Hot battery cables

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Jofus64

Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Posts
19
When I am hooked up to electric my positive battery cable gets so hot that it actually melts the fusible link. I have two golf cart batteries with the link between the two. This is driving me crazy having to charge the batteries every time I use the power lift. If I take out the link it actually gets so hot that it melts the insulation off the wires. Wired wrong? Incorrect wire guage? Or could it be my batteries arent good anymore and the power supply is trying too hard to charge? Any insight would be appreciated.
 

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Could be incorrect wire gauge, but assuming it is factory original I would more likely think it is wired wrong (in parallel instead of serial) or one of the batteries has a severe internal short.

Can you describe more about what you hae, i.e. year/make/model of RV, brand of charger, wiring, etc. Maybe even a picture of the batteries that would show the wiring.
 
Gary,
Thanks for the reply. I am at work at present but will snap a picture and post later this afternoon or tomarrow. The camper is older an 88 Terry by Fleetwood but is remarkable shape. I am the second owner. This is my second season in it and had no issues last year.
 
If you had no issues last year, then I would examine the wiring from the battery to the lift. Remove, clean, and re tighten every connection. Look for ANY signs of a pinched or shorted section. Look closely at the controls for the lift and the cable routing for the motors.


It sounds like there is a cable routed against framework that has chaffed and is now shorting out.


Joe


 
Hmmm... Do you happen to have a bad battery with a internal problems, shorted wire, malfunctioning power converter, etc.??? Something is either creating way to much current or something is drawing way to much current....
 
utahclaimjumper said:
Your battery connections may not be tight enough.( They will also loosen with time & movment)>>>D

Got my head thinking more... (Thanks)

Your right a loose connection can do this too but if the wire is corroded in under the skin (green copper) then the wire will get hot too. You could do a voltage drop test and see if the wiring is to blame...
 
Got a multi tester this morning. Will do more investigating this afternoon. Thanks again to all who have responded.
 
Are you sure you have the battery wiring configured to match the voltage from the converter?


If the batteries are wired for 6V and you are pushing 12V...


Can you post a picture of the batteries?



Joe
 
Posted a pic this morning. Not very clear though. I feel like somewhat of an idiot about this. I do not have the owners manuel for the camper as it is older and has been lost through the years. It is an 88 Terry Resort by Fleetwood. I would assume that the red wire from the trailer is the hot and the black is the ground there is also a white wire attached to the neg on one of the 6 volts. Is this a correct assumption?
 
Do you have 2- 6volt batteries or 1 or 2 12 volt batteries? The wiring is different for 2-6 volt and 2-12volt, and wired wrong can cause problems.
 
Thanks to all that replied to my post. My original thought was correct. Last owner apperently had wired from the camper to the batteries with 14 guage wire which couldnt handle the load. Upgraded to 8 guage and for a week now no problems. Thanks again. What a great forum!
 
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