they look OK.
> 
> Thanks


You have to remove the radio. It is behind it.


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

*UPDATE*:

Our maiden voyage with the new dual 6V batts set up went off without a hitch. The batteries never fell below 2/3 on the TT monitor with very little concern for how much we were using the water pump, lights or the furnace (used 2x). I only hooked up the generator for a brief moment to warm up some food in the microwave for the little one.

I was a little on edge all weekend being so vigilant in watching the monitor with this new set-up but it was all apparently for naught as the batteries performed as suggested.

I look forward to even longer dry trips in the coming months and years.

Big THANKS again to all those helped answer my conversion questions/concerns.


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## bentpixel (Sep 2, 2006)

Now that the mod is done you can update your sig.


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

bentpixel said:


> Now that the mod is done you can update your sig.


You must be an Accountant or Engineer.

Nice catch.

Fixed!


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## schrade (May 5, 2005)

I love the diagram for a dual 12volt system. Where would I put the battery cut off switch. I am thinking one of the battery post mounted knife type switch in a dual 12V set up?


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

While your at it...where would you put a cut off switch in a 2-6 volt battery set-up?


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