House batteries connected wrong

[MHP]

Hi all, I accidentally connected the black positive cable to the negative post. I am having a clicking on my starter solinoid and relays. I am replacing all of them. I have read there may be fuses blown - any help as to which ones or where to start looking would be amazing.
RV runs as it should and everything seems to work properly.

Thanks
Mike
2012 Melbourne 29D

 

[craigav]

If you are still hearing clicking noises, then it is highly likely that the RV's battery is still not connected properly. Perhaps if you can grab a photo that would help. ~CA

 

[MHP]

If you are still hearing clicking noises, then it is highly likely that the RV's battery is still not connected properly. Perhaps if you can grab a photo that would help. ~CA

Will get some tomorrow. I also found a RV electrical troubleshooting guide by Jim D on this site. Apparently I was incorrect about the solinoid, it is the charging solinoid, pic attached.

 

[MHP]

If you are still hearing clicking noises, then it is highly likely that the RV's battery is still not connected properly. Perhaps if you can grab a photo that would help. ~CA

Here is a photo of my connections. I needed to put the disconnects last fall as my momentary switch failed. Tested switch and it's OK. I need to figure that out as well.

 

[JFlightRisk]

Just an observation, but you have some nasty corrosion on your positive cables. It appears to be creeping up inside the casing, which may cause some resistance issues along with the battery to cable contacts.

 

[MHP]

Just an observation, but you have some nasty corrosion on your positive cables. It appears to be creeping up inside the casing, which may cause some resistance issues along with the battery to cable contacts.

I saw that, how do I repair it. Cut wire and put new connectors on? Thank you.

 

[JFlightRisk]

The long version is that current flows up the positive side and draws corrosion up the cable where you can't see it. The best fix is to replace them with new and spray some battery terminal protectant on the bare metal ends.

The second-best idea is to mix up a solution of baking soda and warm water and submerge as much of the cable as you can, then wait for it to work for a while. That will dissolve the green/white fuzzy stuff. Then clean up the cable end terminals and tops of the batteries themselves. Clean and dry batteries are happy batteries.

This will only be a band aid solution, but better than doing nothing. In a previous life, I've cut corroded cables back several inches before getting to good shiny copper.

 

[JFlightRisk]

For your fuse question, check the reverse polarity fuses in your power panel. They should be separate from all the other 12 volt fuses.

 

[MHP]

Great thanks for that.
Do you have any advice on my original issue? The only thing I see is I have one positive cable one battery and 2 on the other.

 

[MHP]

Thank you I'll have a look. Fixing things is easy when you know where and what to fix.

 

[JFlightRisk]

Great thanks for that.
Do you have any advice on my original issue? The only thing I see is I have one positive cable one battery and 2 on the other.

Sorry, I can't help with the cable question. (We have a TT with one battery).

Perhaps some more folks will pop in with an answer for you.

 

[MHP]

I appreciate your help. Have a great summer.
Mike

 

[craigav]

Did the clicking go away? Battery(s) dead? The fuses to check are the reverse polarity fuses at the converter/fuse panel. (other fuses should be checked but should be less of a concern). While you may have blown fuses, they would be the result of the issue and not the cause.

It is hard to determine the proper battery wiring on any RV as the wire colors are often all black or a color that doesn't positively confirm positive or negative. However in most cases the wires are marked in some manner or another to determine positive and negative and in some cases an electrical meter helps to determine which cables are which.

In this case, I see several battery cables wrapped with some black electrical tape (inside the red rectangles), this tape appears not to be needed for insulating the cable so it is likely intended to mark to positive cables. With that in mind, the left battery has a taped black cable on NEG and there is also black taped cable(s) on the right battery's positive terminal. Also, it is common for Jayco to mark the NEG cable with white tape however in your image (as seen in the white rectangle) it appears that the white tape has + + + on it indicating positive. The "2" cables marked with the yellow stars are the cables I suspect most, could be reversed. (reversed due to the left battery's orientation).

I am hesitant to provide specific wiring details as it would be better to use a meter or follow the wires to verify which is the correct ground cable(s) and which are not (generally only one ground cable). In any case, what I suspect is that the left battery is installed 180 degrees backwards. The top left black battery cable in your image can't reach the negative terminal on the left battery although it would if the left battery was rotated 180 degrees. Also, I am confident that in the past I have seen a picture of the melbourne batteries and the battery terminals faced each other. (in other words the batteries appeared as they would if you rotated the left battery 180 and kept the right battery as is).

Do you have a meter and know how to use one? Again that would be best, next best would be to physically trace the cables and in particular try to see if you can verify what I am suggesting with the battery and cables, perhaps one of the star cables can be seen bolted to the RV chassis (indicating the ground cable).

~CA

 

[craigav]

I searched the forums here based on my memory, and check out the 4th image in this link and notice the battery orientation. This is from a 2015 Melbourne. However, keep in mind that in the attached link the OP also had a wiring issue that may not have been resolved.

HELP connecting House Batteries

Does anyone know how to connect the two house batteries on a 2015 jayco Melbourne 29d motorhome? The photo showing connections is not very clear. The connections are circled in yellow. There are also 2 short cross-over cables not pictured (1 black and 1 red). Notice the cable on the far right...

www.jaycoowners.com

~CA

 

[MHP]

Hi Craig, thank you so much for all of this info. I'm confident I have the batteries connected correctly now. In the attached photo in the red circles you can see +++ and - - - tape on the wires. The neg wire is extended due to my needing to turn the batteries 180° to facilitate the installation of the manual disconnects as the momentary switch system is not working. (Still need help with that).
All the Fuses I can find are good. The clicking for the most part is gone but something is still off. I'll keep looking.

Happy travels and thanks again.
Mike