# Help!!!



## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

Hi all,
Brenda sent me a bunch of emails related to Battery storage. I pulled our battery day before yesterday. I put it back in today, to show off the new RV to my daughter and Granddaughter. When I re connected the battery and plugged the unit into house power, everything worked but the stereo and the Co2 detector.
All the lights work, battery level is reading full. 
I checked all the breakers and fuses, but still no stereo or Co2 detector green light! What should I look for???


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## outbackgeorgia (Jan 28, 2004)

Brenda,

Sometimes this can mean a loose wire in the 12V panel. Especially the "ground" return wires.
They were loose on my 21RS when I bought it.
A screwdriver tightening was all that was needed.
Could explain the problem, esp. if fuses are ok.

Dave


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Katrina said:


> First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
> The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
> The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
> Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
> Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


Bingo. Very good possibility there. and easily done. Speaking from experience!
Eric


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

egregg57 said:


> First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
> The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
> The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
> Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
> Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


Bingo. Very good possibility there. and easily done. Speaking from experience!
Eric
[/quote]
well. I hooked the battery up the same way it came out. White wire to POS and black to NEG.

Will check the convertor. Where exactly is the convertor?
Bill


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## Katrina (Dec 16, 2004)

brenda said:


> First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
> The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
> The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
> Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
> Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


Bingo. Very good possibility there. and easily done. Speaking from experience!
Eric
[/quote]
well. I hooked the battery up the same way it came out. White wire to POS and black to NEG.

Will check the convertor. Where exactly is the convertor?
Bill
[/quote]

Double check the wires to the battery. The white wire should be negative and it should go directly to the frame of the trailer.
I'm not sure exactly where the converter is in your model, but it should be a brown plastic panel that flips down and has fuses and breakers inside.
There will be two 40 amp fuses inside that will be blown if the battery was hooked up backwards (Because these are reverse polarity protection fuses).
Then there will be a fuse behind the stereo too that will be blown too.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

brenda said:


> First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
> The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
> The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
> Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
> Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


Bingo. Very good possibility there. and easily done. Speaking from experience!
Eric
[/quote]
well. I hooked the battery up the same way it came out. White wire to POS and black to NEG.

Will check the convertor. Where exactly is the convertor?
Bill
[/quote]

behind black or brown ventilated panel about 12 inches square. Power is on that panel. secure/disconnect all power first. then remove the panel cover, check the breakers. if all are on, cycle them to make sure, then check the fuses. they are automotive style and pull straight out. if it appears burnt or the mketal strip is parted the fuse is blown. if they are in good shape, check wires at thier terminations for tightness. leave battery disconnected. apply ac power and check lights, radio etc. if good install battery and secure ac power and do a quick check running on battery power.

if your lights/radio do not work on ac power they will probably not work on battery either. if this is the case further troubleshooting is necessary. Its still under warranty right?

hope that helps!

Eric


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

brenda said:


> First thing is check and make sure the battery is not hooked up with the polarity reversed.
> The lights in the trailer will still work if this is the case.
> The stereo has it's own fuse inside the case that will blow when the battery is hooked up backwards and the CO detector has it's own fuse that will blow.
> Then you need to look at the converter and check the two big 40 amp fuses in there because they will blow and stop the converter from charging the battery.
> Remember that on an Outback, the black wire goes to positive.


Bingo. Very good possibility there. and easily done. Speaking from experience!
Eric
[/quote]
well. I hooked the battery up the same way it came out. White wire to POS and black to NEG.

Will check the convertor. Where exactly is the convertor?
Bill
[/quote]
White to positive and black to negative is backward. If you hooked it up that way, you likely blew several fuses - in the converter, stereo and CO detector as the others have said.

Sorry - it's the hard way to learn - usually the route I take !!


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## bentpixel (Sep 2, 2006)

just like house wiring : black is hot, white is return (neutral). Also, my CO2 is battery powered not on trailer 12 volt.

