Why is black positive and white negative

[longhauler]

Wondering why on my 5er it has a black wire for positive and the white wire is negative going to the battery. Why can't they use the standard black for negative and red for positive. I figured the white would be the the positive and the black would at least stay as negative. I did that mistake for the last time. Got lucky only blew the fuses for the converter, but why is it like this.

[anaro]

I don't know but DH accidentally reversed them also. We also got lucky and only blew a couple of fuses also. Thank our lucky stars the fuse did its job and protected the converter. We were also lucky enough to have done it in Myrtle beach were there was plenty of places to get the needed fuses. We have since placed colored electric tape on the wires to label them.

[BipeFlier]

The color code is the same as the residential wiring I belive per the NESC

[longhauler]

That's a good idea Anaro. Even though I don't think I will ever do that again I might just do what you did.

[avvidclif]

In the AC world black is the hot lead (not positive but hot) and white is the neutral, not negative. In the DC world red is positive and black is negative.



I guess their bean counters wouldn't buy red wire for whatever reasons. It also confused me and is totally irresponsible in my opinion. They should stay with conventional coding.

[dalemac377]

They probably follow the National Electrical code, which has white as neutral and black as the hot lead, as was previously stated. You can generally see where the white lead is connected to other white leads and bolted to the metal frame, this tells you it is the negative or ground lead.

[longhauler]

dalemac377, the camper was in storage without much light and with the battery in the basement you couldn't see good. I should of had a flash light to see things better then I would of seen the sticker on the side of the battery lid that said white is neg and black is positive, but like i said before i just figured neg was black. I'm pretty sure it won't happen again.

[coastn]

On my Sunset Trail black is positive and white is negative. On my Coachmen trailer red is positive and white is negative. Makes me think too hard.

[farmer lynn]

we also connected battery wrong. Thank goodness for fuses. Good to know we arent only ones to do this.

[happycampers]

When I removed my battery in the fall, I labelled the wires as well. I can't remember which colours were used but at first I looked at it and thought it would be easy to remember. Then I remembered... my memory is good- but short!! So I labelled them just in case. For the little effort it requires... it could save alot.

[CruiserJoe]

I have two batteries so it gets really confusing. Before unhooking any wires I use masking tape and a sharpie to label all the connections.

[MNSparky]

Wiring on the trailer is covered by the National Electrical Code where, the Neutral or negative wire is white or gray. The Hot or positive wire is other colors ie. black, red, blue, and others except green which is ground.

[Lloyd]

I believe that is just for the AC thru out the coach, but doesn't pertain to the DC. Maybe that is what you were meaning?

[r2millers]

Invest in an inexpensive VOM, voltage/ohm meter. Once familiar with it, you won't go anywhere without it and you won't have to "guess" the next time.

Most are available between 15-20 bucks.

[Sirsea]

I think DC wiring is a prime case of "caveat emptor " as there doesn't appear to be any national standard as far as I can tell. It all depends on the manufacturer of the vehicle. For example some boats/motors frequently use yellow as ground for instruments, pumps, etc and black or other colors for the positive feed. X2 on adding a multi-meter to the tool bag and using it when in doubt.

[Wyotraveler]

I suspect when they build these RVs they try to follow one wiring code instead of mixing them.

[Chrisnan23]

US, AC:The US National Electrical Code only mandates white (or grey) for</span> the neutral power conductor and bare copper, green, or green with yellow stripe for</span> the protective ground. In principle any other colors except these may be used for</span> the power conductors. The colors adopted as local practice are shown in Table below. Black, red, and blue are used for</span> 208 VAC three-phase; brown, orange and yellow are used for</span> 480 VAC. Conductors larger than #6 AWG are only available in black and are color</span> taped at the ends.<a name="wire3.tbl">

US AC power circuit wiring</span> color</span> codes.</a><table style=": rgb224, 255, 255;" border="1"><t><tr><th>Function</th><th>label</th><th>Color</span>, common</th><th>Color</span>, alternative</th></tr><tr><td>Protective ground</td><td>PG</td><td>bare, green, or green-yellow </td><td>green</td></tr><tr><td>Neutral</td><td>N</td><td>white</td><td> grey</td></tr><tr><td>Line, single phase</td><td>L</td><td>black or red (2nd hot)</td><td> </td></tr><tr><td>Line, 3-phase</td><td>L1</td><td>black</td><td>brown</td></tr><tr><td>Line, 3-phase</td><td>L2</td><td>red</td><td>orange</td></tr><tr><td>Line, 3-phase

US DC power: The US National Electrical Code (for</span> both AC and DC) mandates that the grounded neutral conductor of a power system be white or grey. The protective ground must be bare, green or green-yellow striped. Hot (active) wires may be any other colors except these. However, common practice (per local electrical inspectors) is for</span> the first hot (live or active) wire to be black and the second hot to be red. The recommendations in Table below are by Wiles. [JWi] He makes no recommendation for</span> ungrounded power system colors. Usage of the ungrounded system is discouraged for</span> safety. However, red (+) and black (-) follows the coloring of the grounded systems in the table.<a name="wire5.tbl">

US recommended DC power circuit wiring</span> color</span> codes.</a><table style=": rgb224, 255, 255;" border="1"><t><tr><th>Function</th><th>label</th><th>Color</span></th></tr><tr><td>Protective ground</td><td>PG</td><td>bare, green, or green-yellow</td></tr><tr><th> 2-wire ungrounded DC Power System</th><th> </th><th> </th></tr><tr><td>Positive</td><td>L+</td><td>no recommendation (red)</td></tr><tr><td>Negative</td><td>L-</td><td>no recommendation (black)</td></tr><tr><th> 2-wire grounded DC Power System</th><th> </th><th> </th></tr><tr><td>Positive (of a negative grounded) circuit</td><td>L+</td><td>red</td></tr><tr><td>Negative (of a negative grounded) circuit</td><td>N</td><td>white</td></tr><tr><td>Positive (of a positive grounded) circuit</td><td>N</td><td>white</td></tr><tr><td>Negative (of a positive grounded) circuit</td><td>L-</td><td>black</td></tr><tr><th> 3-wire grounded DC Power System</th><th> </th><th> </th></tr><tr><td>Positive</td><td>L+</td><td>red</td></tr><tr><td>Mid-wire (center tap)</td><td>N</td><td>white</td></tr><tr><td>Negative</td><td>L-</td><td>black</td></tr></t></table></td><td>L3</td><td>blue</td><td>yellow</td></tr></t></table>

[Mac-2]

Wiring code didn't help with my 5er. I have had it for almost 2 years running the AC all day long and a heater all night. Then after 3 months in Gulf Shores I lost all power to the trailer. Found the problem to be in the junction box between the outside cable and the inside wiring. The Neutral (white) wire was open and had burned the Line (black) and Ground (green) into one big mess. The Neutral wire nut was all but gone. I assume the junction had a poor contact and generated heat under load causing the melt down.
The only way to make the repair was to remove the outside shower, then the plywood cover of the compartment and work thru the electrical opening and the shower to remove about 6 inches of each end.

I am surprised CR didn't use any tape over the wire nuts to prevent vibration causing them to loosen. And they could make it easier to get to, but I am thankful it was in a metal junction box.

[tabrown2001]

A good fix for this is some red shrink tape to cover the last 4 or so inches of wire. I did this 2 years ago and haven't had an issue since hooking it up correctly. I also didn't have to think.