Which Wire Went Which Way?

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droodspen

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Nov 12, 2017
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[size=12pt][size=10pt][size=10pt]I pulled the two 6 volt batteries with intent to replace with 12 volt units. Plans changed-- now I want to put the 6 volt batteries back in, but I paid no attention to where the cables had been attached because I wasn't going to use the 6's. Every online video I can find relating to 6 volt battery banks has some setup other than what I have, or the same setup with no inverter, or an inverter with no coach cables. I know my current array is incorrect because my inverter thinks it's overloaded and shuts down with only 13.73V.

It worked fine before, so assume all wire gauges and lengths are not the issue. I have 14.4V at the battery bank terminals, and 13.73 at the inverter input. It's a Pure Sine Wave 600. The warning LED's suggest input voltage in excess of 14.7 while volt meter reads 13.73. It's got to be the wiring at the batteries, right?

6 volt batteries (A and B): One short wire connects A+ to B-. Neg coach wire and neg inverter wire are on A-. Pos coach wire and pos inverter wire are on B+. What am I doing wrong?
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Drood
 
Nothing,  check all connections particularly those of the inverter. A high resistance connection can cause that type of problem. Failing that you probably have a bad cable or high load on the inverter.

Ernie
 
With just two batteries, your wiring sounds right. A short cable connects the positive of one battery to the negative of the other. I would connect the the two together then take a volt reading on the remaining posts to see what the standing voltage is before you connect anything else up to them. Then connect one thing at a time and retest as you go.  An over voltage condition suggests that the Inverter is over charging.

It sounds like your hook up is correct, so something else is causing the issue.  The rig is not hooked up to shore power at the same time is it?
 
Didn't somebody else here have the same problem recently? I think they had a different inverter though.
 
the 6vt batterys should be.... the + terminal of bat A goes to the + of the inverter and to the coach.

the (-) terminal of bat A..... should be connected to the (+) terminal of bat B.

The (-) terminal of bat B should be connected to ground and the (-) wire from the inverter.

like this..
 

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I'm surprised when you say 14.4v at the batteries. Should not be that high unless an engine alternator is running and actively charging them. The onboard charger would not normally produce that much (except if the batteries are heavily discharged). Even the 13.7 at the inverter is higher than normal (usually 12.6-13.6 on a fully charged battery.  Either something very strange is happening or your measurements are faulty somehow.

The battery wiring you describe sounds correct, though you did not mention a chassis ground connection on one of the negatives (or is that the one you called "negative coach"?).  Any mis-wiring would produce either zero voltage or 6-7 volts. If you are getting anything around 12-13v, your wiring is OK.

I've attached a diagram, just to make it clearer.
 

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Not directly related to your problem, but make sure the short jumper between the batteries is large enough to handle the inverter's current.  A 600 watt inverter can draw up to 60 amps, so the jumper should be 6 gauge or larger.
 
It is a little late for you but for everyone else you have a great camera in your pocket and you should always photograph the wiring before removing the wires.
 
SeilerBird said:
It is a little late for you but for everyone else you have a great camera in your pocket and you should always photograph the wiring before removing the wires.
:)) :)) :))
 
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