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06-11-2017, 05:44 PM
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#1
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Topeka
Posts: 4
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Installing new battery question
We purchased a used 2015 Passport 2250 RB with dead battery. We have purchased a new battery but cannot find anything to tell us the color coding on the travel trailer wiring. We didn't take good notes 😢Is white positive and black negative or visa versa? We are going to install a disconnect switch. This goes on the negative? Thanks from a newbie
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06-11-2017, 05:48 PM
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#2
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Middle Sackville
Posts: 19
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Hi there welcome to the forum on keystone products the black is positive am
No white is negative and your disconnect go on the positive side hope this helps you out
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06-11-2017, 05:50 PM
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#3
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Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Middle Sackville
Posts: 19
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I meant to say and the white not am no auto correct lol
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06-11-2017, 05:51 PM
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#4
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Site Team | Emeritus
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Kansas City
Posts: 3,878
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Black is positive and white is negative.
Welcome to the forum from Kansas City, MO!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk
__________________
Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Impact 312
2017 Silverado 3500HD SRW
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06-11-2017, 05:54 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Bainbridge NY
Posts: 214
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I've always used the negative for the disconnect switch.
__________________
2017 Keystone 1750rd
2006 Hummer H3
1968 Oldsmobile 442
1983 Honda CX650C
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06-11-2017, 06:32 PM
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#6
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Topeka
Posts: 4
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Thanks! My autocorrect sometimes uses words that I shouldn't
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06-11-2017, 06:50 PM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Modesto
Posts: 20,339
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Every factory installed battery cut off is on the Positive side.
If you cruise the www you will find adamant arguments on both sides. Which is right? Let's not start that here, let's just agree that a cut off is better than nothing if your going to leave the unit unplugged and battery installed.
__________________
2012 Copper Canyon 273FWRET being towed by a 1994 Ford F350 CC,LB,Dually diesel.
Airlift 5000 bags, Prodigy brake control, 5 gauges on the pillar.Used to tow a '97 Jayco 323RKS.
Now an RVIA registered tech. Retired from Law enforcement in 2008 after 25+ yrs.
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06-11-2017, 07:59 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: SE Michigan
Posts: 1,659
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Most automotive repair manuals I've read illustrate disconnecting the negative side of the battery prior to electrical work. Does it tend to arch less than a positive post disconnection? Haven't really noticed in 25 years of shade tree mechanic work.
__________________
2017 Keystone Bullet 308BHS in Saddle.
2017 RAM 2500 Laramie Mega Cab 4x4 Hemi 6.4L
2008 GMC Yukon XL Denali (SOLD)
Hensley SwiftArrow Control Hitch with 1000 lb Spring Bars
Me, DW, (3) little DS's, and 1 rambunctious Boston Terrier
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06-12-2017, 07:08 AM
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#9
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Site Team
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
Posts: 26,995
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If you've ever disconnected the positive terminal on a car/truck battery and had the wrench also touch ground (vehicle chassis) you know the sparks and heat that are produced. I've seen wrenches "welded" between the battery terminal and the chassis, I've seen wedding rings become "circumferential vaproizers" of human fingers and I've treated the wounds from such accidents. I personally won't put a wrench on a positive terminal (of a negative ground system) without first removing the negative terminal. Whether it's a car, a truck or a RV, if you ever ground out the positive terminal it becomes "a big battery issue" with no time to "back up and change things"....
NHRA and marine applications dictate that battery disconnects be installed on the positive terminal of the battery. Some (not all) battery switch installation instructions call for installation on the negative side, others call for the positive side.
Now, from an electrical connection perspective, it's "mandatory" to install it on the positive side IF you want some components powered and others not powered when the switch is off. (think RV wiring and phantom loads from the LP detector, CO detector and radio faceplate). Actually, the switch only turns off "part of the positive pathway" in the battery circuit. If it were installed on the negative side, it would either have to turn off ALL battery power (including phantom loads) or the power would use the "alternate ground" and bypass the cutoff switch (which is the reason the positive side is used in NHRA and marine applications).
As Chuckster said, in OEM RV applications, the switch is installed on the positive side, to allow for safety devices to remain powered. If you do choose to use the positive side, please make sure you remove the negative terminal EVERY time you are working with tools that will contact the switch or the positive battery terminal. One time of grounding a wrench at the battery or at the battery cutoff switch terminals and you'll know the danger involved in trying to weld your finger to the RV.
__________________
John
2015 F250 6.7l 4x4
2014 Cougar X Lite 27RKS
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06-12-2017, 10:04 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: Texarkana, TX
Posts: 1,052
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I'd NEVER depend on "color coding" out of Keystone. It should be easy enough to trace the ground, which will touch the trailer frame... And yea, I've arc welded a few wrenches in my case when I didn't disconnect negative first.
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06-12-2017, 02:36 PM
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#11
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Lakeland
Posts: 15
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Regardless of whether an electrical system is negative or positive ground, always, ALWAYS disconnect the ground side of the battery before attempting work on ANYTHING with a direct, unprotected path to the "hot" terminal.
Knew a mechanic who was working under the dash of a tractor, and had the 4 ga. hot accessory feed disconnected from it's firewall terminal. The cable end came into contact with his wedding ring, which was also in contact with the steel support fixture for the steering column. In an instant he had four 1100 amp batteries juicing thru the perfect conductor of that 24kt ring. He was stuck there until the ring burned down to the bone and turned molten enough to break the connection. He learned his lesson the hard way by means of losing that digit.
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06-12-2017, 03:43 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Nevada
Posts: 2,695
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I never, ever wear a ring when working on a vehicle. The working watch is plastic.
__________________
Desert185 🇺🇸 (Retired Chemtrail vendor)
-Ram 2500 QC, LB, 4x4, Cummins HO/exhaust brake, 6-speed stick.
-Andersen Ultimate 24K 5er Hitch.
-2014 Cougar 326SRX, Maxxis tires w/TPMS, wet bolts, two 6v batts.
-Four Wheel 8' Popup Camper.
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