2005 Keystone Montana Inverter?

[Dimomma]

Hello again BB. Both are now new batteries albeit not the same size. Positive to positive and negative to negative. I also found a corroded cable.

I live in this RV full time so when things go bad, to the toolbox I go!

I lifted the bad battery out by myself but it like to have whooped me. I had a young buck unload it as it must have weighed 80 lbs.

I think the battery I removed was bad and I was only running off of the new 12v I had purchased in October. However I think I will purchase a lithium/ion one in the future.

I'm going to figure out how to refit the 12v system. I have an ecoflow I'm going to hook up. Never too late to learn.

I understand about the bad battery and circuit breaker but have no idea about a disconnect switch.

I very much appreciate the help from this forum. What an extremely helpful group!
Thank you so very much BB! BTW, I lived in McKinney for 8 years. Grand Prairie for another 8. Now I'm in God's forsaken country. Lol

[Dimomma]

Thank you Carl n Susan! Much appreciated!
Thanks moderator!

I see a voltage meter and my laptop in my future.

[Foldbak]

I didn't have time to read all of the reply's so someone may have already pointed this out. You have 2 12 volt batteries in parallel which is fine but you can't mix battery types and must replace in pairs. Also when wired in parallel you must connect the positive feed to trailer on one battery and the negative feed to trailer to the other as in the pictures.

[h2ojocky]

Dimomma if your rig is a 2005 you probably do not have a disconnect switch unless one was installed aftermarket. If you full time you probably do not need one. They are used for disconnecting all power during storage.

[Dimomma]

Wow! Thanks Foldbak! I'll double-check the configuration. I think I'll pull the small battery and get another one just like the one I purchased yesterday.

[Dimomma]

Thank you h2oJocky. One less thing for me to worry about.

[Joint Venture II]

Originally Posted by Dimomma

Wow! Thanks Foldbak! I'll double-check the configuration. I think I'll pull the small battery and get another one just like the one I purchased yesterday.

If you purchase another battery that should give you 2 12volt batteries and you will need to hook them up ii a parallel connection. That will be all positive (red) cables hooked together and all negative (black) cables together. Do not hook them in series. You will destroy electrical components quickly if hooked up in series producing 24 volts.

[wed]

A quick check is connect the batteries to a charger and see if that fixes the lights and fridge. If so then you have a bad converter.

[Dimomma]

Foldbak, My negative cable doesn't seem to be hooked up to the RV. Would you look at my pics and instruct me how to unhook the small battery? I didn't realize that my negative cable was hooked up only to each battery and I want to get rid of the small battery.
Any help from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

[BB_TX]

That large white wire from the battery and screwed to the side wall is your ground wire to the RV. The RV frame serves as battery ground to your 12 vdc devices. The frame also serves as safety ground for the AC power.

I am assuming that white wire screw goes into a frame member behind whatever that black panel is.

[Dimomma]

Hi BB. It's not the ground wire I'm concerned with. I want to take out the small battery but don't know what to do with the negative cable as it only seems to be connected to the two batteries and not to the RV itself. I know I need positive and negative to effectively run 12v just like a car but I'm not seeing any negative connection for the RV. Does that make sense? I'm good with the positive and ground but that black cable is only running between the batteries and I'm afraid to connect it to the wrong terminal. Thanks BB!

[BB_TX]

The black wire of one battery is connected to the other battery which then goes via the white wire to ground thus connecting both batteries grounds to RV frame. Likewise the red wire of one battery connects to the red wire of the other battery which in turn goes to the RV via the auto reset circuit breakers.

[Dimomma]

So what do I do with the black wire? I think it should be connected somewhere. ��

[BB_TX]

Since you are removing the battery on the left you no longer need the black wire. The white wire will provide ground from the battery on the right to the RV. Likewise you no longer need the red wire from the battery on the left to the battery on the right.

You will be left with one battery with a white wire to ground and a red wire for +12 volts o RV.

[Dimomma]

Awesome! Thanks so much BB! No black (negative to me) wire needed.


BTW, this will still trickle charge won't it?

[h2ojocky]

Dimomma I think you should get one of these. It converts old technology to a smart converter. You can do a search on this forum and several people use them on older converters. I bought one and it works great. You just plug it in to your existing converter with a phone type jack. Mine was located under the steps to the bedroom.

https://www.amazon.com/IOTA-Engineer...e%2C506&sr=1-4

[Foldbak]

Originally Posted by Dimomma

Awesome! Thanks so much BB! No black (negative to me) wire needed.


BTW, this will still trickle charge won't it?

Yes the converter will still charge the battery.

[Dimomma]

Thank you h2ojocky! I'm going to order one. Now to find the converter in this RV.
My lights/fridge are off again. I'm charging the new battery I replaced three days ago. I found a blown fuse but believe it to be for the landing gear. Maybe not. I'm on my way to find a replacement and see what happens.

[BB_TX]

dimomma - has your initial problem with dim lights been corrected with what you have done so far?

[Dimomma]

Thanks Foldbak! Hunting for the converter and any other fuses today. Little by little. Voltage meter is a necessity it seems.