6 replies to this topic

[robscochran]

I've got a real problem - I replaced my battery and had disconnected the wiring from the old dead battery last fall. I attempted to replace the wires and realized I was not sure which wires connect to the appropriate terminals. I have Green White and Black wires. Instructions show me white is neg - and black is pos + and I put the black with the green. The white wire melted! now what?

 

[PerfectCasita]

Rob,

 

Black is positive

White and/or Green is negative.

 

Jim

[robscochran]

Jim,

I did some tracing of the green wire and it goes to the ground on the trailer frame. So basically I rigged up a little toaster heater coil! I just finished up replacing the melted white wire. All is well in Casita-ville...after three hours!  I did replace the battery with a marine INTERSTATE - the shop manager sold me a battery shutoff switch for $7.00 which is a fraction of the price for the toggle blade switch. Not as fancy but does the same function. Works well...thanks for the quick reply. I wish that the little panel door had the green wire properly identified.  I taped it to the white wire so I would never have the problem again.

[acommontater]

Thanks for this valuable battery info. I wanted to pass on a warning to those members with modest electrical savvy like mine. I confess that I killled the original battery by allowing the water level to drop to the point of killing a cell. Learned this expensive lesson and replaced it with a deep cycle, AGM battery which I bought from a franchise store here the DFW area. It lasted for 17 months under a 48 month warranty and then died. When I asked for a replacement the store refused responsibility, saying the loss was caused by "owner abuse"! Never did get an explanation as how I could abuse this sealed battery used only occasionally. I have wasted two weeks trying to communicate with the the owner of the franchise, the franchiser and with anyone I could think would look logically at this loss after the battery had worked flawlessly for 17 months and then died.
My advice to anyone replacing their trailer battery is to buy from an established company with a good track record for service after the sale. Check the website of the retailer and in particular check out the employees' comments. Surprisingly candid. Above all, batteries are expensive, worthy of your research.

[Don]

The wiring was documented by the factory on my battery compartment door. But ... I did not notice it until after I also documented it (can you say 'red faced'?).

Oh wellsometimes more is better then less.

[Wally Z]

Green is ground the world around.

[rubberatlas]

Hey all,

 

David here with my 2003 13' Patriot Deluxe "Bandit."  I'd like to begin by saying I am no electrician.  I dabble with little things at home (replacing outlets, dimmers, etc) but get a bit lost once we start entering the equations of Watts vs Amp vs Volts...

 

So here's my situation.  I recently decided to move my battery from inside the trailer to the front tongue.  I have welded a tray for a battery system that I put in parallel (2 12v group 27's, and now doubled the amp hours.)  I have run the main 8AWG Pos and Neg lines from the tongue along the frame and into a Sea Blue Fused power Bus.  From the power bus I have run separate 8AWG pos and neg lines for three separate components.  One goes directly into the casita house power.  I just removed the old pos and neg wires and screwed in the new lines.  The second set of 8AWG pos and neg lines run from the power bus into a solar charger.  And lastly, the third set of 8AWG pos and neg line run into a stand alone 3/8s and 5/16 power bus.  I am using the negative side of this power bus to attach a shunt, that had previously been on the neg side of the battery. All of these lines are fused with 30amp ATC fuses.

 

So when I finished wiring everything up, I turned the battery disconnect switch to the on position.  The solar charge turned on immediately and seems to be fully functional. (at least I know power is coming through that Blue Sea Power bus.)  However nothing in the Casita is working.  (no lights, no water pump, etc)  So I back tracked through what I had disconnected and notice a green ground wire that was attached to the old negative (white) casita wire.  Does it make sense that nothing would work without me having reattached that green ground?  My plan is to get the same gauge wire, crimp/connect it to that green ground,  and extend it to where my new shunt is.  I will attach it just as it was before...does that sound correct?  Additionally, the negative wire coming from the water pump had been connected to that shunt.  Can I do the same with the wire and extend it to the same shunt it had previously been attached to?  Am I missing anything?  Also, the wires are so buried in there I am concerned that I may be missing another place where Casita branched off either the original pos or neg lines.  I caught that one green grounded line, but does anyone know if there are any other connects on those original lines?

 

thank you in advance for anyone that understands this electrical system!!

D