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ChrisSuter 
Newbie 
Joined: 10 Feb 2019 Location: Sacramento, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 4 |
 Topic: Trailer/Battery is positive-ground?Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 2:09am |
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My fiancee and I just got ourselves a used 2010 R-Pod 173T. We took it out for it's maiden voyage (for us) this weekend and found something odd with the battery. We hooked up our solar panel per the instructions (positive solar alligator clip to positive battery terminal and negative to negative), but kept getting the error message "Solar good, battery reversed" on our solar controller. We switched the jumper clips so that positive clip from solar connected to negative of battery, and the error message disappeared, the panel started to work flowing beautiful solar energy. Upon further investigation, we found that the wire leading from the positive post of the battery is actually grounded to the metal chassis of the trailer. The red wire that leads to the trailer electronics is actually connected to the negative battery terminal. Soon-to-be Father-in-Law had never heard of a trailer set up this way. So we're confused.
I have three questions stemming from this. First, is it supposed to be this way? I have a hard time believing it is, since in my research over the past two days it seems that (apart from phone systems) positive grounding hasn't really been used since the 1960's. Second, if it's not, could it be damaging the electronic components of the trailer? My guess is that at some point the previous owners changed the battery and messed up when reinstalling the battery connections. We're probably going to be replacing the battery and some of the electronics in the near future, should we go put the ground wire on the negative post?
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp 
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6329 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 7:02am |
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Before you do anything, check the power panel to see how that is wired. If you reverse the connections on the battery, it will blow the two 40A fuses to protect the converter from a reverse polarity situation which it looks like you have. You could try disconnecting both wires and connecting your solar charger to the battery the proper way. Mine is white=negative, red=positive. I have a disconnect switch wired in so I don't have to disconnect the batteries (dual 6V) if I will be without shore power for storage or service. It is on the negative between the negative terminal on the second battery and the white wire. The red is on the positive terminal of the other battery and there is a jumper between the negative of the first battery (red wire) and the positive of the second battery (white wire) so my dual 6V batteries give me 12V.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2660 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 8:51am |
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+1 to what StephenH said. All of the R-pods I have looked at are negative ground. Your new pod is ~~ 9 years old, so "something happened" between 2010 and now. Your challenge is to figure out what they did.
I would disconnect from shore power and verify that all the 12V systems work properly and that it all is working with the + terminal grounded. If that's the case, then your system was reversed somewhere alone the way.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6329 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 9:04am |
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Also, yours is old enough that the lights are probably incandescent and not LED. LED light won't work if the polarity is reversed. You could get one LED bulb to put in one of the fixtures. If the LED light does not work, then that would be another confirmation that the prior owner connected the wires backward.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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podwerkz
Senior Member
Joined: 11 Mar 2019 Location: Texas Online Status: Offline Posts: 966 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 11:08am |
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That's just weird.
Not only would all of the interior polarity-sensitive components need to be reversed (converter, furnace, fridge electronics etc) but it makes me wonder how in the heck they ever got the trailer auxiliary charge line to work, or if they disconnected it, or maybe, the trailer was hooked up to an old positive-ground classic pickup? Or maybe they somehow electrically insulated the hitch ball from the frame of the tow vehicle? Make sure you use a DVM to check things before you make any changes.
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r･pod 171 gone but not forgotten!
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2660 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 11:38am |
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Oh gosh. Good point. Your tow vehicle is almost certainly negative ground, so there are all kinds of red flags dealing with that. Double and triple check all the key points where something is connected to ground.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1449 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 4:17pm |
That occurred to me too. What are the odds though?! Another very long shot is that the polarity of the battery has flipped. It can happen that an old battery can change poles. What is labeled + becomes - and vice versa. Check the polarity of the battery with a DVM just for hoots. TT |
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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GlueGuy
Senior Member
Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2660 |
Posted: 23 Apr 2019 at 7:34pm |
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Good point TT. Based on the original description, it sounds like + and - might be reversed on that battery. A DVM would verify that.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 24 Apr 2019 at 7:57am |
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I think someone in the past just got confused and connected the battery cables improperly. That happens because your trailer is wired per the electric code wire color conventions with white as neutral like it is in your house (negative in a negative ground 12v system) and colored wire (red) as the hot (+12v) conductor. Someone expecting the automotive convention black negative/red positive got confused most likely. Happens a lot.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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Tars Tarkas
Senior Member
Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1449 |
Posted: 28 Apr 2019 at 11:31am |
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I'm disappointed that the OP hasn't followed up. If he found out what was going on, I think we'd all like to know. If he didn't, we'd be interested in continuing to troubleshoot. TT
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser |
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Trailer/Battery is positive-ground?