Scoltt


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

Yup, it's hooked up backwards. White is ground(-) and black is hot (+). You'll have to check all the 12v fuses now. Then check all your 12v items for operation with the trailer unplugged from shore power to make sure they all work.

Sorry dude. You're not the first, and won't be the last to have done this.


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

bentpixel said:


> just like house wiring : black is hot, white is return (neutral). Also, my CO2 is battery powered not on trailer 12 volt.
> 
> Scoltt


You're right, my bad.... The smoke alarm and CO detectors are battery powered, and the propane detector (right below the furnace intake vent) is on trailer 12 volt - ours is wired to the same circuit as the fridge.


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## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Just as a quick reference, there should be a label on the A-frame up front that tells you which wire goes to which terminal.

Also, if you have shore power available, you can just let the battery in and plugged in all the time. I do this, and never have had an issue with draining or freezing over winter. Just remember to check the electrolyte level every so often.

Steve


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

Yep, I checked this morning traced the wires and sure enough the white is ground, blew both 40 Amp Fuses. Checked with a couple of local hardware/auto stores, the biggest they had was 30 Amp, will have to take a 20 mile ride the an RV store I guess to get a couple, and a couple of extra's. All else appears to be okay. 
Duh on me I guess, all of our other RV's had the black wire as ground. Oh well like some have said, lessons learned. 
Thanks again,
Bill


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

brenda said:


> Yep, I checked this morning traced the wires and sure enough the white is ground, blew both 40 Amp Fuses. Checked with a couple of local hardware/auto stores, the biggest they had was 30 Amp, will have to take a 20 mile ride the an RV store I guess to get a couple, and a couple of extra's. All else appears to be okay.
> Duh on me I guess, all of our other RV's had the black wire as ground. Oh well like some have said, lessons learned.
> Thanks again,
> Bill


 Happens to the best of us Bill!

Eric


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## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

brenda said:


> Duh on me I guess, all of our other RV's had the black wire as ground. Oh well like some have said, lessons learned.
> Thanks again,
> Bill


Mine have ranged from Duh to Duhhhhhhhhhhhh - like when I drilled a hole in the top of the gray tank in our old trailer.

Welcome to the club !!


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

Insomniak said:


> Duh on me I guess, all of our other RV's had the black wire as ground. Oh well like some have said, lessons learned.
> Thanks again,
> Bill


Mine have ranged from Duh to Duhhhhhhhhhhhh - like when I drilled a hole in the top of the gray tank in our old trailer.

Welcome to the club !!
[/quote]

Did that before in our RV before last. Was repairing the lower awing bracket and drilled through the cold water line under the sink. What a mess HA!
Anyway, I replaced the 40 amp fuses, reset all the breakers, the stereo will show the letters for AM and no backlight, when I push the power button or try and change from AM to FM the screen goes blank. I took the jenson stereo cover off and pushed the reset button. The red light on the main body of the stereo is flashing when I first remove the front stereo cover. When I push the reset button stereo the red light goes out. I hold the reset button in for 5 seconds like the Jenson manual says to do, as soon as I release the reset button, the red light starts to flash again. When I first put the front cover back on, again I see the letters on the display with no back light, and again they'll go away when I push the stereo power button of try to change from AM to FM. I checked the stereo 15 AMP fuse and it is good. I even try to reset the GFI breaker in the bathroom. Any ideas?Just went out and tried again, no luck, I also noticed one other thing, I'm connected to house power and the battery indicator is only reading 2/3 full charge, that should be reading full!! At least all the other RV's we've had were that way








Sorry for double posting before, but wasn't exactly sure where to post the problem.
Thanks,
Bill


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## brenda (Jan 3, 2007)

Got it!!! Finally pulled the radio out and replaced the fuse in the radio. yep it was blown too.
Anyway back to normal!! Sound is all now back. Thanks for all the advice patience and understanding. I need to do a couple of things, read the manuals more closely and pay more attention to things you suggest, I mean Jim said to check the radio fuse. So I need to pay attention!!!

Thanks again,








Bill


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Sorry to hear about the wiring mix up....we've all done things like this.


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