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JoeBUtah View Drop Down
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Joined: 22 Aug 2017
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Positive ground?
    Posted: 23 Aug 2017 at 8:59pm
First time post (not counting my intro): 2016 178. Just noticed that the battery is connected bass-ackwards. Red cables to negative post, white cable to positive post. I'm not sure what to make of that.

I just contacted the fellow I bought it from and he's puzzled as well so I'm guessing the dealer hooked it up that way.

Is this a typical configuration? It seems odd to me. I'm about to wire in a Zamp charge controller so I can utilize a portable solar panel and I'd rather not fry it.

Any thoughts?
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Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
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Posts: 1447 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Aug 2017 at 10:44pm
I can't imagine how that could possibly work, unless you have a positive ground tow vehicle. And even then, the converter/charger would have to be wired backwards too.  I would kind of hope you have a blown fuse on the converter and that it's isolated now from the situation.  I think someone probably made a serious mistake when they put the battery in.

TT
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voisj View Drop Down
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Posts: 471 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Aug 2017 at 11:51pm
Follow the wires from the battery to just underneath the front of the Pod and you will see one going to ground screw and one going to a small Silver Box, I think it's a fusible link that's the positive side. The smaller set of wires coming from the zamp port usually near the back of the Pod one of those is white and one of those is red it could be these that you're seeing.
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2016 180 HRE, 2013 F150 Eco Boost
 
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eye95 View Drop Down
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Posts: 63 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 4:39am
Don't just judge by the colors. See how the wires are being used, what they are connected to.

That being said, folks who did the wiring should have followed conventions to avoid confusion.
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2017 178 The "eye-Pod"
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2654 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 9:30am
Originally posted by JoeBUtah

First time post (not counting my intro): 2016 178. Just noticed that the battery is connected bass-ackwards. Red cables to negative post, white cable to positive post. I'm not sure what to make of that.
My thought is that someone swapped out the wires. Ours are red/black. Red is positive, and black is negative.

If yours are wired that way, then somewhere along the line someone color-blind changed the wires. The electrons don't care about wire color, but it would cause a technician some puzzlement. The point being you should probably trace it out to see what had been done.
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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JoeBUtah View Drop Down
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 10:21am
Here' a picture of what I have; I can't really trace the wires back as they go directly into a loom, but you can see they are clearly labled as are the terminals.

Battery Set Up
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JoeBUtah View Drop Down
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 11:01am
This just keeps getting weirder: disconnecting the battery leads I checked for continuity. The white/negaive labled wire has no resistence (0.00 ohms) to the frame. However, the red/positive wire has about 5.5 ohms.

I attempted to connect the wires back up with the correct (as we know it) polarity, and fastened the red wire to the positive post. Upon connecting the white wire to the negative post, it arced. Big time. Very strange.

Inside the fuse box there are two 40 amp fuses; they are toast. Ithink it's time to hook up and head to the dealer and/or give Forest River a call.
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JoeBUtah View Drop Down
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Posts: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 2:40pm
Mystery resolved.

Turns out the battery had reversed polarity; I don't know how, when, why, where that could have happened. In talking to a local RV service guy, he mentioned to put a volt meter on the battery itself. Sure enough, it should -11.58 volts.

I bought a new battery and as soon as I finish this yummy pb&j sandwich I'll wire it up.

Thanks All!
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Posts: 3419 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 4:29pm
WOW, that is rare and crazy. The only way that could possibly happen is to have a completely discharged battery, then charge it backwards. The battery will charge but it will be ruined and useless. It won't spark when you begin charging because it has to be completely discharged for this to happen. You don't see this very often, but it can happen.
Mike Carter
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Posts: 2654 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Aug 2017 at 4:33pm
There are many batteries that come in "normal" and "reverse" polarity. I discovered this years ago when I had to replace the battery in my tractor. The model number was ****R, where the "R" meant reverse polarity. When I ordered the replacement, I omitted the "R" when I picked up the battery, only to discover that the terminals were reversed. Oh my!
bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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