How to Hook Up RV Battery Cables (Hook-Up Picture Diagram)
It can get confusing. Car electrical systems are a bit different from RV electrical systems. That is because of the different wiring. One color code will be for your car battery while another will be used for your RV battery system. When you confuse the two, you can have problems.
The key is to make sure you get the right wires connected to the right terminals. For RVs, the black wire is the hot wire and the white wire is the negative or ground wire. Do not confuse these colors as in a car, black is the ground or negative wire. You have to watch the wire coloring to get the wires to the right connection.
To learn more about wiring your RV just continue to read our article. It has the information you want to know about so that you can do a good wiring job without risking your electrical system. Knowing your electrical wiring is a must when dealing with RV electrical systems.
Hooking Up RV Battery Cables 101
How Do I Hook up My RV Battery?
Generally, you hook red to positive and black to negative. However, when you are working on a battery for your RV, that is not going to be the case. For an RV system, the black wire is the hot wire and needs to be hooked to the positive terminal.
The white wire is the ground or negative connection and needs to go to the negative terminal and the RV’s frame. That is if the RV manufacturer did not throw you a curveball and use all white wires with some color stripes.
If you face that situation then you have to do some research as to which wire goes to which terminal and the frame. As it stands at the moment, the RV makers will try to follow standard traditional house wiring rules when wiring 120-volt wires but when it comes to the battery system, anything seems to go.
RV Battery Hook up Picture
The standard picture will have your battery with a white wire connected to the negative terminal and a red or black wire connected to the positive terminal. This is the simplest picture you can have. However, you may have more than one device connecting to your battery and the red color may not be the positive or hot wire.
This is what causes the confusion. You may get a white, black, and a red wire leading to your battery. When this happens the red is not the hot wire but the lead from the inverter to monitor if there is a charge going to your battery.
if you connect this wire wrong, you can damage the inverter and the wiring system. Sometimes you may have a green wire involved and when you are not sure, it is best to let a qualified electrician handle any wiring problems you may have.
Travel Trailer Battery Hook Up Diagram
Generally, your system may have 2 batteries connected in a parallel system. The parallel method helps bring the power you need to all your devices without draining the batteries too quickly.
The problem comes with the wiring method because it is easy to do it wrong and mess up your entire system. If you are not comfortable with working with electricity or wiring, then you should turn the task over to a qualified electrician who knows his stuff.
The diagrams can be very confusing when you are a novice or unsure of how electrical systems work. There are several diagrams that will be helpful to you but we cannot lace all of them here at this time.
Each one would need some explaining if you are going to DIY your wiring. Here is a link with those diagrams and explanations so you can get the right picture without a third party getting in the way and messing up those explanations.
What Color Wire is Positive on a Camper?
It has been suggested that the RV manufacturers decided to go with black as the hot wire and white as the negative wire because they followed the traditional house wiring system. They did not want to confuse the electricians when they had to replace or repair any wiring.
However, that only works for the AC side of the electrical system. The DC side has been reported to use the standard car configuration and use a red wire for the hot or positive side of the system.
But then, there are those manufacturers, who for some reason, went to all white wires and used different colored stripes to identify what the wire is supposed to be used for. For further help, you may want to look up the following guidelines- RVIA Adopted Standards12-Volt Electrical Requirements as specified by ANSI/RVIA 12V Low Voltage System Standard.
RV Battery Hookup Red And White
The white-colored wire is supposed to be the negative or ground wire on the DC electrical side of the system. Black is used for the negative on the AC side of the system.
The red would be the positive or hot wire on the DC side of the system and is replaced by black when the electrician is wiring the AC side. it can get confusing if you have experience in different electrical systems.
You cannot assume that the colors on the wires go to the same terminals on different systems. If you do make this assumption, then you are only setting your system up to blow a fuse.
It would be wise to study the different electrical systems that are on your RV because that knowledge will save you a lot of trouble.
RV Battery Hook up Black And White
By now you should know that this color code system is the standard color code system for traditional house electrical systems. Black is the positive or hot wire and white is the negative or ground wire. At least on a 2 wire system.
But as mentioned earlier, this color code system only works for the AC side of the RV electrical system. The DC side will have red as the positive and black as the negative. if that doesn’t confuse you already or make you scratch your head then those odd situations where devices use different colored wiring will.
Not every electrical device will follow the rules or the traditional house wiring setup.
RV Battery Hook up Positive or Negative First?
The risk in connecting the wrong wire first is that you could create a short in the system if you put the wrong wire on before the right wire. In almost every electrical system, the hot or positive wire must be attached first or you could short the system.
The negative or ground wire must be attached second in almost all cases. We say almost because you never know when someone gets the bright idea to switch their system. But for the most part, always connect the red or black hot wire first depending on the system you are working on.
Be careful when you see all white wires and colored stripes on those wires.
RV Battery Hook up In Series
When you are hooking batteries up in a series there is one battery that has the negative wire connected to the ground. That battery then has its positive terminal connected to the negative terminal on the next battery in the series.
The positive terminal in that second battery is then hooked up to the 12-volt system and you should be good to go. When you add one or more batteries to the series, you need to follow this same pattern.
The batteries in the middle of the series get connected to the negative terminals on the battery in front of it.
Where Does The Ground Wire Go on The RV Battery?
On almost every RV and trailer you own, the negative or ground wire should go to the nut that connects it to the frame of the RV, etc. The only thing you should worry about is getting the right gauge of wire to handle the electrical system.
This applies to both positive and negative wires and if you are setting up a series of batteries or running them in parallel. The thicker the wire, the longer it can be. if you put a too thin wire on your system, you should see a voltage drop and your devices may not function that well.
Some Final Words
Hooking up your RV battery is a matter of knowing the colors of the wires and where those colors go. For some wiring situations, you just need to follow your traditional home’s wiring system and for others, you follow your car’s wiring system.
Unless the RV manufacturer throws you a curveball and changes the colors on you. It can happen and does from time to time. If you are not sure what to do, call an electrician. That is the best solution to this topic.
